Imagine if Jesus never came. No God-man, no angels, no John the Baptist, no glorious incarnation. We would simply live our 70 years or so and then face our dying breaths with a knowledge that we would surely face God's wrath for an eternity.
And there would be nothing at all that we could do to avoid it.
This is what we deserve. That is the point that the author Luke makes obvious in his Gospel. We find in Luke that a central, driving motive for Christ arrival is God's abundant, precious mercy. Five (5!) times in the first chapter of Luke the word ‘mercy’ is explicitly mentioned as the reason why Jesus came (or why his forerunner, John the Baptist, was sent).
Mary—“My soul magnifies the Lord…his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation” (1:46,50)
Mary—“[God] has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever” (1:54-55)
Neighbors of Elizabeth—“And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her” (1:58)
Zechariah (Concerning Jesus)—“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people…to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant” (1:68,72)
Zechariah (Concerning John)—“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God” (1:76-78a)
Mercy here means an incredible display of covenantal kindness to a people who were completely undeserving. Both the second and fourth passage say clearly that God sent Jesus on account of the word he promised years back to Abraham and his offspring. And yet this was mercy, which means that Israel did not earn this gift of God became flesh. God made a promise in ages past. Israel had been incredibly unfaithful and were left with no hope. Yet God still sent the only hope of salvation and forgiveness of sins (1:77). That is why it is called ‘great mercy’ (1:58) and ‘tender mercy’ (1:78). No wonder that in every single passage everyone is praising God for his mercy.
Consider how Christmas will change for you this holiday season if you view it as fueled by great mercy.
* You will stop hiding the wretchedness of sin in your life, for if Jesus came because of ‘great mercy,’ this implies that there was a GREAT need.
* You will never feel entitled to know Jesus as your Savior, for you know that mercy rather than works is what began God’s work of salvation.
* You will be tender and full of compassion to others, knowing that we were given hope when we were in the slums of our own stinking filth.
* Your heart will begin to well up with praise, knowing that this ‘great mercy’ is not a dead-end street, but instead a marvelous thoroughfare that leads to the destination of a ‘great salvation’ (Heb. 2:3).
Come, let us worship this merciful child!
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