Today’s Reading: Matthew 27:11-66; 28:1-20

We are three days from Christmas. All hearts are focused on the manger as we celebrate the birth of the Christ Child. Yet this year God has us finishing the book of Matthew, which focuses on the cross instead of the cradle.

Jesus, born in a manger on a silent night, as compared to Jesus, standing before the Roman Governor accused of blasphemy. “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus respectfully answered, “You have said it.” The wisemen had come to worship him, but the religious leaders had come to accuse him. The babe rested silently in the manger; Jesus stood silently before Pilate.

When Pilate gave the religious leaders and all who had gathered the choice to set Jesus free or pardon the criminal Barabbas, as was the custom during the Passover, the people chose Barabbas. They shouted over and over again for Pilate to crucify Jesus of Nazareth.

Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”

And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!”

So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified. – Matthew 27:24-26

God sent His Son into the world for the sake of redemption, but the people rejected Jesus as their King. They showed no mercy to the One who had displayed mercy to all who were brought to him for healing. He had raised many among them from the dead, yet they cried out for Jesus to be sentenced to death. Jesus, Creator, Healer, Savior.

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.
So he is first in everything.
For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. – Colossians 1:15-22

None of us deserve what Jesus did for us on the cross; none of us are worthy of the sacrifice he made for our sins. Yet he paid the ransom to cover our debts, and now he commissions us for the work that has eternal value.

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20

God, thank you for the sacrifice you made by sending your Son to be born of a virgin. Lord, thank you for dying on a cross so that we who were once far away from God could be reconciled. We kneel before you this Christmas in awe of your birth and grateful for your resurrection. Open our eyes and increase our understanding of who you are, what you have done, and where you are calling us to serve. Amen.