Some musings

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: To be the propitiation for our sins and the saviour of the world.

For those are the reasons that we’re told he was sent by the Father in 1 John 4:10 and 1 John 4:14.

I forget which footballer it was whose name was used when, as a lad in my primary school playground, I used to hear the refrain: ‘Jesus saves, but ‘the 1970’s equivalent of Messi’ scores from the rebound’.

Whilst this is not, perhaps, the greatest example of schoolboy humour, it does nonetheless serve to raise the question of what it is that Jesus saves us from. And the rather uncomfortable answer to that question is, I’m afraid, God’s wrath.

Because whilst God is undoubtedly a God of love, he is at the same time one who, because he is holy and righteous, is justly angry at sin. As I’m sure you’ll agree he should be when it comes to child abuse, violent crime and the horrible atrocities of war – which suggests that we only feel uncomfortable with the idea of God’s judgement when that judgement threatens to fall on us.

But if we make the cut off for what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour at a level that we ourselves manage to achieve, then we will have no right to object if others make it at a different level, one that allows behaviours that we might consider to be beyond the pale. For who are we to say that our subjective assessment of what is right and wrong is any better than anyone else’s?

And so the only logical solution is to accept that God, being holy, is the only one who gets to define what is right and wrong. And having done so we need to trust that, as the judge of the whole earth, he will always do what is just. [Genesis 18:25]

And this is where, as I may have mentioned before, the good news comes in. Because, despite all of us having sinned and, therefore, fallen short of God’s glory [Romans 3:23], rather than punishing us in the way his justice demands, God has acted so that he can forgive our sin and declare us not guilty. And this is not because we have somehow earned his mercy – because we haven’t. Rather it is because of his grace, his unmerited kindness, that led him to lovingly send Jesus to bare the punishment that we all so rightly deserved.

Because 1 John 4:10 tells us that Jesus was sent by God to be the propitiation for our sin. And what that big Bible word ‘propitiation’ means is that Jesus, when he died on the cross, did so in our place. And, in so doing, he absorbed all of God’s entirely appropriate anger at what we ourselves have done wrong. And that is how the God who justifies the ungodly [Romans 4:5], remains just and righteous even as he spares us from the wrath that would otherwise have rightly fallen on us.

God’s wrath, therefore, has not then been merely restrained by Jesus, or deflected by him, only for it to rear us and be poured out on us again at some later date. Rather, for we who believe, God’s wrath at our sin has been spent, satisfying God’s need for justice by being completely poured out on Jesus instead. As such, it cannot ever fall on us in the future because it would be unjust for God to punish us for something that Christ has already received the punishment for himself. And that’s why, in his letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul can confidently assert that ‘there is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ [Romans 8:1].

And it is this amazingly good news, the result of a frankly astonishing act of love, that stands at the centre of all that scripture teaches. And it is this ‘gospel’ that is summarised in what some have suggested are the most important verses in the Bible, Romans 3:21-26 – verses which conclude with words that declare God to be both just, and the justifier, of the one who has faith in Jesus.

But it’s not just those who put their trust in Christ who are saved. As the saviour of the world, Jesus is also all about restoring the whole of the created order. It too ‘will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. [Romans 8:21]

Because, just as we are given a new start, so too will creation will be rebooted as well. Because, appropriately discontent with a world that is broken and spiralling into decay, we who believe are invited to be part of the new heaven and new earth that will one day be revealed – a new creation that, as I may also have mentioned before, ‘every tear will be wiped away and death will be no more…for the former things will have passed away’. [Revelation 21:4]

That’s what it means for Jesus to be the saviour of the world. And as the propitiation for our sins, that’s what he guaranteed when he came to earth on that first Christmas Day.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 23 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here.

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order that we might have life and have it abundantly

Because that is what Jesus tells us in John 10:10. His statement forms part of a conversation that he is having with the religious leaders of his day. In it Jesus speaks of being both a door through which we can enter into salvation, and a good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep.

So first of all, what does Jesus mean when he says he has come that we might have life? I only ask because, despite my words being dull enough to cause some to lose the will to continue with it, most of those reading this will consider that life is something that they already have.

Jesus, therefore, when he refers to someone having life, must have more in mind than that person merely having a beating heart and a correspondingly palpable pulse. Rather then than physical life, what Jesus is here referring to is spiritual life, or eternal life, which, he says, is to know the one true God which he says, involves knowing himself as well. [John 17:3]

Now some of us might be thinking that that sounds a bit, well boring – nowhere near as exciting as a day watching Somerset play cricket at the county ground in Taunton for example. And for others, far from epitomising the truly abundant life, it will sound far too religious to be something that any sane individual would ever want to do.

But if that is the case, then we have believed the lie that God is a boring killjoy who wants to stop us having fun, rather than the truth that ‘in [his] presence there is fullness of joy [and] at [his] right hand their are pleasures for evermore’, [Psalm 16:11] – words that could perhaps be paraphrased as ‘with God there is both infinite and eternal happiness’.

But having described how great it is to know God, and acknowledged that it will be immeasurably better once we have the resurrection bodies that will better enable us to appreciate his glory once we’ve been raised from the dead, we need to look again at the context in which Jesus spoke of his giving us this abundant life.

You’ll remember that Jesus said what he said whilst speaking of himself as being, not only a door, but also a good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Which suggests to me that it is his giving up his life that makes him the door through which we can pass into the abundant life that he offers.

Because it is through his substitutionary and sacrificial death that we are forgiven and rendered fit to enter God’s presence.

Which means we must ask ourselves whether we are sheep! Are we those who recognise the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd? And are we those who are prepared to gladly follow him wherever he leads?

Because if we are, then we will surely know the abundant life that Jesus offers as a result of his coming to earth on that first Christmas Day.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 22 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order to destroy the works of the devil

For that is what we’re told in 1 John 3:8.

I know what you’re thinking – all this talk of God and Jesus is one thing, but to bring the devil into the conversation is surely to take us back to the dark ages and, what’s more, make plain something that many have for a long time suspected – that I am completely off my religious rocker!

But I have to confess that I do believe in the devil. That is not to say that I think he is responsible for all the evil acts that we are forever hearing hear about on the news – for both fallen human nature and the way society organises itself contribute considerably towards the net total of all that’s wrong with this world as well – but to paraphrase C.S. Lewis, to disbelieve in the devil’s existence is every bit a mistake as to have an excessive and unhealthy interest in him.

Jesus himself spoke about the devil. [John 8:44] And if the Son of God considers him to exist, then it seems to me that it would be foolishness on our part to consider him to be no more than a figment of a more ignorant generation’s imagination. Even so, whilst acknowledging his reality, we should also remember that, having been defeated by Jesus through his death on the cross, the devil is no longer someone we need to be unduly scared of.

