Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order to preach – Part 1
Really? Yes, really! For that’s what we’re told in Luke 4:43.
But I do understand your incredulity. Because, whereas his turning water into wine marks him out as somebody worth inviting to a party, and his miraculous healings suggest he’s somebody who it would be worth travelling some distance to meet, that Jesus should come in order to preach is something that sounds…well… really rather boring actually.
I mean we’ve all been there – sat listening to the guy in the pulpit who, having droned on for 35 minutes, offers us some hope by uttering the words ‘And finally’, only to commence a seven point conclusion which means that, when at last you at last reach the sanctuary of your own home, your roast potatoes have long since passed the point of recognition.
More troubling still, some of us have been the monotoned menace who has caused us to want to stick pins in our eyes, if only to relieve the tedium.
But we should not let such negative experiences get in the way of the truth that God’s word has power – and that when God speaks, things happen.
It’s sometimes said that God creates what he commands – that what he says comes into existence as a result of him he decreeing it. Which sounds a bit weird until we realise that, in a limited sense at least, that can be true for us as well. But whereas my yelling ‘Wake up!’ at sufficient volume may once have proved effective in rousing my teenage daughter from sleep, that, sadly, is pretty much the limit of what my words can bring about.
Even so, whereas my utterances can’t even guarantee that my now semiconscious offspring would actually get out of bed, Jesus’ words are powerful enough to get a response even from those who are dead – as was the case when he commanded Lazarus to come out from the tomb wherein he’d lain for the previous four days.
Similarly, it was by a word of command that God created the world. ‘Let there be light’, says God in Genesis 1:3. ‘And there was light’. And, we’re told in Romans 10:17, ‘faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.’
All of which suggests that, if we’re going to have faith, we’re going to have to hear authoritative words from the one who, by virtue of his authority over all that there is to have authority over, is one in whom we can rationally place our faith.
Which, when you think about it, is not really boring at all. On the contrary, when God speaks, exciting things happen. Perhaps then, rather than shutting him out of the conversation, we should listen instead to what Jesus came into the world that first Christmas Day to preach.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 10 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here
Some musings 