He Is The Reason For The Season!

We who are believers always talk about Jesus being the Reason for the Season, that being the birth of our Savior in Bethlehem to his virgin mother, Mary. This year these truths have been even more impressed upon my heart and mind since our Bible study class is currently working through the Gospel of John, Chapters 18 - 21. Here we are at Christmas time and we are right there with John's eyewitness account of the trials, sentencing, crucifixion, death, burial, and hopefully on December 23rd we will be dealing with the resurrection passage.

We can talk about Him being the reason but we begin to grasp more of its meaning when we read His words which told Pontus Pilate that all that was going on involving Him was the very cause or reason He came into this world. In the past I typically take a time out in my teaching during December and cover the Old Testament and New Testament Scriptures that deal with the birth narratives, but this year I just felt like maybe it was a good thing to flesh out the meaning of His being the reason for the season. This can become an empty slogan or it can be a reminder of exactly what His coming was about, that being the redemption of people who needed a Savior, folks like you and me.

I've always been fascinated by the preserved conversations between Pontus Pilate and Jesus of Nazareth. There's a awesome chill that comes over me whenever I read how Pilate challenged Jesus with these words: "You are not responding to my questions, don't you know that I have authority and power to crucify or set you free? To this Jesus responded: "You would have no authority over me were it not given to you from above." (my paraphrase) Wow! This exchange to me vividly portrays the truth revealed regarding the reason for the season and sets forth Who was ultimately in control of all that happened. The Jewish officials that condemned Jesus did what they desired to do. Pilate responded and ended up doing what he decided to do. In the end their decisions became the elements of God's eternal plan to bring salvation to His created human family.

No wonder it is called the greatest story ever told! Jesus was horribly treated and abused but the picture is not one where we should respond only with sympathy for a wronged individual. The true message of the reason for the season is found in Who He is and what He did and how our sins caused Him to sacrifice Himself on our behalf. Having done so, He freely offers pardon and forgiveness, and eternal life in God's presence to any and all who will receive Him and His once and for all payment on our behalf. That's the message of Christmas! That's what we should think about whenever we say, "Jesus Is The Reason For The Season and Let's Keep CHRIST in CHRISTMAS! Amen. Have a blessed day! ......More later.