For whilst we are told to be watchful, conscious of how he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour [1 Peter 5:8], we should also remember that, as Martin Luther once said, ‘the devil is God’s devil’, and as such his influence over us is only as great as God allows. Those with faith in Christ can,therefore, rest confident that, irrespective of what unpleasantness he might like to inflict on us, the devil can ultimately do us no real harm – not in any eternal sense at least.

So what are the works of the devil?

Known as the deceiver of the whole world, [Revelation 9:12], the devil’s principal work is, perhaps, to pervert the truth and prevent us from enjoying the relationship we were always meant to have with God.

Back in the Garden of Eden, it was the devil’s misleading of Adam and Eve that led to man’s rebellion against God. And ever since man was subsequently forced to leave that wonderful place of safety, the devil has sought to prevent the reconciliation that God has been working to bring about through his sending of the Messiah.

Many attempts were made by the devil to stop Jesus from completing the work of salvation – including the one we remember at Christmas. For it was surely the devil’s voice that whispered in the ear of King Herod and prompted him to order the murder of all male infants under the age of two who were in or around Bethlehem at the time of the visit of those wise men from the East. [Matthew 2:16]. Because had Jesus been one of those killed in that horrific slaughter, as both the devil and King Herod had hoped, then he would not have been able to go on and die on the cross for us in the way that he did.

But now, with Jesus having completed all that he came to do, the devil seeks to blind men and women to the truth of the gospel. [2 Corinthians 4:4]

But despite him doing his worst, the truth of the good news remains. And so, in the words of one of my favourite hymns:

‘When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin.
Because the sinless Saviour died,
My sinful soul is counted free,
For God the Just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me’

By dealing with our sin problem, Jesus has rendered the devil harmless. Though he can, and does accuse us day and night, with our sins now forgiven, death has now lost its sting, [1 Corinthians 15:55] and not even that last great enemy can separate us from the love of God that is ours Christ Jesus. [Romans 8:38-39]

What’s more, death itself has been redeemed. Far then from it being the end, for those who put their trust in Christ, death is now a new beginning, a door that leads us straight into the presence of the God who is our loving Heavenly Father. Which is why the Christian can say, along with the apostle Paul, that ‘to die is gain’. [Philippians 1:21]

Furthermore, though he continues to cause significant trouble in our world today, there is a day coming when the devil will be gone for good – after which there will be no more tears, no more suffering and no more death.

Because on that day, as a result of what Jesus achieved when he came to earth on that first Christmas Day, the works of the devil will have been totally destroyed.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 21 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here.

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order to do the will of him who sent him.

For that’s what we’re told in John 6:38.

Back when I was a GP, I’m not sure that I always consulted as professionally as I ought to have.

Some years ago, having completed an assessment of a patient, I silently intimated to him to crawl under the couch on which I’d been examining him. Once he was hunched uncomfortably beneath it, I proceeded to drape a towel over its side in order to conceal the man more fully. Then, from behind the curtain that had shielded his 7 year old daughter from all that had been taking place within, I announced to her that I would now make her Dad disappear.

With a cry of ‘Abracadabra’, I pulled back the curtain revealing the empty couch. At at which point, a less than astonished little girl, who hadn’t even been fooled for a second, pointed to where her father had been earlier encouraged to hide.

Well I found it funny!

All of which goes to show that, as well as my having a childish sense of humour, some people will do what ever they’re asked to do, even when what they’re asked to do, isn’t something that they would normally.

Far more significantly however, there was one who always did what he was asked to do – even when what he was asked to do cost him his life.

Jesus said, ‘I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.’

And the will of the one who sent him was that he would lose none of the men women and children that God had given him to save. Or, put another way: Jesus came with a job to do – and that was to ensure that all those who put their trust in him, would, on the last day, be raised from the dead and given eternal life. [Jahn 6:38-48]

But in order to do this, Jesus would first have to pay the penalty that was rightfully theirs by being nailed to a cross and left to die.

The Roman orator Cicero described crucifixion as ‘a most cruel and disgusting punishment’ and suggested that ‘the very mention of the cross should be far removed not only from a Roman citizen’s body, but from his mind, his eyes, his ears.’

Crucifixion then, was a particularly unpleasant way to die – which was something that Jesus himself knew well.

On the night proceeding his execution, Jesus spent some time in the Garden of Gethsemane where, all too well aware of what would take place the following day, he sweated blood – a medical phenomenon known as hematohidrosis that can occur in individuals experiencing extreme stress.

No wonder then that Jesus prayed as he did:

‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me,’ he said. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.’ [Luke 22:42]

The cup here is a reference to the cup of God’s wrath that Jesus would drink so that we would not have to drink It ourselves. It was a truly terrifying prospect but, in keeping with the reason he had come to earth in the first place, Jesus continued to do the will of him who sent him.

And so it was that ‘for the joy that was set before him, [Jesus] endured the cross’ [Hebrews 12:2].

And what was the joy that motivated Jesus to suffer in the way that he did? Surely both the salvation of those he died for – and the glory of the one whose will he came to do when he came to Earth on that first Christmas Day.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 20 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order to fulfil both the Law and the Prophets – Part Four.

Having already said something about the vast number of Old Testament prophecies that were so reliably fulfilled by Jesus in his lifetime, it is important to say that Jesus also came to guarantee that those prophecies that haven’t yet been fulfilled will one day surely come about. Or, to put it another way, all the many promises of God will find their ‘Yes and Amen’ in Jesus. For that is how the Bible puts it in 2 Corinthians 1:20.

That God keeps his promises is the rock solid foundation for our sure and certain hope that all the ongoing difficulties in the world will one day come to an end.

Furthermore, that his word is guaranteed is something that can, and does, change how we feel in the here and now, as suffering continues to be reported daily on the news and remains an ever present reality in both our own lives and the lives of those we love. Let me explain with an illustration.

Suppose, back when I worked as a GP,
a patient comes to see me with a really nasty chest infection. They feel horribly unwell and are seriously worried that they will never recover.

And then I give them a prescription for some antibiotics, and promise them that, if they take them, they will soon be restored to health.

Immediately they feel better – even though they aren’t. How could they be, they’ve not even picked up the prescription yet.

But they nonetheless begin to feel better because they have believed my promise that better is what they will one day be.

Well God has made promises too, one’s that can be depended upon far more reliably than any promise made by any doctor ever. And each one, by assuring us of a brighter tomorrow, brightens our today.

Here are just a few:

Though the grief remains, there is a day coming when the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise. [1 Thessalonians 4:16]

There is a day coming when what is sown perishable, will be raised imperishable, what is sown in dishonour, will be raised in glory, and what is sown in weakness will be raised in power [1 Corinthians 15:42-43].

And there is a day coming when God will wipe away every tear from our eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore
for the former things will have passed away [Revelation 21:4].

