The Joshua Victor Theory

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. It’s worth noting that the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5,000 is the only miracle of Jesus that is recorded by all four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—outside of Jesus’ death and resurrection, which are the main focus of all four. In all four retellings of the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus turns to His disciples to provide for the food, and they are in disbelief. How can we possibly feed this multitude? Only John’s Gospel records Jesus’ specific question to Philip: “ Where are we to buy bread that these people may eat ?” and explains that Jesus was testing him, because He already knew what He was going to do. We don’t often appreciate being tested—especially if we’re caught by surprise. Pop quizzes are sure to make any student groan and panic. In work and personal relationships, if we find someone is testing us, we’re often suspicious of their hidden motives. In our faith life...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. The city of Jerusalem has been a formidable stronghold for thousands of years. Even before King David captured it for the Israelites, over 3,000 years ago, it was an ancient fortress of the Jebusites. A city on a hill, it resisted the invasions and attacks of countless armies through history. Many kings mounted their forces against it and failed. Many also succeeded, as the city has fallen just as many times throughout history. It’s been a scene of warfare, of defense and offense, of siege, victory, and defeat, for thousands of years. Still today it’s contested land, and the Temple site that once was Jewish, is now covered by a Muslim mosque. But in the middle of all that tumultuous history, one king entered the city like none before or after Him. He came riding in on a borrowed donkey. But it wasn’t the donkey that made His entrance unique. Kings had ridden into Jerusalem on royal mules before, to be crown...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. The prophet Isaiah said, “ Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising” (Isaiah 60:3). The rising Light is Jesus, and His infant home of Bethlehem was bathed in miraculous starlight announcing: the King of the Jews has been born! Wise men came worshipping. Kings came to the brightness of His rising—the dawning rays of Jesus’ infant light drew joyful worship, costly gifts, and hushed awe. Why would such a birth warrant such attention? This was not a king of the Roman Empire, or any similar superpower or great nation. The Jews were a subject people, a broken nation, held firmly under the Roman yoke. King David’s royal line was reduced to nothing but the stump of a tree, by all appearances dead and defeated. Why would the birth of a new king to this tiny, defeated nation, bring any foreign dignitaries at all? What were the wise men hoping to see? Who were they and why did they c...

In the Name of Him who strengthens us according to the Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, Amen. As we are ever so close to Christmas, the miracles surrounding Jesus’ birth jump out at us from the text. The unexpected visit of the angel Gabriel, to the Virgin Mary; his announcement of her conception of the Holy Child, Jesus, the Very Son of God; this child’s coming eternal kingdom. It was a troubling greeting for Mary—trying to sort out why she, a lowly maiden, would receive such a visit from an angel. But as Gabriel assured her of God’s favor, it became clear that the joy and honor to give birth to the Savior would be hers. She would fulfill the centuries old prophecy, that a virgin would conceive and give birth to a Son—Emmanuel, God with us. It’s all plainly miraculous and wonderful—but how all this would happen is simply explained: “For nothing will be impossible with God.” No further explanation needed. The same God that called all reality into existence and called ou...