Month: December 2023

IN A DREAM #4

Matthew 2:19-23 NET.

¹⁹ After Herod had died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰ saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” ²¹ So he got up and took the child and his mother and returned to the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream, he went to the regions of Galilee. ²³ He came to a town called Nazareth and lived there. Then what had been spoken by the prophets was fulfilled, that Jesus would be called a Nazarene.

This is the last in a series of four Advent messages based on Matthew’s Gospel. When I first read through the text of Matthew 1:18 through chapter 2, I noticed that the phrase “in a dream” appears five times. That’s why I used that phrase in the title of all four of these sermons. I’m not really so lazy that I didn’t want to change the church sign every week. But it was nice that altering the sign was less complicated. I think I’m getting older and wiser, but maybe I’m just getting older.

The final two dreams of Joseph appear in today’s text, and they direct him first to bring his family back from Egypt, and then specifically to settle in Nazareth. Matthew carefully shows that every aspect of Jesus’ life is a fulfillment of prophecy. In today’s text we learn that the family settles in Nazareth because the prophets predict that Jesus would be called a Nazarene. It’s not entirely clear which Old Testament prophecy is being referred to here. Some have suggested that it was a misreading of the idea of the Nazarite vows in Judges 13. I don’t think this is very likely because one of the requirements of a Nazarite is avoiding wine, and Jesus drank wine. He drank wine at the wedding in Cana. He drank wine with his disciples on the first Communion.

Others have suggested that Matthew was referring to the prophecy in Isaiah 11:1 which says that “a shoot will grow out of Jesse’s root stock, a bud will sprout from his roots.” Isaiah was predicting that Jesse (the father of King David) would have another descendant who would rule over all of Israel as David did. The word bud (sometimes translated as “branch” is נֵצֶר (netser) in Hebrew. We can only guess as to the reason why Joseph chose to settle specifically in Nazareth, so here is my guess: I see Joseph deciding to settle in Galilee, so sometime after they leave Egypt, I see Joseph pondering a list of Galilean towns. When he comes to Nazareth on the list, he remembers Isaiah’s prediction about the נֵצֶר.

That would follow the pattern that we see in all these texts. The pattern begins with a command from an angel in a dream, and Joseph accepts the dream as valid because it is verified by a prophecy. To put it another way, whenever Satan tried to dissuade Joseph from obeying God’s revelation in a dream, Joseph was able to resist the devil because of his knowledge of God’s word. We would do well to follow Joseph’s example. Jesus himself resisted the devil by declaring God’s truth in his word to counter Satan’s lies.

Matthew’s Christmas stories parallel the story of Moses in seven ways:

1. Joseph dreams (Matthew 1:20; 2:13, 19, 22; Genesis 37:1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 19, 20).

If you remember the story of the Old Testament Joseph, you know that it all started with Joseph having some dreams that he revealed to his brothers. His brothers were not at all happy with his dreams. In fact, they were so annoyed at Joseph that they planned to kill him. But they wound up selling him into slavery in Egypt. That was how Joseph got to Egypt, and interpreting dreams was how he wound up saving all of Egypt and all the Israelites there.

• There is an escape to safety (Matthew 2:13-14; Exodus 2:15).

In the New Testament, the escape is to Egypt, but in the Old Testament, the escape is from Egypt. The hero changes from Joseph to Moses. He flees to Midian and settles there as a shepherd. God preserved his life there in Midian until it was time for the next stage in his plan to save his people. When the time was right, God sent a burning bush to get Moses’ attention and give him his call back to Egypt.

• There is a massacre of children (Matthew 2:16; Exodus 1:22).

In the New Testament, it is Herod the Great who calls for the elimination of the children in and around Bethlehem. In the Old Testament, it is Pharaoh. He is worried that the Hebrew slaves would grow too strong and revolt against the Egyptians. So, he orders the destruction of all the boys being born to Hebrew women. Moses is born, and hidden away for a while, then his parents put him in a basket and set him in the Nile River. His sister Miriam watches as the basket is retrieved by Pharaoh’s daughter. He is adopted by her and grows up in the household of the very man who ordered his execution.