Add to these promises those that assure us that all wars will eventually come to an end [Isaiah 2:4], all injustice will cease [Isaiah 11:2-5] and the poor and the hungry will no longer want for anything [Psalm 72:6, 12-13] and you can see why it’s such good news that Jesus came to earth that first Christmas Day to fulfil both the Law and the Prophets.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 19 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here.

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order to fulfil both the Law and the Prophets – Part Three.

Things don’t always go as planned – not in my life at least. And these days, the principle reason for this is a certain black Labrador. Because whether it’s the result of him stealing my footwear, destroying our garden, or urgently requiring veterinary attention having gleefully gobbled up an undisclosed amount of rat poison, Hector will not infrequently cause things to happen that had not anticipated.

But what is true for me, isn’t true for the one who sovereignly controls all that daily takes place.

Which brings me to consider further how Jesus fulfilled both the Law and the Prophets. Because having seen how he kept the Law, and realised what had previously been hinted at in so many Old Testament stories, it’s now only appropriate that we see how Jesus fulfilled the many specific prophecies that were made about him in the Hebrew Scriptures, all of which we know were carefully written down hundreds of years before his birth.

But with some suggesting that there are as many as 570 such prophecies, it is not going to be possible to mention them all. Even so, we’ll begin with one of the most important, the one by which God promised that a Messiah would eventually come and reverse the effects of the fall. It’s the first prophecy that was made, and can be found way back in the third chapter of the very first book in the Bible.

There in Genesis 3:15, we read of one who, born of a woman, would one day crush Satan’s head, even as he himself has his heal bruised. Which is what Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, did as he suffered and died on the cross.

Elsewhere in the Old Testament it is further predicted that the Messiah would be born of a virgin [Isaiah 7:14] in the town of Bethlehem [Micah 5:2], and that he’d be rejected by the people [Isaiah 53:3] and betrayed by a friend [Psalm 41:9] for thirty pieces of silver [Zechariah 11:12].

All of these things took place, as did the many prophecies detailing how he would die. The Old Testament predicts that Jesus would be silent when accused [Isaiah 53:7], that he would be struck and spat upon [Isaiah 50:6], have his hands and feet pierced [Zechariah 22:16] and ultimately be crucified with sinners. [Isaiah 53:12]

Furthermore, not only was it foretold that he would pray for those who accused him [Isaiah 53:12] and that lots would be cast for his clothes [Psalm 22:8], having died without a bone being broken [Psalm 34:20], it was predicted that he would be buried in a rich man’s tomb [Isaiah 53:9] and then be raised back to life [Psalm 16:10].

It’s quite a list – one that strongly suggests that Jesus’ life, not to mention his death and subsequent resurrection, far from being the result of mere earthly happenstance, occurred in accordance with God’s sovereign will and the plan of redemption that he had put in place before the creation of the world. [Acts 2:23, Ephesians 1:4]

All of which means that it really was to fulfil the Law and the Prophets that Jesus came to earth on that first Christmas Day.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 18 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here.

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?

Answer: In order to fulfil both the Law and the Prophets – Part Two.

I said yesterday that Jesus fulfilling the law and the prophets meant, at least in part, that he came to keep God’s law. But it means more than just that because ‘The Law and the Prophets’ is a phrase that the Bible uses to refer to the whole of the Old Testament. 

As such Jesus came to fulfil all that had been written about him before he was born. Which is why it must have been quite an eye opening Bible study for the disciples on the road to Emmaus when, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. [Luke 24:27].

Things like Abraham being asked to sacrifice his son Isaac, only for Isaac to be subsequently reprieved three days later when a lamb was provided as a substitute. Which is surely a picture of God sacrificing his own son Jesus – the Lamb of God who died in our place, as our substitute, before being raised to life three days later.[Genesis 22]

Things like the Ark, which provided a place for Noah and his family to be carried safely through the flood of God’s judgment. Which is surely a picture of how those ‘in Christ’ are similarly carried safely through death, thereby being spared the consequences of God’s righteous anger at their sin. [Genesis 6-9]

And things like David who, representing Israel, defeated the giant Goliath who in turn represented the Philistines, the enemies of God’s people. This he did with a stone that crushed Goliath’s head. Which is surely a picture of how Jesus, representing God’s people, fulfils the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 and defeats Satan, the one who represents all that is evil. [1 Samuel 17]

More than that Jesus is revealed through the pages of the New Testament as the second Adam [1 Corinthians 15:45], a better Moses [Hebrews 3:3-4], and the true Israel of God. [Hosea 11:1, Matthew 2:13-15]

And he is also the fulfilment of the Old Treatment temple. For the place where people met with God has now become a person – Jesus – something that is abundantly apparent when he, in a clear reference to his own death and subsequent resurrection said, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ [John 2:19]

I could go on, and say how many other individuals and incidents in the Old Testament point us to Jesus and what he has done – but what I’ve said above does I think give at least a glimpse of how he came to earth on that first Christmas Day to fulfil both the law and the prophets. 

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 17 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order to fulfil both the Law and the Prophets – Part One

God’s law is good – and when I say good, I mean perfect, in the same way that everything that God does is perfect. And so, when Jesus came to earth, there was no way he was going to abolish it. On the contrary, as he himself said during his sermon on the mount, Jesus came to fulfill the law. [Matthew 5:17]

Which in part at least means that Jesus came to keep God’s law.

And it’s a good job he did. Because I don’t.

I make mistakes – as anyone who has ever had me perform a minor op on them will tell you. Quite what they thought when I not infrequently, and somewhat disconcertingly, would utter the word ‘Oops’ as I went about my business, I’ll never know!

But whilst the mistakes I make due to my ignorance or weakness are a concern to me, far more serious are the things that, on occasions, I deliberately do wrong and which thereby reveal the state of my oh so desperately sick heart.

So before considering why it was so important for Jesus to keep God’s law, let’s think about what it would have actually taken for him to do so. Because it would not only mean avoiding all those things that we might think of as obviously sinful, but also all those things that, to us at least, might not seem so bad.

And so for example, for Jesus to keep God’s law, it would mean that he never harboured a jealous thought, never uttered an unkind word and never allowed himself to wallow, even for a moment, in sullen ungratefulness.

I on the other hand am somebody who can’t go two minutes without doing something wrong. Whilst, perhaps, less obviously than some, I nonetheless remain someone who commits all of the above sins, and many more besides. Because the truth is that I still sin – in thought, word and deed, through ignorance, through weakness, and most depressingly of all, through my own deliberate fault.

That’s why I need a saviour who can be a perfect sacrifice for me – one who, having never sinned himself, can die for mine instead.

And that’s why it’s so important to me that Jesus fulfilled God’s law. For had he failed to do so, had he sinned even just the once, he could no more have died in my place than he could have died in yours.

