Tomorrow we begin celebrating the second week of advent; the coming of Jesus into the world. We are called to take this time to better understand why Jesus came. Jesus came because he loved us. He knew he needed to make a sacrifice for our sin so that we could live forever — with Him!
Have you ever felt anxious over something that you knew you had to do; yet something you didn’t look forward to doing? I’m sure we all have. You hope and pray that you won’t have to go through whatever it is that you are dreading. You fear it because you know it’s going to hurt in some way. Even when you know the final outcome will be good, and even worth the temporary pain, you still dread it. You still pray that another way can be found that will lead to the final, good, outcome.
This must be how Jesus felt when He prayed the following before making the sacrifice for which he came: “’Abba, Father,’ he cried out, ‘everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.’” (Mark 14:36 (NLT)
This tells me that the pain and suffering Jesus was about to go through was real and significant. It was not going to merely be the pain of hanging on a cross; it was going to be so much more. Jesus knew his suffering would be unthinkable. And, even though He knew what the final outcome would be, Jesus prayed asking if there could be another way.
I’m so thankful that He finished this request by saying, “Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” He knew he needed to complete the sacrifice. We can celebrate Christmas today because of the outcome of Jesus’ obedience. His suffering resulted in victory over sin and death. This final victory was realized upon His resurrection.
We often hear, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Indeed we do celebrate his coming during each advent season, yet the truth is, you and I are the reason Jesus came. You and I are the reason Jesus went through that suffering. It is because of His sacrifice and resurrection that we do not need to live in fear, dreading the consequences of our sin.
It is His great love for us, expressed in His death, that allows us to love Him because of His resurrection. And it all came to pass because he came to us, for us. It is indeed true that we can love Him because He first loved us. The final outcome was definitely good.