i suspect many of us think of christmas as a "new testament" event, and of course it is insofar as it inaugurates the new testament. but much if not most of our understanding of the event comes from the old testament. the ox and the ass are from isaiah; the answer to the question of the wise men to herod's advisors comes from micah. but i think my favourite prophecy that has shaped our understanding of the nativity is the passage from wisdom that is the introit for the second sunday of christmas (wisdom 18:14-15): "while all things were in quiet silence
and that night was in the midst of her swift course,
thine almighty word leaped down from heaven out of thy royal throne."
it is the image that informs my favourite german, perhaps favourite of all, christmas carol, "lo, how a rose e'er blooming."
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