But having lived a sinless life, that’s exactly what he was able to do.

And so it was that Jesus came to earth on that first Christmas Day to keep the law in order that he might then be the perfect sacrifice necessary to atone for our sin.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 16 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order to reveal what God is like.

Some people say that they would believe in God if he would only make himself known to them. This is a comment that sometimes draws a rather sniffy response from religious types who consider such words as indicative of a lack of faith in the person who utters them.

But to be fair to those who want some kind of sign to prove the existence of God, it should be noted that God cannot be known unless he reveals himself. The mistake of the one who doesn’t yet believe, is not their making unreasonable demands for evidence, but rather a failure to recognise the evidence that God has already provided.

Which includes the universe itself – by which God has been clearly revealing his eternal power and divine nature ever since it was created. [Romans 1:20] Furthermore, as the writer of the letter to the Hebrews tells us, God has long since revealed himself through the Old Testament prophets. But more recently, and more fully, God has ‘in these last days’ revealed himself through his son Jesus who, we’re told, ‘is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature’ [Hebrews 1:3]

No wonder then that Jesus himself said ‘I and the Father are one’ [John 10:30] and ‘Whoever has seen me has seen the Father’ [John 14:9]

Jesus then, is claiming to be God – something that John affirms when he describes how, in the beginning, the word who was both with God and was God, became flesh and dwelt amongst us. [John 1:1-2,14]

All of which means that if we want to know what God is like, we need only to look at Jesus ‘in whom the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.’ [Colossians 2:9]

And if we do, we will see him to be one who, as well as giving sight to the blind, heals the sick and brings the dead back to life; we will know him to be one who weeps with those who weep, and laments for those who hate him and therefore want nothing of what he would still gladly give them; and we will marvel at the one who, even as he humbles himself and allows himself to be crucified, prays for those who nail him to the cross,

And if all that wasn’t enough for us to appreciate what God is like, we will also be drawn to worship the one who loves us enough to free us from the sting of death by living a sinless life, suffering that substitutionary death in our behalf, and subsequently being raised gloriously back to life.

For that is how God is revealed to be when he came to earth in human form on that first Christmas Day.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 15 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order to be a light.

Because in John 12:46 Jesus tells us that he came as a light in order that all who believe in him may not remain in darkness.

You’ve probably heard it before – the thought experiment that seeks to suggest that all religions are but complimentary ways to understand the same God. It goes something like this

Imagine four blind men, who having never before heard of about elephants, find themselves alongside one in a pitch black room.

Each man stretches out his arms to feel this thing they’re encountering, hoping to understand it better.

One takes hold of the trunk, and concludes it is a snake. Another wraps his arms around a foot, and imagines it to be a tree.
The third man feels the elephants tail, and declares that it’s a rope. And the last man slaps his hands against the elephants body, and announces that it is a wall.

Some people say that, just as all four men are describing the same thing in different ways, so too different religions offer different perspectives of the same God

Which all sounds very wise until we notice the very obvious limitations of the analogy that encourages us to think in ways that are wrong and which subsequently lead us to draw conclusions that are false.

Because what we need to recognise is that all four of the men in the thought experiment are wrong. It wasn’t a snake, a tree, a rope or a wall that they were feeling – it was an elephant!

Furthermore, the thought experiment doesn’t recognise any form of special revelation. That is to say the elephant doesn’t speak.

But we have a God who does speak – through creation, through the pages of scripture and through a person – the historical man who was, and is, Jesus Christ.

And so to extend the thought experiment a little, imagine that as the blind men flounder around in the dark, the elephant starts to talk and declares himself to be an elephant!

Such a declaration would have absolute authority. Why? Because the elephant knows what it is. And, because it knows exactly what it is talking about, its testimony would be one that is totally trustworthy.

But when it comes to our understanding of who God is, it gets even better than that. Because as well as declaring himself to be God, Jesus not only restores our sight but, by being the light of the world [John 8:12] switches on the light in order that we need not remain in darkness as to who he really is.

The nature of God does not depend on what people think about him. He is not the subjective product of our own imaginations, but an objective reality – the one who is who he is, and the one who, in Christ, he reveals himself to be.

There is then such a thing as absolute truth – and that absolute truth is God. And, because of Jesus, who, as well as being the light, said he was also the way and the truth [John 14:6], that God is one that, through Jesus, can be known.

We therefore need not ever be in darkness, because of the light that Jesus came to be, when he came to earth on that first Christmas Day.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 14 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order that the blind might see.

Jesus gives this as the reason he came to earth more than once with one such instance being John 9:39. But more than merely restoring sight to those who are physically blind, Jesus is all about opening the eyes of those who are spiritually blind. And on one particularly interesting occasion, he restores the sight of a blind man in a way that acts as a parable to explain the far more serious nature of spiritual blindness.

The incident, recorded for us in Mark Chapter 8, takes place at Bethesda where Jesus appears at first glance to make a bit of a hash of the miracle in that he has to have two attempts at it before the individual in question is able to see properly.

Firstly, in verse 23, Jesus spits on the man’s eyes in a way that is likely to upset even the most relaxed public health consultant, and then, having laid hands on him, he asks if the man can see.

Which he can – but only partially! Because though the man says that he is able to see, all he can discern are men that look more like trees! Make no mistake, what Jesus has done is undoubtedly impressive, but it’s not what we might have expected from the one who is God, the sovereign Lord of the universe.

So Jesus has another go, and lays hands on the man a second time. And this time, normal service is resumed, and the man is not only able to see, but is able to do so perfectly.

So why the two stage healing?

Well the reason is made apparent when this event is considered alongside the one that takes place immediately after it. For it is then that Peter makes his first declaration that Jesus is indeed the Christ.

But when Jesus then begins to explain to the disciples that he must suffer and die, Peter isn’t having any of it, going even as far as rebuking Jesus for speaking in such a way.

Peter then, like the blind man after part one of his healing, is only partially seeing who Jesus is. He’s recognised him to be God’s chosen King, but not as the suffering servant that the King was always meant to be. As such, Peter will need to be able to see more of who Jesus is before he can be considered to fully know him.

So then, true spiritual sight involves seeing not only that Jesus is God, but also that he is the one who, by allowing himself to be nailed to a cross, would bring about our salvation.

That the Messiah should have to suffer is a stumbling block to some and foolishness to others, [1 Corinthians 1:23] but to those who have had their eyes opened, to those who are able to see clearly, it is both the power of God and the wisdom of God. [1 Corinthians 1:23-24]

And so I wonder, can you see who Jesus is?