Incidentally, Jewish legend tells us some very interesting things about baby Moses that are not mentioned in Exodus. According to the legend, Amram (Moses’ father) had actually divorced Jochebed because he didn’t want to risk fathering a boy who might be killed. But his older daughter Miriam (since she was a prophet) convinced her father to remarry her mother because God would have a special plan for the boy.

• A king dies (Matthew 2:19; Exodus 2:23).

In the New Testament, the king who dies is Herod the Great. In the Old Testament, it is the Pharaoh who had ordered Moses’ execution. In both testaments, the death of the ruler is the clue that it is time for the next phase of redemptive history to take place. And that phase would require relocation.

• A return is commanded (Matthew 2:19-20; Exodus 4:19).

Joseph and Mary are to take young Jesus and return to Israel. Our text says that after Herod had died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” In the Old Testament, Moses is commanded to return to Egypt because his task is to rescue the children of Israel from bondage and lead them to the Promised Land. Exodus 4:19 says The LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, because all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” Not only is there a command to return, but the wording of the command in both texts is very similar.

• The command is obeyed (Matthew 2:21; Exodus 4:20).

Joseph gets up from his dream and starts packing for his trip. He takes his wife and child with him. Note again the similarity to what happened in the Old Testament. Exodus 4:20 says “Moses took his wife and sons and put them on a donkey and headed back to the land of Egypt.” In both Testaments, we see grace and human responsibility hand-in-hand. God reveals the plan and expects his people to walk according to that plan. Moses in the Old Testament, and Joseph in the New – are examples of that.

• The people are saved (Matthew 1:21; Exodus 3:7-12).

Finally, the outcome of Joseph’s obedience is that Jesus is kept safe until it is time for him to go to the cross as humanity’s Savior. The outcome of Moses’ obedience was that he was kept safe in Midian until it was time for him to return to Egypt and rescue his people.

Now we come to the “so what?” of today’s text. Joseph obeys and brings back Jesus to settle in Nazareth. So what? How does what Joseph did apply to you and me? Joseph had a mission, and he had to be willing to go where God wanted him to go to accomplish that mission. I know some people who would not be willing to move from where they live even if an angel told them to do so in a dream. Remember Pilate? While he was putting Jesus on trial, he received a message from his wife, warning him not to condemn Jesus. She said that she had suffered greatly as a result of a dream about Jesus. Pilate ignored her and her dream.

We also have the surer word than any dream in the written Scriptures today – a word that is inspired, inerrant, and infallible. Yet people continue to ignore it. People continue to do what they want and ignore what God wants. Even in the church there are people more interested in maintaining the status quo than accomplishing God’s mission. What if Joseph and Mary had that attitude? What if they had said, “Lord, we will follow you if we are allowed to stay in Judea?”

During this coming new year, the LORD will challenge us to go beyond our comfort zones to accomplish his mission. May we obey his calling and may our obedience result in many people being delivered from sin’s bondage.

For further study:

Aus Roger David. Matthew 1-2 and the Virginal Conception: In Light of Palestinian and Hellenistic Judaic Traditions on the Birth of Israel’s First Redeemer Moses. University Press of America 2004. pp. 12-14; 19-57.

Brown Raymond E. The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. New updated ed. Doubleday 1993. pp. 107-119.

Fortna Robert Tomson. The Gospel of Matthew: The Scholars Version Annotated with Introduction and Greek Text. Polebridge Press 2005. pp. 38-41.

Graves Mike and David M May. Preaching Matthew: Interpretation and Proclamation. Chalice Press 2007. pp. 9-22.

Harrington, Daniel J. Meeting St. Matthew Today: Understanding the Man, His Mission, and His Message. Chicago: Loyola Press, 2010. p. 20.

Kelly Joseph F. The Birth of Jesus According to the Gospels. Liturgical Press 2008. pp. 51-56.

