Do You See What I See?

The Christmas song, “Do you hear what I hear?” asks if we see, hear, and know who Jesus is. It ends with the “King telling the people everywhere” about the child that was born to “bring us goodness and light.” Goodness and Light are fitting words describing what Jesus brought to the world.

John 10:11 highlights the sacrificial love and goodness Jesus showed His followers by calling Himself their Good Shepherd, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” John also describes Jesus as being light. One of the clearest examples is found in John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Jesus brings us goodness and light. Do you see, do you hear, do you know?

Luke 18 shows the disciples’ failure to know and understand Jesus’ words about His going to Jerusalem to die on the cross. We shouldn’t be too harsh on the disciples; they lacked the context to grasp what Jesus was saying fully. And even though they couldn’t see or understand His meaning, Jesus knew. In fact, for us to understand the Christmas story, we must recognize the importance of Jesus’ foreknowledge.

Jesus’ birth was no accident; God planned to bring us salvation through Him. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 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 3:16–17)

Jesus was born, as a man, to become the atoning sacrifice for your sins. In other words, Christ was born for you. Yes, he was born to be the gift of salvation for the whole world, but to see the meaning of Christmas, we must see that Jesus was born to be a gift for you. Unless I do this, I will not understand the true, full meaning of Christmas.

We are skilled at depersonalizing truths. While we may openly admit that we are sinners, we still tend to mentally add the caveat that we are better than most. Using the Christmas image, we believe we are on the “nice” list, not the “naughty” list, because, after all... Our confidence is based on the relative scale that we are not as bad as others.

But if we are honest, we should ask ourselves whether our sense of scale is accurate. How good is good enough? While we might be better than some, perhaps even better than most, is that sufficient? In comparison, how much dirt will we tolerate in our drinking water before we refuse to drink it? Similarly, how much sin does it take before we are no longer considered good enough?

Jesus testifies that it wasn’t because we were worthy of salvation that he was born; it was because we were sinners! Once, while Jesus was eating with tax collectors and sinners, Mark writes, “Why does [Jesus] eat with tax collectors and sinners?” he answered, saying, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” (Mark 2:17)

If you think you're on the nice list because of all the good things you've done, you should rethink the foundation of your belief. James boldly warns us, “For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.” (James 2:10) I can hear your “not fair,” but if we could atone for our own sins through our own righteousness, just by being nice, then there would be no reason for Jesus to be born.

However, it was because of our sin, because we could not save ourselves, that Jesus was born. In fact, Paul further explains, saying, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Jesus didn’t come for himself; He didn’t come for the world; He came for you and me. Remember what the angel told Joseph, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) Jesus wasn’t born to teach or heal; He was born to save us from our sins.