Because it was to give sight to the spiritually blind that he came to earth on that first Christmas Day.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 13 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here

https://peteaird.org/2023/12/13/a-christmas-countdown-day-13/

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order to preach – Part 3

For, as we’re told in Luke 4:19, Jesus came to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

It was on August 1st 1991, twelve days after our wedding and with the honeymoon over, that I began work as a junior doctor. My first job was as the House Surgeon to a Urologist in Bristol’s Southmead Hospital. It was the beginning of what was, at times, a stressful year, but one that was made considerably easier as the result of the leniency shown me by the consultant I was working for.

This was not, however, because of anything in me. Rather it was because a world renowned surgeon who was a distant relative of mine, had written the textbook of surgery that my consultant had himself studied from. And though, having died some years before I was even born, I never met Professor Ian Aird, my boss liked the idea that he might be nurturing another Aird – one who, under his tutelage might eventually become similarly famous. And it was this wishful thought that made him more accepting of my all too obvious surgical incompetence than he might otherwise have been.

So then, despite my no doubt being a huge disappointment to him, I still enjoyed, if not a year, several months of that consultant’s favour.

But his kindness towards me pales into insignificance when compared to the kindness that, similarly undeserved, we are all offered during the year of the Lord’s favour – a period of time which, contrary to how it sounds, extends longer than a mere twelve months.

The year of the Lord’s favour refers to a period of time promised in the Old Testament when God would look favourably on those that had been exiled and held in Babylonian captivity – those for whom he would cancel their debt and act to bring them safely back home.

Astonishingly though, Jesus claimed that this prophecy, found in Isaiah 61 and previously fulfilled in the pages of the Old Testament, fully referred to his life in first century Palestine.

For at the start of his earthly ministry we find Jesus standing up in the synagogue and saying:

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’

And then, having read these words from Isaiah prophecy, he then sits down and, with everyone looking at him, adds, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ [Luke 4:18-21]

Jesus then was claiming to be the one who will free us from the slavery of sin, pay the debt we owe because of all our wrongdoing, and welcome us into the family of God as his adopted sons and daughters.

And the good news is that today we are still in the Year of the Lord’s favour – because, as the apostle Paul writes, ‘now is the favourable time and…now is the day of salvation.’ [2 Corinthians 6:2]

And that is the gospel that Jesus came to preach when he came to earth on that first Christmas Day.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 12 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here.

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order to preach – Part 2

For as we’re told in Ephesians 2: 16-17, Christ came to preach peace to those who were far off in order that they might be reconciled to God

I know this won’t be hard for some of you to believe but, were you to catch my much better half in an uncharacteristically ungracious moment, she might just reveal to you that, on occasions at least, I can be a tad irritating to live with – by which I mean ‘utterly insufferable’. Indeed, there are times that I am guilty of crimes so heinous that they make even the flagrantly improper folding of a tea towel seem like some minor misdemeanour!

Seriously though, when I have done something that genuinely spoils the relationship I enjoy with my nearest and dearest, my desire to be forgiven is not just so I no longer have to experience any unpleasant feelings of guilt – rather what I desire most is that our relationship be restored to how it had been before my foolish act.

That is to say, I long for us to be reconciled.

And reconciliation is what Jesus came to bring about too. Because through his substitutionary death on the cross, more than merely securing our forgiveness, Jesus reconciled us to God. That’s what Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans: ‘while we were still sinners Christ died for us’ [Romans 5:8], and ‘while we were his enemies, we were reconciled to God’ [Romans 5:10]

With our sins pardoned, we are at peace with God and our warfare with him is therefore over. [Isaiah 40:2].

No longer then his enemies, God is now for us. And if God is for us, who can be against us? Furthermore, ‘he who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?’ [Romans 8:31-32]

All of which is very good news – which is exactly what Jesus came to preach when he came to earth on that first Christmas Day.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 11 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here

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.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 10 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: To become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God.

Those of a similar age to me might remember wasting countless Saturday mornings watching Swap Shop. Back then, whilst the cool kids were laughing themselves silly at the antics of Bob Carolgees and Spit the Dog on ITV’s Tiswaz, I was unaccountably drawn to the nonexistent drama that was being played out as Mike from Minchinhampton offered a first edition etch-a-sketch in return for a 1976 Blue Peter Annual.

But not all swaps are as insignificant as those that, in the early 1980’s, the BBC passed off as cutting edge children’s entertainment.

For the swap that Jesus offers us is far more intriguing, offering us his righteousness for our sin. That’s what it means when we read in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that ‘he who knew no sin became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God.’

By accepting this great exchange, not only does it mean that, when he was crucified, Jesus was bearing the punishment for our sin, but also that, dressed in Christ’s righteousness, we can stand confidently before God. This is not because we have been good, but because Christ has been good on our behalf. And so, as well as being counted as if we’d never sinned, we’re treated as if we had always done what was right.

As a result then, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. [Romans 8:1].

My sin for Christ’s righteousness is a swap that I’m very happy to make – one that makes me very glad that, to make it possible, Jesus came to earth on that first Christmas Day.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 9 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?

Answer: In order to take away sin.

For that is what we’re told in 1 John 3:5 where it says that Jesus ‘appeared in order to take away sins.’

Wouldn’t it be lovely though to have our sins taken away? Especially THAT one, the one we’ve spent years trying to justify but haven’t been able to, knowing full well that what we did was not only wrong, but entirely our fault.

Some years ago I went on a speed awareness course and was asked, along with my fellow miscreants, to come up with a list of reasons why we might sometimes drive faster than we should. Between us we produced an impressive list. But having then been asked to listen to a recording of a Dad describing how his daughter had been killed by a speeding motorist, all our seemingly justifiable reasons looked instead like so many lame excuses.

Because the truth is we’re not the people we ought to be, each and every one of us is capable, at least on occasions, of doing bad things – some of us, perhaps, more so than others. But if we like to think of ourselves as better than most, we might do well to recognise that those who fail an important exam aren’t rewarded for merely not coming last.

What’s more, our sin has consequences – consequences that, like the driver of the car that killed that young girl, we all have to live with. Because the guilt is a guilt that, seemingly, we have always to carry with us.

If only there was forgiveness.

And that’s why I say, wouldn’t it be lovely to have our sins taken away.

But the good news is that there is forgiveness because through his death and subsequent resurrection, that is exactly what Jesus came to do. And not only does he take our sins away, he takes them as far away as it’s possible for them to be taken.

For ‘as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.’ [Psalm 103:12]

And there isn’t any place further away than that.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door  8 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here.

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?

Answer: In order to give his life as a ransom for many.

For that’s what we’re told in the second half of the verse we considered yesterday, namely that of Mark 10:45.

When we think about a ransom, we tend to think about a sum of money that is paid to secure the release of one who has been kidnapped by somebody who, in the event of the payment not being made, threatens to do all kinds of harm to the person who’s been taken captive. 

Which is pretty much what we mean here too, save that, instead of money, it was the death of the son of God that secured the release of we who, bound up by our sin, had only eternal punishment to look forward to.

