The First Days of Jesus
The Story of the Incarnation
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Pub Date Sep 30 2015 | Archive Date Dec 25 2017
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Description
This book takes readers step by step through the miraculous events surrounding Christ's birth. With an accompanying Advent devotional plan, this will help you celebrate Christmas with a joy rooted in Scripture rather than culture.
A Note From the Publisher
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Advance Praise
“This latest work on the incarnation and nativity is an excellent example of serious scholarship served up in a most readable manner. No birth in history had such prophetic preparation, which is a powerful, central theme in these pages that celebrate the start of the greatest life ever lived. This is a welcome antidote to the cheap sensationalism in recent books on Jesus that try to demolish every reason for regarding Christmas as ‘the most wonderful time of the year.’”
—Paul L. Maier, Professor of Ancient History, Western Michigan University; author, In the Fullness of Time
“The First Days of Jesus is a revealing look at the earliest days of Jesus in Matthew, Luke, and John set against some of the skeptical takes on these passages. Add to this a taste of Jewish messianic expectation and you have a nice overview of the start of Jesus’s career and where it fits in God’s plan. Solid yet devotional, it is a great introduction to the first days of our Lord.”
—Darrell L. Bock, Executive Director of Cultural Engagement, Howard G. Hendricks Center, and Senior Research Professor of New Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary
“The First Days of Jesus combines Scripture passages, historical background, scholarly insight, and practical application to cast Christ’s incarnation in fresh light. Few tasks are more urgent than for today’s Christians worldwide to rediscover and deepen their connections with their origins. This book is a valuable resource for achieving that aim. Like the star of Bethlehem itself, this volume leads those who seek God to find him afresh in the events of Jesus’s historical appearance, the prophecies that preceded, the apostolic testimony that accompanied, and the social world that God split wide open when he sent his Son.”
—Robert W. Yarbrough, professor of New Testament, Covenant Theological Seminary
“Köstenberger and Stewart admirably unpack the birth narratives of Matthew and Luke along with that beautiful first movement of John’s Gospel against both the grand sweep of biblical history and the nitty-gritty details of first-century events and culture. The result may dismantle a few of your nativity-scene notions about the Christmas story even while building up your faith in and commitment to the Word become flesh.”
—George H. Guthrie, Benjamin W. Perry Professor of Bible, Union University
“Köstenberger and Stewart provide for us a faithful and useful guide to the early days of Jesus. This book should serve well those desiring to learn about the early chapters in the Gospels and those who desire to preach and teach these narratives.”
—Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation and Professor of Biblical Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky
“Written with exceptional clarity, The First Days of Jesus pays close attention to the key biblical texts on Christ’s nativity in an illuminating way. It deals briefly yet helpfully with critical scholarship and presents the events surrounding Jesus’s conception and birth in both a canonical and a chronological fashion. It addresses unashamedly the difficulties with these birth stories, tackling the problem of variant accounts, the use of sources, the nature of prophecy and typology, and much more. It challenges us readers to respond to the Word of God with the obedience of faith, like Mary did, and with praise, worship, and witness, as the shepherds did. I know of no other book that so masterfully weaves together these infancy narratives on so many fronts. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it!”
—Gregg R. Allison, Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“There is more to Christmas than you may think. Cut through the layers of tradition and the fog of nostalgia, and discover the scandal of how it all started. The Bible has more to say about Jesus’s earliest days than you might expect, and this book is a reliable guide. The First Days of Jesus blends world-class scholarship with real-world concern for everyday Christians. Here attention to detail, in the text and in history, complements warm devotion and pastoral care.”
—David Mathis, executive editor, desiringGod.org; pastor, Cities Church, Minneapolis; author, Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines
“In this accessible and reliable guide to how the Gospels present the early years of Jesus Christ’s life, Köstenberger and Stewart provide an exceptionally helpful study, informed by the best of modern scholarship. Drawing on what we know of the historical context, they expound with clarity both the meaning of the biblical text and its relevance for modern readers. In doing so, they enable us to grasp afresh how a detailed appreciation of Jesus’s first days contribute significantly to a deeper understanding of his whole life.”
