First Sunday of Christmas

Jesus Receives His Name

Luke 2: 15 - 21

Eight days after he was born, a rabbi performed a ceremony called a bris on the baby Jesus, and Mary and Joseph named him Jesus (Joshua in the Old Testament) just as the angel Gabriel had told Mary to do.

It would be at least another 30 days before Mary would have completed her purification ceremonies after the birth of the baby. After that time, she and Joseph took the baby Jesus from Bethlehem to the Temple in Jerusalem, where they met Simeon.

Could the angels have appeared to the shepherds before they appeared to any other people in order to remind the world of another shepherd, King David, who rose from being a shepherd to being a king? Jesus certainly told many stories about good shepherds throughout his lifetime.

1. Where did the angels go?

[The angels went back into heaven.]

2. Where did the shepherds go?

[The shepherds went to Bethlehem to see Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus.]

3. What did the shepherds tell Mary and Joseph?

[They told them what the angels had said about the baby Jesus.]

4. When did Mary and Joseph give Jesus his name?

[Mary and Joseph gave Jesus his name eight days later.]

 

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