Now I am fully aware that any talk of hell is unlikely to be popular these days, But then I don’t suppose it was in Jesus’ either, when he spoke about it at length. 

Because whilst to speak of God in terms of his infinite love is likely to offend only the most fundamental of materialists who cannot conceive of affection other than in terms of a conditioned response to a previously randomly experienced stimulus, to speak of God in terms of his righteous anger at our all too obvious wrong doing, will generally illicit an altogether more visceral reaction.

But before we get too upset at God for being the holy and righteous deity that, deep down, we know and need him to be, let’s remember that, unlike those of pagan religions, the God of the Bible is not some capricious despot with a problem with anger management, one who demands sacrifices be offered to him in order that, with his anger appeased, he might just be minded to act benevolently towards those who have offered them. 

On the contrary – the God of the Bible is one who, though his holiness demands justice, lovingly provides a way of escape for those who, because of their actions, have deservedly earned his displeasure. And whilst the salvation he offers does indeed involve sacrifice, it is not a sacrifice that we have to make ourselves – rather it is one that he himself makes, at great personal cost, in the form of his own dear Son, who then willingly dies in our place to pay the price for all that we have done wrong.

He is not, therefore, a God we should despise for his righteous anger – rather he is one we should bow down before, in humble adoration of his amazing grace. 

Because Jesus came that first Christmas Day in order to give his life as a ransom for many.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 7 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order, not to be served, but to serve.

For that is what we’re told in Mark 10:45, just after Jesus tells his disciples that, whoever wanted to be great amongst them would have to be a servant, and whoever wanted to be first amongst them would have to be the slave of all.

The Bible then, gives us a way of behaving that is the complete opposite of how our society encourages us to act. Far from it being determined by how much we have accumulated for ourselves, success is ultimately measured by how much we have been able to give away; it’s not how hard others have to work for us that counts, but how hard we’re prepared to work for the good of those who need our help; and it’s not pride in ourselves that we should be looking to achieve – instead we should be striving to act with genuine humility, considering others more significant than ourselves. [Philippians 2:3]

These are of course fine words, ones that, over the years, many have given lip service to. But has there ever been anyone who acted in this way?

Because I for sure haven’t.

Even so, there was one person – someone who really did show how great he was by behaving exactly like this for the whole of his earthly life.

And I’m thinking, of course, about

‘…Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross’ [Philippians 2:5-8].

Jesus then was the one who, not only talked the talk, but walked the walk – the one who came to earth that first Christmas Day in order, not to be served, but to serve.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 6 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: Because that was when the set time had fully come?

For that is what we’re told in Galatians 4:4.

There is a true story that I love to tell from when I worked as a GP. It concerns the time I made a passing comment to a health care assistant who for reasons I won’t go in to, was grimacing at me like some latter day pirate.

‘Who do you think you are?’ I asked her, loudly enough for the whole waiting room to hear, ‘Long John Silver?’ – just as the patient I’d called moments before arrived at my side…complete with his wooden leg!

And so the question arises, was I just unlucky with the timing of my words, or was the whole incident somehow determined by God’s sovereign will?

Well, as one who believes that nothing happens outside of God’s absolute control, I have to conclude that it was the latter. Quite why he should have ordained things the way he did, I do not, of course, know – though I like to think it might be because God has a sense of humour and thought it’d make me, my healthcare assistant and the patient laugh. Which I’m glad to say it did.

But be that as it may, I believe that all things happen when they do for a reason – including the birth of Jesus which, as the verse above suggests, happened exactly when God ordained that it should.

But there is another incident in Jesus’s life that we’re told happened at just the right time too. And that was his death.

Jesus died during the feast of Passover, when the Jewish people sacrificed lambs in remembrance of the time they had to do just that to avoid God’s judgement falling on them in Old Testament times.

And, because what took place in Exodus Chapter 12 was only ever meant to point us to Jesus, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, it was fitting that he too should die during Passover.

Which is exactly what happened – despite the fact that the feast of Passover was the one time that those plotting Jesus’ death didn’t want him to die. [Mark 14:2].

All of which goes to prove that, whilst he was crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men, Jesus was ultimately delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. [Acts 2:23]

And that, in part at least, is why Paul could write in Romans 5:6 that ‘at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.’

And it’s also why we can be sure that Jesus came to earth on that first Christmas Day, because that was when the set time had fully come.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 5 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here

Question: why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order to call sinners to repentance

For that’s what we are told in Luke 5:32, just after Jesus, having been criticised by the religious types of his day for hanging out with ne’er-do-wells and scallywags, explains that, just as it is the sick who need a doctor, so it is sinners who need a saviour.

Two groups of people – who both need to get better.

Some people confuse how much God loves us with how wonderful God thinks we are. They imagine that, because Jesus was sent to die for us, it indicates just how terrific he considers us to be.

But it was whilst we were still sinners that Christ died for us. [Romans 5:8] He loves us, therefore, not because of our awesomeness but despite our wickedness – not because we are lovely, but because he is loving.

And so, whilst it is true that God, in sending his son to suffer and die for us, does indeed reveal his deep deep love for us, we need to also realise that the sacrifice made is an indicator of how horrible our sins actually are

And to imagine that it was because he considered us worthy of the sacrifice that was made for our salvation, would be a bit like Al Capone bragging that the $1 million reward being offered for his capture was evidence, not of the seriousness of his crimes, but of how highly he was esteemed by the Chicago law enforcement agencies.

And so we must recognise that, whilst it is true that, as we considered yesterday, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, he didn’t come to leave us that way. Rather, he came to call us to repentance, to a better way of life, a life lived according to his good and perfect law.

And for that, there will need to be a change of heart on our part, a turning both away from the life that we have long felt appropriate for us to live, and toward the life that we now see as the one we really always ought to have aspired to.

And that is the meaning of the word ‘repentance’ – a word that conveys, not only a sense of sorrow for how we have been living in the past, but also an acceptance that we need to change our ways such that we try to live better lives in the future.

That’s not to say that we will be fully successful in our endeavours – but the desire to do better should nonetheless be there. Because it is impossible to appreciate how much we have been forgiven by Jesus, and not to love him more as a result. And it is impossible to love Jesus more, and not desire to keep his commands. [John 14:15]

As such, if we find we are content to go on living our lives with no regard for his law, then we must conclude that we have no real love for God. And if we do not have any love for God, then we must conclude that we have yet to know his forgiveness and remain, therefore, unrepentant sinners who are still dead in our sin.

But there is yet hope. For Jesus came to earth that first Christmas Day to call sinners to repentance.

I wonder, can you hear him calling you?

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 4 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order to save sinners.

As we’re told both succinctly and reliably in 1 Timothy 1:15 where we read that ‘this saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance – that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’.

