The story of Jesus’s birth is in Luke 2:1—20…it goes like this. Caesar Augustus decided he needed to count all the people in the Roman Empire to make sure he was collecting all the taxes he was owed. For Mary and Joseph, this meant they had to travel about 80 miles to get to Bethlehem to be counted. Of course, it was during this time that Mary gave birth. Jesus arrived, and Mary laid her tiny newborn in a manger. A feeding trough. Tough stuff. The story continues…Jesus’s arrival on earth was announced to some shepherds by an angel—because of course, Jesus was no ordinary baby. The angel called Jesus “a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). And this is the whole point of Christmas. We are celebrating the birth of the Savior of the world. But what exactly does “savior” mean?
When I first met Rick, I was working at Jimmy Dean in Memphis. I had this big meeting to plan, had a whole bunch of people coming into town. I had no idea what I was doing. Rick knew I was in over my head, and offered to help me. I was so relieved! I mean, here I was, new on the job, expecting people from all over the US to come to my meeting—what if it failed? Well, Rick made sure that didn’t happen. We put in long hours, planned, strategized, and worked hard. It was a great meeting. Rick knew what I needed and I didn’t. He rescued me from certain disaster. He saved me from failure—Rick was a savior to me.
Jesus as Savior is kind of like that. Except what Jesus rescues us from is much more desperate than some meeting. Jesus is able to rescue us from our sin. You see, sin is not just a problem, it’s a death sentence for you and me without Jesus. The reason we need a Savior is because God made man to be in a relationship with Him. But this is impossible because God is holy and man is sinful. And guess what? Man caused this problem. Adam sinned against God way back when, and now we all have this sinful nature. So sin is our problem. It’s not God’s, it’s ours. And even though it’s not His problem, God didn’t give up on man! He had a plan. His plan is Jesus. The Savior of the world. When Jesus was born, God in the flesh arrived on earth to save people from their sins. As you read the Bible, it’s obvious Jesus didn’t have an easy task. Not many people believed in Him. Why? Because people love their sin. We reject the idea that we are sinners. We reject the truth that we need to be rescued. We think we know what’s best for us. However, just like Rick knew what I needed in my meeting when I didn’t, God knows what we need, and we don’t. So God sent Jesus to earth anyway—so that if we believe in Him as the Son of God come to earth to die for sinners, and that He was raised from the dead, we will live now and forevermore with Him.
Christmas is not about presents. It’s not about food. It’s not even about family. It’s about God’s gracious, loving, merciful nature reaching down to man to offer us salvation and hope. My prayer is that this precious gift that God has made available to you, salvation through Jesus Christ, is a gift that you will respond to today. May the Lord open your heart to believe in Jesus. If you need prayer or a Bible, let me know.
