I love Christmas. Of course, I am not alone, as it ranks in almost every survey as the top holiday in the world. Over the past two decades, many Christians seek to “Keep Christ in Christmas” and the remind people that “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.” On a much more personal level, I look for events and activities that help keep my heart moored to Jesus during this time. One of those simple traditions has become communion during the Christmas season. In communion, we celebrate the real significance of the season.
The Real Significance of Christmas
When Jesus shared the Last Supper with His disciples on Passover Day, He looked toward the cross. Only hours away from being arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, He took this time away with His disciples. The Gospel of Luke records the significance of it:
14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. 15 Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 22:14-16)
Jesus fervently desired this moment with His disciples. Why? Because Jesus knew the significance of this moment. He continued:
19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” (Luke 22:19-20)
Although the disciples did not know the significance of this moment, Jesus did. He was within hours of becoming the literal, final Passover Lamb as the substitutional wrath-bearing sacrifice. He knew He would take on the sins of the world on the cross. Broken and bruised body. Shed blood. And, at this point, clueless disciples.
Immanuel – God with Us!
We celebrate the birth of Jesus because He came to earth to be with us. Not just with us, He came to be one of us. Jesus came as a baby so that He could take our sins on Himself as a selfless, sinless substitute. The Apostle Paul writes, “He [God] made Him [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21).
Jesus came to earth to take on Himself the sins of the world. In exchange, God could forgive our sins through Jesus.
For this reason, Jesus desired to share the Last Supper with His disciples. He knew. He understood. When we celebrate Christmas communion, we remember what Jesus did and stop to see the significance of it.
Jesus, our substitute, took on God’s wrath so that we do not have to do so.
As we enter the traditional twelve days of Christ, let me encourage you to keep focused on the real significance of Christmas this busy season. Jesus came to become one of us to provide for our salvation.
Image Credit Geda Žyvatkauskaitė
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