The
world Jesus was born into was in desperate need of a saviour. The people were
militarily oppressed by the Roman armies that had taken away their status as a
nation. They were religiously oppressed by the Temple Priests and Pharisees who
had reduced their faith in God to burdensome rituals. Their only hope was that
God would intervene in history and save them from spiritual oppression and fear
of death.
1. Matthew is helping us understand the connection between Jesus
and Old Testament prophecies of the coming Saviour.
The
Hebrews had a long history of God intervening to rescue or save them from
enemies. All of these stories are about individuals:
·
Noah
is saved from the Flood.
·
Abraham
is saved from obscurity and called to found a nation.
·
Jacob
saves the people from famine.
·
Moses
saves the people from slavery.
None
of these experiences of being saved is very long-term. It is never long before
the people forget their history and fall away from
their dependence on and obedience to God. So starting with Isaiah and Hosea we
are told of a special Saviour.
·
Isaiah
tells us "a virgin will conceive" – i.e. Holy Spirit is father
·
Matthew quotes Hosea - he will come "out
of Egypt".
·
Jesus
was a "Nazarene" - one dedicated to serving God.
·
The
ones who identify Jesus as the 'real Saviour' are the demons quoted in Mark
1.24. They note that Jesus is from Nazareth, to differentiate Him from
others with the same
name;
but also say that he is "the Holy one of God".
.
2. Paul tells us
Jesus became a perfect sacrifice
The
Bible was written by people very familiar with the idea of animal sacrifice. The
most important thing that we all need is to be saved from is our fear of death –
that our lives will no meaning or purpose. Many people are aware that they have
separated themselves from a personal relationship with God. We each have a
personal spirit that is our connection to God. When we rebel against God by
breaking our covenant relationship this connection can be weakened or even
lost. We can become addicted to or a prisoner of our self – our way instead of
God’s way. This leads to sins - the things we do that separate us from God and
other people.
·
The
Hebrews thought God had provided a good way to remove their guilt. Moses had
recorded the Law and all the Temple Regulations for offering atonement. "Atonement"
means making peace, forgiveness or achieving
at-one-ment.
·
When
people sinned the penalty was death. Death meant the shedding of blood. The way
back to at-one-ment; was through offering live animals to bear their guilt and
die in their place.
·
It
was possible there would be no "death" - no real remorse or serious
repentance by the guilty person. The guilty person would not really die emotionally
to their love of sin
·
God's
solution in Jesus, was to provide a man who was without personal sin to take
the place of each individual sinner and die. Only this could pay the price for
sin and build up a credit which could be transferred.
·
It
could only be transferred to individuals Jesus knew personally and who believed
he could die for them and who felt remorse and asked Jesus for forgiveness.
3. Jesus is our real Saviour
People
are naturally afraid of death, judgement and separation from God. The Good News
of Christmas is that God has provided each of us with a personal saviour.
·
In
our Baptism we are taught, get to know and love and make a decision to put our
trust in Jesus death on the Cross out of love for for us personally
·
In
our personal Bible study and prayers we develop our knowledge of and love ofrelationship
with Jesus
·
In
public worship we learn and have an opportunity to confess our sins and be
saved from spiritual death
·
Jesus
sends the Holy Spirit to live in us, teach us, strengthen us and heal us as we
grow in our spiritual life
In our new "life
in Christ" we do not fear death. Death is only a passing from our physical
earthly bodies to a new, higher form of spiritual life.
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