Younger, Carol D. The Gospel of Matthew: Hope in the Resurrected Christ: Adult Bible Study Guide. Dallas, Tex: BaptistWay Press, 2008. pp. 40-44.

IN A DREAM #3

Matthew 2:13-18 NET.

¹³ After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him.” ¹⁴ Then he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and went to Egypt. ¹⁵ He stayed there until Herod died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” ¹⁶ When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men to kill all the children in Bethlehem and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men. ¹⁷ Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: ¹⁸ “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud wailing, Rachel weeping for her children, and she did not want to be comforted, because they were gone.”

Preaching a sermon based on a traditional Christmas text is difficult. The paths are well trodden. That was why I was somewhat nervous about planning a whole series of messages based on the Christmas stories in Matthew’s Gospel. But God’s word is always powerful and effective. It is like one of those special knives in the kitchen drawer that stays sharp no matter how often it is used. Here’s what I see in today’s story:

Joseph’s faith was challenged by suffering.

After the wise men leave, Joseph finds it hard to come down from the thrill he feels. Visitors from other nations have graced his home, worshipping Jesus and blessing his family with precious gifts. They spoke of their interview with Herod and his request that they tell him of Jesus’ location. At first, Joseph thinks that is wonderful. If these Gentiles are so excited about Jesus, imagine how thrilled Herod would be! But then Joseph remembers what kind of person Herod the Great is. He is a sick man, mentally and physically. He has already murdered so many people to protect his throne. What would he do to a child who people claim is the new king of Israel?

With those thoughts floating around in his mind, Joseph finds sleeping hard. When he finally does sleep, he gets another dream.

Like his previous dream, an angel appears to him. But in the first dream, the angel tells him not to fear. In this dream, the angel tells him the exact opposite. He says that Herod is going to look for baby Jesus to kill him. The angel instructs Joseph to pack up and get out of Bethlehem quickly. His family had not lived in Bethlehem long, so that would not have been too difficult.

The tricky part of the instruction was when the angel told Joseph to escape. He said that they must go to Egypt. This would not be like his departure from Nazareth for the census. This was a move to another country. Joseph and his family would be refugees.

All around the world today, some people have had to leave their homes and move to another country. They are called refugees or displaced people. Many of them are forced into unbearable situations. They are between a rock and a hard place. They cannot stay, and they are not welcomed wherever they go.

The United States was built by this kind of person. Waves of immigrants came to this country in search of a better situation or to escape certain death from war, famine, or some other tragedy. Most faced prejudice and opposition here and where they came from, but they were determined to endure it in the hope that their descendants would overcome it. Some even came to our shores on slave ships – against their will.

Joseph did not want to be the father of a family of refugees. He wanted stability and peace for his family, and he was sure that a move to Egypt would disrupt those plans. But Joseph obeyed the angelic revelation, so he took his family and escaped.

Imagine how Joseph felt when he got word of what happened in Bethlehem after they left. Many innocent families suffered. Their little boys were not guilty of any crime. Their only problem was that they were born at the wrong time in the wrong place. They were born in or near Bethlehem at about the same time as Jesus. They suffered because of an evil king inspired by an evil spirit named Satan.

When you read through the Bible and encounter a story, you must ask yourself why this story is included and why it is included in this particular spot. What does the story of the slaughter of the innocent children tell us that we need to know? Why is this part of the Christmas stories in Matthew’s Gospel?

I think that Matthew is showing how important Jesus is. The wise men’s visit showed that Jesus was so important that a delegation of prominent visitors from a foreign country would travel for months to see him and show their appreciation for him.

The escape to Egypt was God’s way of protecting Jesus from the soldiers that Herod sent to kill him. The slaughter of the innocent children showed that Herod was determined to eliminate this child because he saw him as a threat to his rule. Satan wanted to eliminate Jesus for the same reason. God is doing something significant here, and the suffering is collateral damage.

