One of my enduring memories of elementary school is not a pleasant one: struggling to tears over my inability to take the lid off my milk bottle, which for a first grader was monumental, especially if you’re the only one who couldn’t do it. EVEN Now, people are helping me align a dissertation to the standards established by my particular seminary.
If the truth were known, we all need help from time to time. Countless people have to the doors of churches like this one asking for help. The Bible is replete with those who found themselves in dire need.
- A lonely Macedonian man came to Paul’s mind in a vision, asking for his help!
- And a father came to Jesus in Matthew 17, on behalf of his son, pleading with Jesus for his help!
- If you will have mercy, then help s
We all need help, how can Jesus help us? In Luke’s gospel, he notes:
JESUS REPRESENTS REAL GREATNESS
In Luke 1:15, the writer says of John, He will be great in the sight of the Lord. But in verse 32, of Jesus, “He will be great.” No measure of that Greatness as compared to the Lord, because it is God– and therefore lacks any qualifier!
The singular greatness is on display in Is 9:6
And His name will be called wonderful counselor, might God, eternal Father, Prince of peace!
HE REPRESENTS A REAL CONNECTION WITH GOD!
The Angel tells Mary, He shall be the Son of the most high! He is the Son of God and the Messiah for Israel and the world. He is God in the flesh, the fulfillment of the eternal narrative of God, fully capable to help and fully willing to carry for the kingdom of God.
He will be great and called the Son of the most high; and the Lord God will give him the throne of His father David; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end. See also, 2 Sam.7:12-14; Ps.:7-9; 89:26-29
HE REPRESENTS THE REAL AUTHORITY OF GOD
The government will rest upon his shoulders, Isaiah says. And his authority will be undeniable. Think about all the problems that could be solved if we would submit to his authority:
- If I kill, I challenge God’s view of human life.
- If I commit adultery, I contend with his relationship with the church.
- If I hate, I challenge his love for people,
- And if I lie, I contend with his personification of truth.
HE REPRESENTS REAL, ENDURING GRACE
The angel tells Mary that the favor she enjoys is bound up in grace.
You have found favor with God
A very similar statement was made if Noah. Mary is not the embodiment of OF some mystical perfection, but nothing more or less than the mother who would convey the GOD-man into the world! God uses people to carry out his message of grace. It could be John, The Apostle Paul, or a fig picker named Amos, but the task is always the same… the manifest of grace in their lives for the rest of us to see!
The best help Jesus offers is grace!
The kingdom is undertaken with grace, it endures in grace (Ephesians 1:6), and ultimately it will be consummated in grace (Revelation 22).
This is the story of Christmas– a God who can help us– and will.
MJC
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