Has there ever been a plainer statement of what Christianity is all about? Has it ever been made clearer hatt being a Christian ISN’T first and foremost about keeping a set of rules?

I doubt it. And yet far too many people still erroneously believe that you get to heaven by being good.

So let me try to tell you the truth in words of one…sound!

You do not get to…hmmm, let me think…the nice place where God is that we all like to think we will go to when we die…by works – that is to say, we do not earn our way in by the good things we might do in our lives. No – not at all! If we get to… that place I just said… it will be due to grace and by grace…that does not need one thing more..

So what do I mean by that last bit? Well let me tell you, but as I do, I trust that you’ll forgive me for now resuming the use of polysyllabic words in order not to sound any weirder than, as a Christian, I no doubt, already do!

When Christians say that they are saved by ‘grace alone’, what they mean is that their salvation is undeserved – dependent wholly on the unmerited kindness of God. They themselves contribute nothing to their salvation – nothing that is, except the sin that made it necessary.

As such Christians do not consider themselves to be good. On the contrary. Though, as a result of the love that God has shown them, they now seek to be obedient to his commands, Christians know that they remain sinners who will forever be dependent on God’s amazing grace – a grace that is sufficient to guarantee their forgiveness, no matter how great their wrongdoing may be.

And that is the message that the apostle Paul preached. Because he knew that God’s grace was sufficient even for ‘the chief of sinners’, a title he gave himself in recognition, at least in part no doubt, of his involvement in the persecution of the early church which saw him standing by and watching as Steven, the first Christian martyr, was stoned to death.

No wonder then that Paul was not ashamed of the gospel. For he knew that the good news of what was achieved through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus was the power of God for salvation, and not only his own but that of all those who put their trust in Christ.

And that’s why, no matter what you’ve done wrong, you, like me, can take comfort from the fact that our hope of heaven depends, not on sufficiently cleaning up our act such that God is impressed with us, but rather on the rock solid assurance that on that first Christmas Day, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 3 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order to seek and save the lost.

For that’s what we’re told in Luke 19:10 after Jesus invites himself to the home of the diminutive Zacchaeus. And it’s there that the newly found tax collector, in a move unlikely to be copied by the Inland Revenue, not only returns all the money that he’d previously fraudulently obtained, but also compensates those affected to the tune of four times the amount that he’d taken from them in the first place.

It’s worth noting here that, whilst Zacchaeus appears to have been curious about who Jesus was, it wasn’t Zacchaeus who found Jesus. Rather, what Zacchaeus discovered was that he’d been found by Jesus.

Which brings me to the time when, after an extensive search, I once found my passport in the cupboard under the kitchen sink. Whether I should be concerned by such an occurrence, I will-leave it for you to judge, along with whether I should still be permitted to drive, but suffice to say, I was mightily relieved that, not only could I still recall the name of the Prime Minister, but also, having somehow secreted itself in amongst the dog food and fairy liquid, my most important of personal documents was as spotlessly clean as it was, for the time at least, uneaten.

All of which is to make the point that when something, or someone, is found, it’s not just the rescued that rejoice. There is huge satisfaction for the seeker too.

In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables in which the finding of something that was lost prompts seemingly excessive rejoicing in the one who was doing the searching. In one of the parables it is a coin that goes missing – and one can’t help wondering if the cost of the ensuing celebration was more than the value of the coin that had been originally mislaid.

If so, the joy expressed could be considered as somewhat over the top. But that’s the point I think Jesus is making in the parables he is telling, all of which are meant to teach us something about him.

Namely that to seek and save the lost is something that Jesus himself absolutely delights to do. What’s more, Luke 15:10 tells us that there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who, like Zacchaeus, repents. And so we can say that it makes God happy too when sinners are saved. And when I say happy, I mean really happy – exuberantly, extravagantly, abundantly happy.

For such is the love that he has for the lost.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 2 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here.

Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: Because God loved the world enough to send him.

For that’s what we’re told in the first half of what is, perhaps, the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3.16. ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only son…’

‘Where-ere-ere-ere-ere is Love?’

So sang the titular character in ‘Oliver!’, the archetypal Christmas Day film of my youth. But leaving aside, for the time being at least, the unseasonal yet overwhelming desire that arises within me, to poke that poor whimpering orphan in the eye, the moment he starts to sing that particular song, one has to admit that it is a good question?

Though a better one would be, ‘Who is love?’ – to which the answer is, of course, God [1 John 4:8] – the one from whom all love ultimately flows.

That the love of God is at the heart of Christmas is important for us to realise. Because, unlike all the best detective dramas, where the villain eventually cracks under interrogation by a good cop, bad cop combination, all three members of the godhead are all equally good – and all equally loving too.

As such we must not imagine that an ultra nice Jesus had to twist the arm of his ultra vengeful Father in order to persuade him to save those he wouldn’t otherwise have been inclined to.

Because that would be a huge error on our part.

All three members or the godhead, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, who, each fully God, together make up the one true God, in a way that our finite minds cannot even begin to understand – are all equally loving.

And with that bit of heavy trinitarian theology rattling around your brain, you may find yourself wanting to lie down in a darkened room. But even as you do so remember this – God the Son came to earth on that first Christmas Day, because God the Father loved the world enough to send him.

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To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 1 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here.

Today in the UK, MP’s vote on Kim Leadbeater’s Assisted Dying Bill.

But whilst I do not doubt that those who intend to vote in favour of the bill will do so for reasons that are well meaning, I nonetheless believe that such a move would be a mistake.

I have previously written of my concern that legalising physician assisted suicide will produce a slippery slope, one which risks seeing the weak and vulnerable feeling under pressure to end their lives. And I’ve written too of how we will all be diminished by allowing the killing of those whose existence might be said to be either burdensome, or somehow lacking in value.

But there is a yet more fundamental reason why I am opposed to the legalisation of voluntary euthanasia – one that reflects my Christian faith.

But contrary to what you may be thinking, I am not here principally referring to the nonetheless hugely significant sixth commandment that prohibits us to murder. [Exodus 20:13]. Rather I am thinking about scripture’s counterintuitive claim that suffering is not without meaning or purpose. Because irrespective of how intense or prolonged our affliction may be, it remains, we’re told, ‘light and momentary’ in comparison to the ‘eternal weight of glory’ that it is preparing for us. [2 Corinthians 4:17]

Inevitably, there will be those who say that I have no right to impose my Christian beliefs on those who do not share my faith. And they would of course be right. Unless, that is, Christianity is true.

And so, as is the case with so many things in life, it all comes down to this simple question:

‘Was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ just one more meaningless death, or was it, alongside his subsequent resurrection, the most important event in history?’

And it’s because I believe the latter, that I hope the bill will not be passed today.