This passage is also a personal message from the Holy Spirit to you and me. God is going to be doing something significant in our lives as well. But we will also experience suffering. That suffering is a test for us. It tests our faith in God. Satan brings that suffering to make us question whether God is at work in our lives at all. He accuses us of being unimportant to God. He submits our suffering as evidence for his case. He says that God would not allow such stressful events to occur if God loved us.

The exact opposite is the case. The Holy Spirit is confident that his power in us is enough for us to overcome any obstacle we might face. We will experience storms in this life, but our Master himself is with us, sleeping peacefully in the boat. Joseph and Mary experience trouble, heartache, and uncertainty. But the same Jesus was with them, asleep in the manger. He is Emmanuel, and his presence is all we need.

Joseph’s faith was strengthened by revelation.

Matthew highlights two points in today’s story to show how the Holy Spirit ministered to Joseph and empowered him to keep obeying despite the suffering he faced. The first is the ministry of an angel. An angel who spoke to him in a dream told Joseph what he must do.

All through the Gospels and Acts, angels appear in the historical record. They are there to reveal God’s word and to encourage God’s people. Jesus suffers deprivation and temptation in the wilderness. Angels come to minister to his needs (Matthew 4:1). Jesus agonizes in the Garden of Gethsemane, and then an angel comes and strengthens him (Luke 22:43). Angels revealed the fact of the resurrection (Matthew 28:2, 5; John 20:12). Angels revealed the fact that Jesus is going to come again (Acts 1:10-11). 

Whenever you see an angel, God says, “Don’t fear – I am in this.” Joseph was blessed to have four dreams in which angels appeared to him. There were four different dreams, but each one was a revelation of God’s presence and gave him confidence to keep obeying and believing.

The ministry of prophets also bolstered Joseph’s faith during this time. Satan would come to Joseph and say, “How is Jesus going to make a difference for his people now? He’s stuck here in Egypt. Joseph could counter: “The prophet Hosea said that God called his son out of Egypt. Egypt is the present, but God has a future for my son.”

Satan would come to Joseph and say. “Jesus couldn’t even stop these mothers from losing their sons in Bethlehem.” Joseph would counter: “The prophet Jeremiah spoke of Rachel mourning when her descendants went into exile. God was still in it. This tragedy signifies evil, but my son will change that.”

Today’s text is a challenge for all of us to keep believing and obeying no matter what comes our way. Suffering is not designed to stop us. It is intended to show the world that our faith is in God and his word, not our circumstances. Joseph led his family well, crisis after crisis. Now, we need to lead our families with the same confidence.

For further study:

Anderson Edward E. The Gospel According to St. Matthew; with Introduction and Notes. T. & T. Clark 1909. pp. 9-10.

Barclay, William. The Gospel of Matthew., 1958. pp. 24-29.

Baumgaertner John H. The Bitter Road: a Lenten Journey with the Suffering Christ from Bethlehem to Calvary and the Garden. Concordia Pub. House 1968. pp. 21-31.

Crowder Bill. Windows on Christmas. Discovery House Publishers; Distributed to the Trade by Barbour Publishing 2007. pp. 26-32.

Erdman, Charles R. The Gospel of Matthew: An Exposition. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1920. pp. 30-32.

Lange, Johann Peter, and Philip Schaff. The Gospel According to Matthew. New York: C. Scribner, 1865. pp. 62-63.

Wilson Stephen Douglas. In the Fullness of Time. Broadman Press 1991. pp. 76-86.

IN A DREAM #1

Matthew 1:18-25

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph, her husband to be, was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her privately. ²⁰ When he had contemplated this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” ²² This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: ²³ “Look! The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.” ²⁴ When Joseph awoke from sleep he did what the angel of the Lord told him. He took his wife, ²⁵ but did not have marital relations with her until she gave birth to a son, whom he named Jesus.

