The Characters of Christmas: The Unlikely People Caught Up in the Story of Jesus

by Daniel Darling

Learn Something New This Christmas

We hate to admit it, but after years, sometimes even decades, of reading the same Luke 2 story of Christmas, we get a little bored—we lose some of the awe we ought to have when discussing the greatest miracle in history. That’s why The Characters of Christmas was written, to help you take a fresh look at the Christmas story by getting to know the minor characters that played a part in Jesus’ birth, such as Zechariah and Elizabeth, the Shepherds, and Herod.

As you slow down, engage your imagination, and enter into the stories of these women and men, you’ll see the most important character—Jesus Christ—with new eyes. And with discussion questions and a Christmas song suggestion at the end of each chapter, it’s perfect for engaging your whole family.

Break free from the familiar, and discover something you never knew about the story you’ve always heard.

Genres: Christmas, Christian, Nonfiction, Faith, Religion, Audiobook, Christian Living

181 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2019

About the author

Daniel Darling is an author, pastor and Christian leader. He currently serves as the Director of The Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Assistant Professor of Faith and Culture at Texas Baptist College.

Prior to his leadership of the Land Center, Darling served as the Senior Vice President for Communications of the National Religious Broadcasters. He also has served the Southern Baptist Convention as the Vice President of Communications at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. He has also pastored churches in Illinois and Tennessee.

Reviews

[Darla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really is the answer to the question: What does Christmas mean for me? Because if you are in Jesus, this story from Adam to Abraham, from David to Christ, is your story. And if you are not a follower of Jesus, if you have not repented of your sins and put your full faith in Jesus' death and resurrection, this can be your story. Because this name Jesus is today calling people from every nation, tribe, and tongue. ~ Daniel Darling

Looking for a family devotional or small group study for Advent? Look no further. This will be just what you need to take a deeper look at the many biblical characters connected to the Christmas story. Daniel Darling takes characters like Joseph, the shepherds, even the "monster" King Herod, and helps us to examine the story of Christmas from their perspective. There are quotes from church history greats like Ambrose, Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, and John Calvin. At the end of each chapter there are notes for reflection, discussion questions, and songs that help expand your understanding. Now that I have enriched my Advent with this book, I will be back during Lent for The Characters of Easter: The Villains, Heroes, Cowards, and Crooks Who Witnessed History's Biggest Miracle.

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, ~ John 5:39 (ESV)

*A note for the author: In Chaper 11, you profile the four women in the Matthew genealogy. I feel like you did not give Bathsheba all the credit she deserves for her part in redemptive history. In the first two chapters of I Kings we see her as a trusted advisory to her son Solomon and the only wife in mentioned in the last days of King David. Clearly Solomon valued his mother as an advocate and counselor. Your description of her as "an unpopular, even despised, woman in Israel and in David's family" does not seem to do her justice, in my opinion.

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my fifth year reading this book in December and I still love it! Each chapter of this thought-provoking book focuses on a different person surrounding the story of Jesus' birth, from the obvious (Joseph, Mary, Elizabeth and Zechariah, the Wise Men, the angels, the shepherds) to the more obscure (Simeon and Anna) and even "the monster of Christmas", King Herod. Great insight that brought these pivotal characters of Christmas alive to me in fresh ways. Disussion questions at the end of each chapter dig deeper and help to extrapolate even more practical application. This is a great book to read during Advent, especially if you want a fresh understanding on the people who witnessed, either in awe or in fury, the birth of Christ.

[Katrina Van Grouw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice Advent book that talks about the characters crucial to the Christmas story that go overlooked or not fully explored. I really liked how there were practical applications for how we relate to Christ, also mixed with historical details and background to better understand the Biblical narrative.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Characters of Christmas is a Christian religion book by author Daniel Darling. The author beautifully introduces the reader to characters found at the nativity scene of Jesus' birth, as well as some unlikely characters found in Jesus’ genealogy. Scripture verses are taken from throughout the New and Old testaments of the Bible.

Throughout the book, author Daniel Darling compares what the reader learns to present-day situations. He also suggests songs to go along with each chapter. This is a great book for the student of the Word because there are study questions and study reflections to help reiterate what was taught. This would also be a great book to read during Advent.

Disclaimer: I receive complimentary books from various sources, including, publishers, publicists, authors, and/or NetGalley. I am not required to write a positive review and have not received any compensation. The opinions shared here are my own entirely. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did like this book and I think it has a lot of value as helping us to remember these were real people like us populating the story that seems so familiar.

