For Christians, Jesus is more than a teacher, although the Bible also mentions that his name was heard in the far corners of Israel. “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit; and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him” (Luke 4:14-15). Jesus is God who came to the human world. The night that Jesus came to this world, the angels appeared to some of the people, announcing the good news. “But the angels said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests’” (Luke 2:10-14).
Jesus is not an ordinary human. His birth is tightly tied to our well-being. He wants to save us from sin. When the angels announced this piece of news, they too were too exuberant with joy!
Because of this good news, we are celebrating Christmas today to remember Jesus’ love and saving grace. Jesus, who is the Creator of the heavens and earth, humbled himself, and came to earth as a human. He did not come with the imposing aura of a king, but as a weak child, who entered silently into human history. The birth of Jesus signifies the start of a rescue operation. From the time he was a baby until he was nailed on the cross, a span of 30 odd years, Jesus experienced the ups and downs of this world, and faced sufferings and trials that any normal human being would encounter. The difference is that Jesus lived a life without being stained by sin. He is a perfect man.
Jesus, who is fully man and fully God, was willing to be our scapegoat, a lamb slain for our sins: he received the punishment of sin on our behalf, and died on the cross so that whoever believes in him will have their sins forgiven. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Humans are controlled by sin. We may not have broken the laws of a country, but we too are sinners. Arrogance, jealousy, greed, selfishness, and lust fill our lives. These prevent us from enjoying real peace in our lives, and we must face the eternal consequences of sin. Only by believing in Jesus can our sins be forgiven. Then we can obtain an abundant life that overcomes death.
Who is Jesus? Renown English writer C. S. Lewis has this to say to those who believe Jesus to be only a great moral teacher: “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
translated by Elaine Chew