Last year, I shared a few messages based on Luke’s Christmas stories, and this year I am doing the same thing, only with Matthew’s Christmas stories. Both Gospel writers tell us the same basic truth – that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and God announced that birth miraculously. But each Gospel writer focuses on how that birth affected a particular group of people besides Joseph and Mary. Luke highlighted what God was doing in the lives of Zechariah, Elizabeth, John the Baptist in his mother’s womb, the shepherds around Bethlehem, and Simeon and Anna. For Luke, the primary source for these stories appears to be Mary.

But with Matthew, the focus changes. He chooses stories that illustrate what he said about Jesus: that he is the son of David and Abraham. Joseph is a key figure in these stories. When I reread these stories in preparation for this series of sermons, I noticed that the same phrase appeared numerous times. That is why I titled all the messages “IN A DREAM.”  We see that phrase in verse 20 of today’s text. It also appears four times in Matthew 2. Once the recipients of the dream are the group of wise men, but in every other instance, Joseph receives the dream.

When God is about to do something significant in redemption history, he often announces it by giving someone a dream. When someone is in danger, God sometimes intervenes by revealing that fact in a dream.

There is something else that is kind of peculiar about these Joseph stories. If you read through them, you might notice that Joseph does not say anything in any of the narratives. I don’t think that Joseph had been struck mute like Zechariah was. But it seems odd that no word in all the narratives is attributed to Joseph. Here, we have stories about the adoptive father of Jesus himself, but not one of his actual words is recorded. That’s right. Our Christmas plays must invent words for Joseph because not one of his words is recorded in Matthew or Luke. Even when Luke tells the story of Joseph and Mary finding Jesus in the temple when he was twelve, only Mary has a speaking part.

I don’t think Joseph was a functional mute. I just think his part in the Christmas stories had more to do with what he did than what he said. He was sensitive to what God was doing in his life. Some people can have dreams every night and pay no attention to them, but not Joseph. When the angel Gabriel visited Mary, it was while she was awake. But when the angels spoke to Joseph, it was in dreams. It was just as real in either situation. Why did God choose to reveal himself to Joseph through dreams? Maybe God had spoken to Joseph at other times in his life through dreams. Maybe that was why it was settled for Joseph once he had the dream. He would obey the dream because he knew it was God’s real revelation.

The story begins with Mary’s BLESSING (18).

Matthew reduces the whole story of Gabriel’s announcement to Mary into one verse. You can read all the details about that visit in Luke chapter 1, but Matthew is only concerned with this detail: that Mary “was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.” It was a blessing. What Matthew wanted to make clear was the fact that Mary was going to give birth. In verse 20, “the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” In verse 21, she “will give birth to a son.” In verse 23, “The virgin will conceive and bear a son.” In verse 25, Joseph “did not have marital relations with her until she gave birth.” At some point in history, some heretics will emerge and insist that Jesus was not a real human being – that he only appeared to be in the flesh. Matthew spoke to that heresy directly here. Joseph had a dream about Jesus. But Jesus was not a dream. He was a real human child, and he was a blessing.

Like most blessings from the Lord, Mary’s pregnancy was also challenging. When Mary told Joseph she was pregnant, Joseph’s immediate reaction was wrong but understandable.

We learn of Joseph’s PLAN (19).

Before his dream, Joseph only knew that Mary was pregnant and that the child was not his son. His plan for dealing with that blessing was to abandon Mary. He did not want to accuse her of infidelity and force her to undergo a public trial, so he decided to break off the engagement privately and let Mary deal with the consequences of her lack of self-control alone. He could not imagine a scenario in which Mary was telling the truth. No angel had visited him yet, so as much as it pained him to lose his fiancé, he thought that was the only choice to make.

Then we learn of the angel’s CHALLENGE (20).

The dream made all the difference. The angel encouraged Joseph not to let his fear make him give up on his relationship with Mary. Her child is not a mistake. He is the Holy Spirit’s work. The angel told Joseph that Mary would give birth to that child and that he – Joseph – would be right there with her.

Then we learn of the angel’s INSTRUCTION (21).

