The wise men from the east journeyed a long distance to worship the king of the Jews. They were very certain that he was born, but they had a problem, they had absolutely no idea where he was born (Matt 2:2). As any intelligent person would presume, these wise men guessed that Jesus was somewhere in Herod’s palace. They were wrong! He was not in the royal palace; the star led them to a small manger (the most unlikely place for a king to be born) in Bethlehem. What’s more surprising about Jesus’ birth is not only the place he was born but the purpose he was born for. Every person who is born will die, but none of us is born to die, Jesus was the only one who was born to die, because the mission for his life required his sacrificial death.
Dr. Gregory S. Neal says “God could have worked his Divine will by some means other than being born in human flesh. He didn’t have to become one of us, live among us, and walk the dusty streets of life with us, in order to teach us about God’s love, mercy, and grace. And, he certainly didn’t have to show us the true depths of Divine love by dying on the cross for our sins. God could have reached across the gulf that our sins have generated between God and us and simply made things right without anyone having to die. God, being God, could have wiped out our sin, converted us into perfect, obedient children, and placed us all in paradise….While it is true that God could have achieved our redemption in any way he desired the simple fact remains that God, being true to his word and his nature, saved us through a perfect, eternal sacrifice (Heb 10:5-10).”
Every person who is born will die, but none of us is born to die, Jesus was the only one who was born to die.
“Jesus was not a martyr. He was not the victim of unfortunate circumstances, dying for a worthy cause. Nor did He lay down His life just to set a good example. There’s much more to it than that. The Lord Jesus came into this world to be our Savior!…In order to save the world, Jesus had to die for it. He came and lived the perfect life and then died the death we should have died. The true meaning of Christmas is that Jesus was born to die” says Richard De Haan.
Jesus was not a martyr…the true meaning of Christmas is that Jesus was born to die. – Richard De Haan.
Rev. Bruce Goettsche reminds us “This Christmas season we need to understand there is no salvation story if Jesus had not died as He did. There is no salvation just in His birth. Jesus did a lot of things: He showed us God’s love, He taught us God’s truth, He brought comfort to the suffering but . . . none of those things were sufficient to bring us salvation. Jesus could have done all of these things without ever coming to earth. He could have sent an angel . . . He could have appeared in His power and glory.” But instead Jesus came in the flesh so that he could live among us, die for our sins and give us the gift of forgiveness and salvation.
John MacArthur in his book God with Us writes, “Here’s a side to the Christmas story that isn’t often told: those soft little hands, fashioned by the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb, were made so that nails might be driven through them. Those baby feet, pink and unable to walk, would one day walk up a dusty hill to be nailed to a cross. That sweet infant’s head with sparking eyes and eager mouth was formed so that someday men might force a crown of thorns onto it. That tender body, warm and soft, wrapped in swaddling clothes, would one day be ripped open by a spear.” The baby in the cradle is the man who is destined to hang on the cross for our sins. The true meaning of Christmas is only understood when we see the cross overshadowing the cradle.
I do not think we will ever fully understand the mystery of incarnation. The king of kings and the savior of the world appears as a little helpless baby wrapped in clothes lying in a manger. I am pretty sure everyone who came to see him in the manger asked themselves the question “what sort of a king could he be?” Ralph Carmichael wrote a classic Christmas song describing the wonder of this king that inspires us to fall down and worship, like the wise men did:
Long, long ago so the story is told,
Of a Man who was born to be a King.
He had no throne or a crown of gold
And His palace was only an inn.
He worked as a carpenter most of His life
A working class whom you could say.
He wore no fine clothes, He didn’t live in style.
What sort of a King could He be?
Those baby feet, pink and unable to walk, would one day walk up a dusty hill to be nailed to a cross…
– – Author: Rev. Francis Burgula – –