What detracted from me were some assumptions I didn't get. I know it's popular right now to say "Mary and Joseph probably didn't know each other". Umm... I think this shows a severe lack of understanding of small towns in general and how interdependent people in ancient cultures were. I don't think Joseph and Mary would have hung in a modern way of thinking, but I don't doubt that they had watched each other grow up and knew each other. A few other assumptions made me raise an eyebrow, but that was the biggest one.

The other thing that detracted me is kinda sad -- I've heard most of the observations before. There weren't a lot of new things said here.

Overall, I would still recommend this book and might even reread it because it does have some good reminders.

[Danielle Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

If it’s about Jesus, it’s a 5 star read! I’m so grateful that he made me His and another year was spent following my Lord and Savior

[Charlotte Place · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me a fresh look at the well-known characters in the Christmas nativity, and I loved it! It gave me lots to think about and reflect on this Christmas season!

[Gareth Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful little book that has a chapter on a number of yhr characters of Christmas and how they ultimately point to Him. A lovely advent read.

[Kathy D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s only mid-October as I write this, but I am already starting to get into the Christmas spirit after reading this wonderful book! The Characters of Christmas introduces readers to the various people surrounding the birth of Christ, including a few I hadn’t given much thought to in the past. The author, Daniel Darling, does this in an engaging way that makes the characters very relatable to readers today.
Darling includes questions to consider in each section, making it perfect for a study group discussion. He even suggests Christmas songs for each character – something I particularly loved and that I believe will make this book and the characters it considers even more memorable to me in the future.
This is a very enjoyable book that I can envision myself rereading each holiday season. Copies would also make terrific gifts.

[Zacarias Rivera, Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darling's book is very readable and engaging. He focuses on the numerous personages we meet in the gospel records about the Incarnation, the Word becoming flesh. Darling analyzes what the text reveals about each individual and connects it to other texts in the Old Testament. He also addresses how the events and the behaviors of these unique individuals apply to our responses today. I appreciate how he ends each chapter with questions and suggestions for songs to listen to that are relevent to the gist of the chapter.

[Ashley Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing revolutionary, but a good reminder of the humility and unexpected nature of Jesus’ birth. It’s easy to feel like the characters and happenings of the Christmas story are cute and normal, seeing them in our nativity scenes year after year, but it’s good to go back in context and see just how out of the ordinary the events of Christmas were. After 400 years of silence, angels appear to men and women of humble means, announcing the birth of the Messiah. Joseph and Mary forsook their reputations to be obedient to God’s choosing, and Jesus was born in the humblest of scenes. The members of Jesus’ genealogy were ordinary sinners.
Overall, a good reminder that God uses those looked down on by the world, seemingly insignificant people who are faithful, to accomplish His purposes and glorify Himself.

[Cindy Adair · Rating 4 out of 5]

My husband and I read this book together during the Christmas season. It was interesting and thought-provoking. We learned and explored many things about the people involved in the Christmas story and the birth of Jesus. With questions at the end of each chapter, we had the opportunity to explore and discuss our thoughts after reading. This was a good book to help keep our thoughts focused on the true meaning of Christmas. A reminder that God sent His son to redeem ALL people - the definition of love.

[Katie Bajorek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book a lot. My favorite chapter was the Mary chapter. I listened to it and so I felt like I missed out on the PDF since I got it from the library, which is the only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.

Also, my church is totally walking through some of this book for the series we’re doing right now. I really liked the added depth this book provided related to that!

[Scott Kedersha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read to help you get into the Christmas story. Short chapters, biblical, Christ-centered, and creative in the way the author gets into the story.

[Natalie Herr · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable Christmastide read, spending time exploring each character in the Christmas narrative. Well done and gospel-centered.

[Sienna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the background on so many people involved in the story of the birth of Jesus. A Christmas refresher.

[Adam Jarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reminders, good perspectives , but nothing new for people who’ve been in church their whole lives. The part at the very end about the women in Jesus’ ancestry was very good.

[Karrie Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a pretty delightful audio book to ready my heart for the advent season.

[Dann · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Nativity is examined from a new perspective (several actually) in The Characters of Christmas: The Unlikely People Caught Up in the Story of Jesus. Author Daniel Darling breaks down the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ birth and looks at each person individually, from Mary to the Shepherds to King Herod, and what they’re inclusion tells us about the Incarnation and what it looked like from their station in life. Each chapter is followed by study questions and a companion Christmas song to meditate on. Some of the discussions are quite interesting, pointing out the culture relevance of things in first century Judea, however sometimes it’s the obvious things that he points out that are the most impactful. The Characters of Christmas: The Unlikely People Caught Up in the Story of Jesus takes a step back and looks at the humanity of the people who became part of this divine event.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Bible study read this for the last few months of 2023. It was a wonderful way to learn more about the nativity characters and really settle in to the season of Christmas.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did parts of this book for a study. It was good, some interesting information and helped enhance the advent study i was doing. May return to next advent to read the chapters I didn't read this year

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in December with Christmas approaching and it was a nice reflection on the many characters in the Christmas story. I especially appreciated the historical aspects being brought in, I learned many things.

