May the mumbling commence!
Advent is wonderful – so is Christmas. A savior is born in a humble stable. But without the life path to Jerusalem and the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, Advent and Christmas would be meaningless.
What brought Jesus to the cross – to endure the curse of hanging on a tree? The combined sins of the entire world for all time brought Jesus to the cross. Jesus paid for our sins. The only question is: Are we going to accept his payment for them? Read from Deuteronomy chapter twenty-one, where the curse of hanging on a tree is described:
"If someone has committed a crime worthy of death and is executed and then hanged on a tree, the body must never remain on the tree overnight. You must bury the body that same day, for anyone hanging on a tree is cursed of God. Do not defile the land the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession.” (Verses 22-23)
To be hanged on a tree is to be cursed by God. It is only to be done for a brief period of time. Then, the sinner and the sin need to be buried. The Good News is that Christ overcame that dreaded death. Jesus lives!
Even as we walk with Jesus to Golgotha, we know that Jesus lives. We see it in the predictions that Jesus periodically made on the way. Read one from Luke chapter eighteen:
Gathering the twelve disciples around him, Jesus told them, "As you know, we are going to Jerusalem. And when we get there, all the predictions of the ancient prophets concerning the Son of Man will come true. He will be handed over to the Romans to be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit upon. They will whip him and kill him, but on the third day he will rise again." (Verses 31-33)
It is for the joy of knowing how the life of Jesus would culminate on earth that we celebrate Advent and Christmas and Advent and Resurrection Sunday. These are all wonderful times of the Christian calendar, but the essential thing is to believe in the resurrection. That thing is not optional.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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