—T. Desmond Alexander, Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies, Union Theological College, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781433542787 |
| PRICE | $25.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 272 |
Featured Reviews
Jimmy L, Reviewer
If you think you heard it all and exhausted all there is to learn concerning the birth of Christ or the incarnation think again. This book is written by two New Testament professors who offer their insights into passages that cover the infant narrative of Jesus Christ. Though I felt the book started slowly and I was initially concerned whether there would be new things I can learn nevertheless as the book progressed I found it fulfilled my expectation of learning about the birth of Jesus and the incarnation through fresh eyes.
In the beginning of the book the two authors stated that out of the Bible’s 1,189 chapters only 4 ½ chapters are dedicated to the subject of Jesus’ first days. For preachers like myself preaching Christmas messages can be challenging to an audience that think they know it all already; or worst, preacher can fall into the pit of thinking that one got the birth narrative down and there is nothing to learn. But there are new things to discover from the Bible, including the early days of Jesus.
The book is divided into three parts with a total of fifteen chapters. Part 1 is on the Virgin-Born Messiah while Part 2 is on Jesus as the Light of the Nations and finally Part 3 is the Incarnate Word. Each chapter began with the passage that the chapter would focus on; I appreciated this format so that I myself as the reader can read the primary source of God’s Word for myself.
I really enjoyed the book’s discussion of the background of King Herod who was ruling when Jesus was born. The author presented quite an interesting biographical information of Herod and also how he would have interpreted hearing the birth of Jesus. Knowing how Herod executed his own wife and two sons along with his parnoia to the extent of having six wills made it much more believable why Herod would be willing to kill even young kids who might be viewed by others as king of the Jews. In addition I thought the information about Herod’s conflict with Parthians when they had Antigonus as their client king of Judea during Herod’s early days really helped put in perspective of how he would have seen the wise men coming from the East that was Parthian territory. Very informative and interesting portion of the book!
Other parts of the book that I enjoyed include the discussion of how Jesus is presented in the Gospel of Matthew as the “Second Israel” in which there are too many parallels to be coincidental. For instance Jesus had twelve disciples like how Israel had twelve tribes. Jesus went to Egypt just as Israel went to Egypt. Both Jesus and Israel were persecuted by a wicked ruler. I also enjoyed how the book had an apologetic thrust as well. There were more things I learned from this book than I can write down for this book review.
If you feel that the “Christmas” story is all too familiar to you, you might want to read this book; as the book stated in the beginning familiarity breeds contempt but familiarity with the Bible leads to laziness. This book though makes for a great devotional to refresh your love for Christ.
NOTE: This book was provided to me free by Crossway and Net Galley without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.
JT T, Reviewer
I enjoyed greatly reading this book and watching the Gospel come alive before He started His ministry. These two books that they have put together (the beginning of Jesus and the finishing of Jesus) has been a great resource for all pastors and believers. I love the in depth study and the beauty of language as they communicate what life was like for Jesus as a baby. They also did a masterful job of helping us catch a heartbeat of what life was like for both Mary and Joseph. This is a must read especially heading into the Christmas season. It makes Christmas come more to life.
Jeanie S, Reviewer
The world is a broken place filled with broken people, and we cannot fix ourselves with better education, economic mobility, or peaceful relationships. This brings us back to the biblical explanation and solution. The world is broken because of sin, and we need a supernatural solution to the problem.
The First Days of Jesus is the solution to the problem. The author takes the 4 gospel accounts of Matthew, Luke, Mark and John and zero's in on the birth of Jesus. Going back to the prophetic word of the Old Testament and the hope we have for today, the birth of Jesus is closely tied to the resurrection.
The author divides the text into 4 parts.
Virgin Born Messiah
Light of the Nations
Incarnate Word
Epilogue/Appendix-The 2nd Coming
There are many questions the author presents that brings the gospel to a better understanding. Why the virgin birth? Why did the angels appear to the Shepherds? Why was Jesus born in poverty?
What was most insightful to me was how each author of the Gospel zeroed in on a particular account. Matthew starts with the genealogy of Jesus and the importance significance of that account. Luke narration is more of testimony and the witness accounts of Jesus Birth. However, each narrative demands a response. What do we do with Jesus? Do we believe who he says he is and is claim to be a witness to the truth. In his own words he has come to proclaim the truth and just like Pilate we claim what is truth? It is proclamation of Pilate that we come to realize the conflict between two kingdoms. The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of this world.
Each narrative gives an account of embracing the Kingdom of God and embracing the Kingdom of this world. The First Days of Jesus puts us face to face on what kingdom we are embracing. I highly recommend.
A Special Thank You to Crossway Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.
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