[John Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is difficult to devise creative Advent studies with approaches that have not been tried before. Daniel Darling is successful in creating such a format in “The Characters of Christmas,” which my Church recently used for a 4-week Zoom Advent study. There seem to be a few flaws in the ways Pastor Darling describes some of his characters, but this book did help us learn about and appreciate Christmas a little bit more than before.

Pastor Darling seems to make contradictory claims about Joseph. First, he discusses the difficulty for Joseph to fulfill his commitment to marry a woman who became pregnant before the marriage and the damage this decision would have on his reputation: “Joseph would be a pariah among his own people. He would bear the shame for sins he didn’t commit.” Then he refers to Matthew 13:55 to describe how the people of Nazareth showed that they were not overly impressed by Jesus by asking “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?” Pastor Darling concludes that “When Jesus began His ministry, it was His father who was better known than He. Jesus was, in His childhood, defined by His father.” Since the people of Nazareth did not refer to Jesus as the “carpenter’s illegitimate son,” shouldn’t we conclude that maybe Joseph’s reputation was not permanently damaged?

There are eleven chapters, and the final chapter deals with four imperfect women (Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba, and Ruth) who are included in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus. The author points out that it was scandalous for Matthew to includes these women because women did not get much recognition in the patriarchal Jewish society and because all four of them were stigmatized. But then he questionably asserts that of these four women, Ruth was the most scandalous because she was a Moabite, and Moabites and Israelites were frequently at war. It might be unusual for a Moabite to be included in Jesus’ genealogy; but, as Pastor Darling points out, it also reveals something of the nature of the redeemer who was born on Christmas. The Chabad (Jewish) website shows that Ruth was highly regarded for embracing Jewish laws and customs and for her selfless commitment to her Jewish mother-in-law. This is why she is one of two women for whom books of the Bible are named. So it seems a stretch for Pastor Darling to describe Ruth’s inclusion in the genealogy as scandalous.

Pastor Darling is to be commended for asking many good questions – in the chapters and as Study Reflections at the ends of chapters - to most of which we might not know the answers in this lifetime, but the questions help us to consider Advent and Christmas in a fresh light.

[Dcbk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book to adapt to talk to some grade 4-6’s about advent and the characters of Christmas. As with any book like this i did not agree with all of the author’s ideas I appreciated the breadth of the characters chosen and i really enjoyed how the author connected all of scriptures from Genesis to Revelation in some of the characters. Making Herod the Moster of Christmas and connecting him to the serpent in the garden and the dragon of revelation was fantastic. I also loved the chapter about the women in the lineage of Jesus Messiah - also connecting the Old Testament with the New and moving forward to the creation of the church full of Gentiles. The only objection i had in this section was characterizing Rehab’s profession as a prostituted woman as a lifestyle choice was a bit jarring, but the remainder of the women were fairly delat with, including the honest assessment of Bathsheba’s circumstances as forced and terrible. Again, stating that God included Rehab but did not condone her lifestyle was not in keeping with the sensitivity of the rest of the chapter.

I also loved the chapters on the Angels and the Shepherds, reminding us that God does the unexpected. I also liked revisiting the Magi in a more realistic way. The author debunked our idea that they came to Jesus still a baby in a manger and that there were only 3 of them. He also located them well as people from far away who God spoke to in a way they could understand and how marvelous that is.
The chapters on Joseph and Mary were also a great reminder of trusting God even when it does not make sense - trusting the process which is something i often did myself doing as a blind person. I also always think we need to spend some time with Joseph - not because he is a man - but because he was a man who acted in faith rather than following culture - a lesson we should all keep in mind in this era of Christian Nationalism.
I would recommend this book and i would also suggest reading with a few other resources. It was a helpful resource for me and i learned a few things and really did come to appreciate the characters of Christmas and the story i have heard many times all over again.

