Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Luke 1:30-32 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High."
HE BORE OUR SINS IN HIS BODY ON THE CROSS
This past Sunday, March 25, was an important date on the Christian calendar -- though often hardly noticed. Perhaps this is because March 25 usually falls during Lent -- yet this is one thing that brings out the importance of remembering this day. For during Lent we focus our attention on the suffering and death of Jesus, the son of God who became the Son of Man in order to rescue us sinners by offering up His body and laying down His life in our place.
March 25 is, of course, exactly nine months before Christmas Day. On the Christian calendar this day marks the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary of Nazareth and his announcement, "... you will conceive and give birth to a son and you are to call Him Jesus." Jesus' miraculous conception that day was the beginning of the body He would offer in sacrifice to redeem us sinners.
In Hebrews 10 the holy writer quotes Psalm 40, a Scripture in which the Christ himself speaks centuries in advance of His coming into human flesh. He emphasizes the reason why the Son of God became the son of Mary and our Brother -- namely, to offer his body in sacrifice for our sins on the cross.
"... those [Old Testament] sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: 'Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me.'"
God did not want the very sacrifices He himself commanded -- not if they were offered thoughtlessly or from unbelieving hearts or were seen as an answer to sin in themselves. They were supposed to be seen and used as reminders of sin and pictures of the Savior to come, the Savior who would become one of us in order to offer, once and for all, the perfect sacrifice for all sin: namely, His own body on the cross.
