As I read the Bible this morning in a random fashion, I happened upon these words:
14 “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too [Jesus] shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:14-15; 17)
Maybe it’s not true that I “happened upon” those words; this is, after all, the time of year when we remember the birth of our Savior. As we prepare for Christmas, we begin to celebrate the fact that when Jesus was born, He shared in our humanity and was made like us, fully human in every way. And since He did this, He was able to become the offering that turned God’s wrath away from us and on to Himself. For many people, the true meaning of Christmas is an introspective, benevolent attitude that stands against the commercialization of the holiday. For most of us, Christmas means exchanging gifts, which brings great joy, but can also create that commercialization. One could say that Christmas is about exchanging gifts or, rather, receiving one gift: the ultimate gift of salvation, based on the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, the most important event in history that was set into motion by the humble birth of our Savior on that silent, holy night more than 2,000 years ago.
Troy Burns