Joseph would name his adopted son Yeshua because that means “He saves.” The world needs to know that the LORD saves. He saves his people – not just from foreign rulers or present dangers. He saves his people from their sins. No other human being would ever be able to do that. But Jesus is special. His birth is special. His life is unique. His purpose is one that only he could achieve. He is more than a king. He is more than a temporary deliverer. He is the Savior.

Then, we learn Matthew’s EXPLANATION (22-23).

Matthew breaks into his own narrative to explain something about Jesus that even the angel did not reveal. Matthew says that this all happened to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah that when the virgin gives birth, it would be to Emmanuel: God with us.

“God with us” can only happen by means of an incarnation. John tells us that the divine WORD “became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory — the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father” (John 1:14). Joseph adopted Jesus, but Jesus was already God’s Son. The LORD wanted all of us to know that he had not abandoned us. Jesus is his proof. That is why they called him Emmanuel. And the Lord Jesus will never abandon his followers. That is why Jesus told us that he is with us always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).

The final thing we learn is Joseph’s OBEDIENCE (24-25).

The dream had given Joseph all the assurance he needed. He woke up from sleep and went to the courthouse to sign his marriage license. He got out of his pajamas and put on his tuxedo. His breakfast would be his marriage feast. From then on, Joseph did not question his role in God’s plan.

Joseph was a craftsman – a builder. He made his living constructing things out of wood and stone.  He was also a dreamer. I’m sure he had daydreamed many times about starting a new life with that young lady. But he wanted to do it right. He had a plan and was going to stick to that plan. But then the angel appeared to him in a dream. Suddenly, Joseph’s plans didn’t matter. Once he knew God’s plan, Joseph was all in.

If we learn anything from Joseph, we must learn how to respond to God’s revelation as he did. We must be open to letting God tell us the whole truth from his word. Then, we need to have the courage to walk in that truth. The walk will probably not be easy. It certainly wasn’t easy for Joseph. He had to live his whole life under the shadow of an accusation he could not disprove. He had to raise the Son of God – a challenge that any of us would find daunting. He had to travel to Bethlehem at the worst time to travel there. They wound up sleeping with the animals that night. Later, they had to entertain foreign wise men. Then, they had to become refugees in Egypt for a while. When they returned, they were forced to go back to Nazareth – far from Jerusalem because the government still wanted baby Jesus dead.

In the Old Testament, we read about someone called Joseph, son of Jacob, who was a dreamer. His dreams got him into serious trouble, but finally, he became a savior of his people. Here, in the New Testament, we encounter another Joseph – also a son of Jacob (Matthew 1:16). He is also a dreamer. He heard God speaking to him through an angel in his dreams. He obeyed every instruction. His story challenges us to follow in his footsteps.

You might have some plans for the rest of your life. Joseph had a plan. But he was humble enough to turn his back on his plan when he learned God’s plan. He was sensitive enough to God’s will that when the dream led him in a different direction, that is the direction he went. He was courageous enough to endure all kinds of misfortune because he would stay in the center of God’s will. His love for Mary was not enough to keep them together, but his love for the LORD was.

Every year we wish each other a Merry Christmas. This year, I want to wish you all a Joseph Christmas.

For further study:

Boice James Montgomery. The King Has Come. Christian Focus Publications 1992. pp. 51-61.

Brown Raymond E. The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. New updated ed. Doubleday 1993. pp. 122-163.

Cottrell Stephen. Walking Backwards to Christmas. SPCK 2014. pp. 59-68.

Gleddiesmith Stacey. Welcoming the Stranger: Readying Ourselves for Christmas. Regent College Pub 2010. pp. 44-45.

Jeremiah David. Why the Nativity? Turning point ed. Tyndale House 2006. pp. 25-29.

Laferton Carl. Rescuing Christmas: The Search for Joy That Lasts. GOOD Book Company 2017. pp. 61-63.

Moltmann Jürgen. The Way of Jesus Christ: Christology in Messianic Dimensions. 1st Fortress Press ed. Fortress Press 1993. pp. 80-87.