[Linda Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a surprisingly engaging book! Surprising because it isn't a book I would have chosen to read unless it had been recommended to me. I heard the author interviewed on a podcast and was intrigued. Many of the thoughts expressed throughout this book are not new, but they are definitely worthy of revisiting. We read Luke 2 year after year in December, but this book encourages us to slow down and delve a bit more deeply into the lives of those mentioned in that chapter of Scripture: Zechariah & Elizabeth, Mary & Joseph, the magi, the angels, the shepherds, etc. Chapter 11 was my favorite. Daniel Darling gives us a peek at the four women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. Women were poorly regarded in the first century, having no rights and no voice whatsoever. "According to New Testament scholar Michael Green, a Jewish man 'thanked God each day that he had not been created a slave, a Gentile, or a woman.'" But these women are included in the genealogy of Jesus Christ! And among these women were prostitutes, adulterers, and enemies of Israel. They were unpopular, exploited, and despised, yet God saw fit to include them in the ancestry of His Son. And the same is true of us. Our names are known by Him and included in the book of life if we have been embraced by the Son. I'm glad I took the time to read it!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Christmas books, especially ones that help me understand the familiar story of the first Christmas better. This one is a great pick that focuses on each person in that original story. You may be surprised by some of these characters, such as Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. Though I am very familiar with the Bible, I learned new things about each person in the story.

These are the characters about whom you will gain wonderful insights:

Joseph
Zechariah and Elizabeth
Mary
The Christmas Angels
The Innkeeper
The Shepherds
The Wise Men
Herod
Simeon and Anna
Jesus’ Family Members

I’m enjoying this book as part of my Sabbath rest on Sundays this Advent season. One thing I like best is how the author makes the characters’ stories relevant to our experience today. You can put yourself in their shoes thanks to his wise and thoughtful writing.

I encourage you to get a copy of this book to enhance your Advent study, and pick up a copy for your family and friends too.

I received a preview copy of The Characters of Christmas from Moody Publishers.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect pre-Christmas devotional study for the individual or in a group setting.
Taking the characters associated with the Christmas story in the gospels of Matthew and Luke the author spends time enlightening the reader to the impact of the Christmas message to them and consequently to us today.
Written from an American evangelistic perspective the book is faith sharing and building. The research and links to the text and prophesy of the Old Testament are also skilfully unpacked to bring each character into a clear focus of God’s plan at Christmas for the world to receive His Son.
I liked the fact that the aspects shared were not preached but through gentle teaching. However, the ministry of the writer has surely been blessed in the creation and production of this book.
Not only will it challenged your faith and comfort your heart. It a real sense it reveals the familiar story with new depths and therefore greater understand.
I found it a real joy to read and reflect upon in this lead up to Christmas.

[Erica Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Nativity story is told every December, but is there more to it than what we’ve heard before?

In The Characters of Christmas: The Unlikely People Caught Up in the Story of Jesus, Daniel Darling offers fresh insight into this timeless story by turning our attention to the people who played a role in Jesus’ birth. He reflects on familiar figures like Mary and Joseph, Zechariah and Elizabeth, as well as those often overlooked—such as the Innkeeper and even Jesus’ ancestors.

Each chapter concludes with reflection questions, inviting the reader to pray more deeply with the text, and some chapters also include a recommended Christmas song for further meditation.

This book is especially meaningful to me because it once belonged to my maternal grandfather. After he passed away on Halloween, my mom chose to keep it, knowing how much I would appreciate it. The Characters of Christmas became the perfect companion for prayerfully entering the Advent season, carrying both spiritual insight and personal significance.

[Bethel Grove · Rating 3 out of 5]

In his book, The Characters of Christmas, Daniel Darling walks through the different stories of the nativity narrative from the perspective of each major and even some minor characters surrounding the birth of Jesus. Giving historical context along with personal insights, this book gives a new perspective to many of the characters we don’t think much about, and even those we do. Even going back to some of those in the lineage of Jesus, Darling illustrates the incredible tapestry of people that God wove together over 2000 years to help bring Jesus into the world, and with Him, the redemption of all mankind. This book is much different from many devotional book, or even books on advent. It’s an invitation to step into their world in order to become a part of the redemptive story of mankind. This book is pretty straightforward and a great compliment to any holiday tradition.

*I received a copy from the publisher for the purpose of this review

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many thanks to Moody Publishers for the gifted copy of this book! All opinions expressed are my own.

Who is ready for all things Christmas?! I am always filled with joy just thinking about Advent and the Christmas season. I’m excited to tell you about a book that is sure to encourage you and set your mind on things above. The Characters of Christmas is perfect for any season, but is especially great to read as we approach Christmas.

Each chapter provides a closer look at the people who were part of the birth of Jesus and also highlights the people in the genealogy of Jesus. The chapters conclude with questions for further reflection and study as well as suggested Christmas songs.

This is a wonderful read to fix your eyes upon the greatest gift we’ve ever been given- our Savior, Christ the King, Immanuel- Jesus.