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Related posts:

To read ‘Assisted Dying – we all need to be happier to help’, click here

To read ‘What becomes of the broken hearted? Sorrowful yet always rejoicing on Palm Sunday’, click here

To read ‘Why do bad things happen to good people? Sorrowful yet always rejoicing on Good Friday’, click here

To read ‘Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things? Rejoicing, though temporarily sorrowful, on Easter Day’, click here.

To read ‘All’s Well That End’s Well’, click here

To read ‘T.S. Eliot, Jesus and the Paradox of the Christian Life’, click here

To read “Luther and the global pandemic – on becoming a theologian of the cross”, click here

To read “Suffering- A Personal View”, click here.

To read ‘The Resurrection – is it just rhubarb?’, click here

Halloween is a time when many people enjoy pretending to be afraid. But the truth is, to be genuinely afraid is no fun at all.

Currently, there is much in our world that is frightening. With the conflict in the Middle East spiralling out of control, and the war in Ukraine showing no sign of coming to an end, the world is a dangerous place to be. And for others, the threats are closer to home – with the fear arising from either a bad diagnosis, financial insecurity or one of any number of other problems that make the future unbearably uncertain.

What then are we to do?

One solution would be to find ourselves in the presence of someone more capable than ourselves. Someone who can cope with what we can’t. Someone who can keep us safe.

Because nobody is afraid of what they are able to deal with – it’s bug eyed monsters that we’re afraid of, not cute Labrador puppies. As a youngster, I remember watching Dr Who and, in episodes involving the Daleks, concealing myself behind the sofa like all small children did back then. But my upholstered hiding place was only necessary until the Doctor appeared on the screen. For with him alongside them, I knew his hapless assistants were sure to be safe.

So then, to be in the company of someone who knows what to do, and is able to do it is always wonderfully reassuring. Well I say ‘always’ – there is one situation when that isn’t actually the case.

In order to explain what I mean, imagine that you are walking through a very dark wood. I don’t know, perhaps you’re on the way to deliver a hamper of food to your ailing grandmother. Suddenly you discern movement up ahead and the glint of a malevolent eye that appears to be watching you. And then, before you know it, you’re up close and personal with a big bad wolf, with an uncomfortably good view of his very big, and very sharp, teeth.

Naturally you’re terrified.

But then, for reasons unknown to you, the wolf suddenly turns tail and runs howlingly away, never to be seen again. You turn around looking for something that might have caught your potential assassins eye, and are made aware of something that you hadn’t been aware of before – that you’d been accompanied through the woods by your Dad who, on this occasion, rather than wielding his customary axe, was holding an altogether more effective sawn off shotgun.

And you realise that, though your fear of the wolf had been wholly understandable, it had, at the same time, been totally unnecessary. Because your Father, by his protective presence, had been guarding each and every step of your journey through the darkness and, as a result, you had, in fact, been nothing other than entirely safe the whole time.

In the Bible there is an account of an occasion that is not all that dissimilar to the one imagined above.

Elisha, one of God’s greatest prophets, is in the city of Dotham. The King of Syria, the big bad wolf of the story, is out to get him and so sends an army to take up a position around Dotham. The following morning, Elisha’s servant goes out and, seeing the size of the enemy army is understandably anxious. And so he returns to Elisha – to tell him the news and asks him what they should do.

Elisha replies with these words: ‘Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them’. [2 Kings 6:16]

Elisha then prays that his servant would have his eyes opened to see the truth. After which, the servant goes out to look again – and this time sees that the mountains were full of horses and chariots of fire – that is to say, he sees the army of God is in attendance too – an army that is far greater than that of the relatively puny King of Syria.

All of which serves to point out that, with the God who is for us by our side, we are safe, no matter how frightening our circumstances might seem.

But, by faith, we need to be aware that he’s there.

Faith then is seeing what’s really there, even when what’s really there, can’t be seen. But unlike ‘blind faith’, that chooses to believe whatever one wants to believe without any evidence upon which to base that belief, Christian faith is one based on convincing evidence for the historicity of the empty tomb, compelling eyewitness testimony of those who saw Jesus after he rose from the dead, and the authoritative word of the one who spoke the universes into existence – the one who, through the words of the Bible, promises to never leave us or forsake us but to remain with us, even to the end of the age.

But that doesn’t mean that nothing ever frightens the Christian. Even Jesus was anxious in the Garden of Gethsemane – so anxious in fact that he sweated blood at the prospect of going to the cross. Even so, it was ‘for the joy set before him’ that Jesus endured the cross. [Hebrews 12:2]. That is to say, for the joy of the salvation that would result from his death and resurrection, Jesus bore the anguish of crucifixion, confident that his death would ultimately be for the good of God’s people.

Which indeed it was – because with death thus defeated, the Christian can laugh even in the face of death and, like the apostle Paul, justifiably ask, ‘O death where is your victory? O death where is your sting?’ [1 Corinthians 15:55]

Because with death defeated, the Christian has nothing to fear.

At the risk of retelling a story that I have told many times before, some years ago, whilst out on a walk with my family, one of my children announced that they were lost. This was on account of them not having any idea where they were. But there were wrong. They weren’t lost. Because the one who held their hand – me – knew exactly where we were – and I knew the way home. The mistake my child had made was that they had forgotten who was with them or, at the very least, forgotten what I was capable of.

It was not a mistake that King David made. In Psalm 139 he writes of how he can not escape God’s presence. ‘If I ascend to heaven’, he writes, ‘you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.’ [Psalm 139: 8-10]

And then in Psalm 23, perhaps the most comforting of all the Psalms, he adds, ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.’ [Psalm 23:4]

That is the reality that God promises us in his word, the reality that by faith, we can know to be true. God is with us – even when we walk the dark paths through life that he sometimes chooses to lead us. And he can be trusted to keep us safe – however frightening our present situation might be.

And that’s why, this Halloween, none of us need be afraid.

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Related posts:

To read ‘At Halloween – O death where is thy sting’, click here

To read ‘Monsters’, click here

To read ‘When Bad Things Happen’, click here

To read “Hope comes from believing the promises of God”, click here

To read ‘All’s Well That End’s Well’, click here

To read ‘Looking back to move confidently forward’, click here

To read ‘What becomes of the broken hearted? Sorrowful yet always rejoicing on Palm Sunday’, click here

To read ‘Why do bad things happen to good people? Sorrowful yet always rejoicing on Good Friday’, click here

To read ‘Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things? Rejoicing, though temporarily sorrowful, on Easter Day’, click here.

To read ‘T.S. Eliot, Jesus and the Paradox of the Christian Life’, click here

To read “Luther and the global pandemic – on becoming a theologian of the cross”, click here

To read “Suffering- A Personal View”, click here.

To read ‘The Resurrection – is it just rhubarb?’, click here

To read ‘Faith and Doubt’, click here