________ By Mark Scott The Old Testament repeatedly says, “Someone is coming.” The end of the Bible says, “Someone is coming again.” And in between the beginning and end, the Bible says, “Someone came.” At its most basic level, Christmas is evidence God keeps his word. The Bible is a theology of promise. Even foreign dignitaries, indifferent religious leaders, and wicked kings learned that. Promised Star Matthew 2:1-2 After Matthew traced Jesus’ human roots (1:1-17) and divine roots (1:18-25), he told the story of the visit of the Magi, King Herod’s reaction to their visit, and the Holy Family’s trip to Egypt (2:1-15). This text is steeped in Matthew’s typological use of three Old Testament texts and a storyline that retraces Israel’s early history. (In fact, the visiting Magi retraced Abraham’s journey from Ur through Haran to the land of promise; cf. Genesis 12:1-20.) Even in his earliest earthly days, Jesus showed himself to be the new and true Israel of God.