I started thinking a little about Christmas in yesterday’s blog post. Today, I thought I would carry on the theme. I asked my daughter what I should write about (normally the sign of desperation that I have nothing to write). She first suggested, ‘why do we have to have Christmas trees?’ I wasn’t convinced there was much worth saying about that. Not least, we don’t HAVE to have Christmas trees, they’re just nice and were introduced to Britain by George III’s German wife and popularised by Queen Victoria’s German husband. But she quickly followed up this suggestion with a much better one: why did Jesus come?
So, why did Jesus come? Here is what the Bible has to say about that:
To fulfil the Law and the Prophets
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them – Matthew 5:17
To bring a sword
Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. – Matthew 10:34-35
To preach in the towns
[Jesus] said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is what I came for.” – Mark 1:38
To serve and ransom his people
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many – Mark 10:45
To seek & save the lost
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. – Luke 19:10
To bring eternal life
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16
To save the world
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. – John 3:17
For judgement
Jesus said, “For judgement I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” – John 9:39
To bring life
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. – John 10:10
To glorify the Father
For this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name. – John 12:27
To complete the work God gave him to do
I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. – John 17:4
To bear witness to the truth
For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth – John 18:37
To demonstrate God’s righteousness
God put [Jesus] forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. – Romans 3:25-26
To confirm God’s promises and lead Gentiles to glorify God
Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. – Romans 15:8-9
To save sinners
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – 1 Timothy 1:15
To destroy the Devil
[Jesus] partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil – Hebrews 2:14
To deliver his people from slavery
through death he might… deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. – Hebrews 2:15
To destroy the works of the Devil
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. – 1 John 3:8
Have a happy Christmas.