One day the man carrying water
out of the well shaft slipped and broke his leg. There was only one man in the tribe who was
strong enough to carry a man out of the well.
That man was the tribe’s chief.
So the people went and called him.
The chief customarily wore a
massive headdress and ceremonial robe.
However, in order to rescue the man in the well he had to remove
both. He descended into that well, put the
injured man on his shoulders and removed him to safety. He did what no-one else could do. When that chief took off his headdress and
robe to rescue the injured man, did he stop being their chief? Of course not!
In the same way, when Jesus put
aside all heavenly honours and came down to rescue us by taking the weight of
our sins upon his shoulders, did he stop being God the Son? No!
Our divine brother, made himself nothing, becoming fully human and yet
remaining fully God, and came to our rescue.
Though
he was God … This is God the Son who comes from heaven to
rescue us. The second person of the
mystery we call the Trinity. (A few
years ago my son asked me to explain the Trinity, so I responded, ‘your mum
will explain that one and in a few years I will tell you how babies are made’)
The evidence is clear for Jesus’
divinity. Job says that God marches on
the waves of the sea (Job 9:8), and then Jesus comes and walks on water (6:44).
The Psalms tell us that God stilled the storm to a whisper (Psalm 107:29), then
Jesus says ‘be still’ and there was complete calm (Mark 4:39). At the burning bush God tells Moses to tell
the people ‘I am has sent me to you’ (Exodus 3:14) then Jesus angers his
opponents by explaining that ‘before Abraham was, I am’ (John 8:59). Doubting Thomas meets the risen Jesus and
declares, ‘my Lord and my God’ (John 20:28).
God declares to Ezekiel, ‘I will search for my sheep as a shepherd’
(Ezekiel 34:11), then Jesus comes as the good shepherd, who lays down his life
for his sheep (John 10:11). And God
declares through Isaiah that every knee will bow before me (Isaiah 45:23), and the
apostle Paul now writes that ‘every knee will bow’ before Jesus (10). Forgive me for going on about this. It’s just that in every generation there have
been those who deny this truth, like the Jehovah Witnesses who say that Jesus
is only the Archangel Michael.
He
was born as a human being.
That’s what we remember at Christmas.
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem he didn’t stop being what he was (God
the Son), but he did become something that he had never been before (a human
being). The creator of the universe
becomes a foetus in a womb. The one who
causes mighty cedars to grow was placed in a manger made of wood. He who hung stars in space and as a carpenter
would learn how to hang doors on their frames (I don’t remember where I read
those last two sentence before). He was
born in controversial circumstances that made him the subject of vicious gossip. He knows what it is to be tempted, yet he was
without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He became
hungry and tired. He had an ordinary job
where he worked with his hands. He was
misunderstood by his family, who that thought he was insane. While foxes have holes and birds of nests,
Jesus had nowhere to lay his head (Matthew 8:20)—he knew what it was like to be
homeless. He was let down by his closest
friends. He was sold for thirty pieces
of silver—the price paid in compensation for a dead slave. He was spat on and ridiculed. The flesh on his back was sliced open by a
whip that had sharp bones sown into it.
As one who endured far greater pain than we will ever imagine, he is
sympathetic to all our weaknesses.
Yet the greatest moment of agony
came when he died a criminal’s death on a cross. The cradle led to a cross. Christmas works its way to Easter. Jesus lived around 1,700 weeks, yet the four
gospels spend a third of their time on just one of those weeks. Nine of John’s twenty one chapters focus on
the week of his death. The apostle Paul
can sum up all his preaching by saying, ‘I preach Christ crucified’ (1
Corinthians 1:23). ‘There is nothing
more important in Christian theology than our theology of the cross’ (DeYoung).
His was the most amazing act of
humility the world has ever seen. It was
also the very definition of love. In the
Roman world where Jesus lived, crucifixion was an unmentionably shameful way to
die. No-one with Roman citizenship was
allowed to be crucified. The Jews
thought it was a terrible thing, for death on a tree was a sign of God’s curse
(Deuteronomy 21:23). But Christ bore the
curse for our sin so that we could be adopted into God’s family (Galatians
3:13). From that cross Jesus cried, ‘My
God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Matthew 27:46). He was forsaken so that we never will be
(Hebrews 13:5).
Conclusion
Therefore
God has exalted him to the place of highest honour and given him the name that
is above every name. One day
every knee will bow before him and every
tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father. For all eternity God’s rescued people who are
gathered from every nation on the earth will praise the lamb that was slain
(Revelation 5:12).
Can you doubt God’s love for
you? Jesus promises that he will never
drive away anyone that comes to him (John 6:37). He invites each of us to know him. If you know him you should marvel at what he
has done for you. He has done so much
more than that chief taking off his robes and going down that well to rescue
one of his people. The Son of God was in
heaven enjoying perfect love with the Father and Spirit and yet he took off his
royal attire to come into the world to rescue you. He became Jesus (meaning ‘God saves’). He was man of sorrows who was familiar with
grief. He descended to the horrors of
death to bring us up to eternal life. He
remains in heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father, in a glorified human
body, bearing the marks of his crucifixion and praying on your behalf. Could anything humble us more and fill our
hearts with joy and gladness?
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