Becky Crenshaw

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:45

I have truly never thought about this word… RANSOM.

I have honestly never pondered the idea of ransom, how it relates to Christmas and the reality that Jesus was born to buy me out of slavery.

I had essentially sold myself into the slavery of sin and the only way out of this was to be bought back.

Who would do that for me? Who could really?

RANSOM (Lytron): the price for redeeming; to liberate many from misery and the penalty of their sins

Only Jesus. Our sweet baby Jesus. The Jesus we celebrate this season with stockings and manger scenes and parks lit with twinkling lights.

When it all boils down, we celebrate the Son of Man being born to buy us back from the mess we had ourselves in.  He was born and laid in a feeding trough only to later lay himself down to liberate us from the misery and penalty of our sin.

Not the most magical way to think of Christmas. But, oh, isn’t it though?

A Savior just for you. Just for me. HE BOUGHT US BACK.

John Piper says, “we had been alienated from a Holy God. When Jesus gave his life as a ransom, our slave masters, sin, death and the Devil, HAD TO GIVE UP their claim on us.”  Y’all. The emphasis is MINE. This fires me up to my core and makes me even more MADLY IN LOVE with this Jesus of ours.  His authority is so great that these powers of darkness, and they are STRONG powers, had to SUBMIT to the power of this sacrifice.

Piper goes on to say, “God’s Son had to become human so that he could suffer and die in our place to pay the ransom.”

This is the meaning of Christmas.

The ULTIMATE Christmas purchase. Talk about “prime,” right?!

Gosh, even thinking of the servanthood of Christ makes me want to weep. He came to serve me in this way. He came to serve you in this way.

He didn’t want to be served. He only wanted us back.

This makes me excited to think of serving my family and guests over the coming days…. it is just a small small reflection of what this season boils down to…. selflessly serving others like Jesus came to serve.

So today as we hustle and bustle and fight hard not to get sucked into the vortex of holiday chaos…. remember that this season is really about celebrating the ultimate servant.

Our ransom has been paid. We don’t have to serve sin any longer. WE HAVE BEEN PAID FOR AND FREED.

Lord, thank you for this reality today. Even though the idea of “ransom” isn’t something I think about often, nor does it really fit in any other area of my life, this is our reality in Christ. We are no longer slaves to sin!! What a gift! This Christmas, I pray we can all reflect on this and find great joy and peace in knowing that you love us that much.  I love you Lord and I really needed this perspective today. In Jesus Name, Amen.

When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4-5