“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Lk 2:10). It is true. Amen.
It is a pretty common question in the month of December. You asked it because you were giving. Or you answered it because you were getting. “What do you want for Christmas?”
It seems as if little ones have an easier time with that inquiry than older ones. They don’t have to think long and hard. There is usually a long list of suggestions, all prepared to hand out to anyone who wants to know. In the olden days, it was compiled by paging through a catalog. Now you can browse on the internet. In general, the reply to “what do you want for Christmas?” comes down to stuff.
An interesting side note, when I posed that thought to our home bounds, there was usually a long pause. And then the responses varied from more time with family or another trip to church. Thank you to them for that noteworthy perspective.
Let me tweak that question just a bit. “What do you need for Christmas?” (I think that I have mentioned before that my parents used to answer that with socks. Did they really have to spend the time wrapping them? Why not eliminate the middle man and put them in my drawer and not under the tree.)
I am going to submit that we all need the same thing. We need a Jesus, a Savior. And that is what we receive.
We go back a little bit before the first Christmas. Mary and Joseph were pledged to be married (Mt 1:21). They had spoken their vows in public and were legally husband and wife. They didn’t live together right away in that culture according to custom.
And there was a situation. Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant. But he was not the father. He could only conclude one thing. She had been unfaithful. And there was a solution. He was going to divorce her (Mt 1:19).
But God put a stop to that plan. He sent an angel to inform him …
Of what had happened. The child that Mary was carrying was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Mt 1:20). That is not so much a technical explanation as it is a practical realization. Jesus did not have a human father and did not have the taint of any sin—true God and true man at the same time.
Of what would happen.
- “She will give birth to a son” (Mt 1:21). There would be no requirement to schedule an ultrasound. The baby is a boy.
- “You are to give him the name Jesus” (Mt 1:21). No pouring over a baby book or thinking through relatives to come up with a suitable name. Jesus.
There was a reason for it—not just because it sounded good. There was rational behind it—because he would serve well. It is almost a job description: “Because he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21). “Jesus” means “the Lord saves.” That is who he is—the Lord. That is what he does—saves. He himself would rescue us from the impossible situation of being separated from God.
That is why we celebrate Christmas. Jesus “made his dwelling among us” (Jn 1:14). Jesus wore our flesh and blood and bore our sin and shame. Not only would he live under the law and die, but he would keep it perfectly and his death would count for us all. He saved us from our sins. We are “children of God” (Jn 1:12).
So every time that we call out, “Jesus,” we are making an admission. “I need a Savior.”
And every time we cry out, “Jesus,” we are making an acknowledgement. “I have a Savior.” Peter summed it up well when he once confessed: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
That is exactly what the angels announced to the shepherds out in the field that first Christmas night. “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Lk 2:11). What the prophet Isaiah said: “The LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God” (Is 52:10) and what the psalmist had us sing: “his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him” (Ps 98:1) has been accomplished. Jesus—Savior—is born.
What do you want for Christmas? That might be one thing. Fill in the blank. And see what happens today. What do you need for Christmas? That is another thing. Look in the manger. See what has happened today. It is not just a one size fits all, but he is one Savior for all. You need a Jesus, a Savior. And that what you have. Jesus. Savior. Merry Christmas.
We read from Matthew 1:21:
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” (Lk 2:14). Amen.
December 25, 2018
No comments:
Post a Comment