25 Days of AdventSample

Advent -- Day 13

Matthew 16:16

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Matthew 17:5

While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

Luke 1:35

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God."

Luke 20:9-13

He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers, and went away for a long time. At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.'”

Galatians 4:4-7

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

Hebrews 1:3

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Meditation

It is clear from Scripture that Mary knew her baby was no ordinary boy. She had been told by an angel that she would become the mother of the Son of God. It is doubtful that she knew exactly what this meant. Who could have?

But it is our calling to come to know it, to realize who he was and the implications of it. The more we realize this, through the power of his Word and his Spirit, the more we can become like him. Jesus’ claims were exclusive. He is the only way to God. He is God’s only begotten son. He is the one who reveals who God is, what God looks like in the flesh. How humble is God that he would be born so small? And how great is he that he could overcome such a birth?

Jesus’s sinless life, his perfect ministry, the truth of all that he said, and the life that he modeled for us were all possible because he came straight from God and was God. And if there was ever any cause to doubt his claims, the way he died and the fact that he was raised from the dead provide validation. Jesus, Son of God, was not resuscitated. He was resurrected as an entirely new order of creation. He could appear and disappear, walk through walls, and yet eat, walk, and talk, all while appearing as a normal human being.

And we will follow him in this. And the way we do this comes from God’s own words out of heaven as Jesus was coming up out of the water of his baptism: “Listen to him!”

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I aspire to know you better, and I recognize that at present I am only dimly aware of who you really are and what you are like. Scripture reveals wonderful truths about you, but you are unimaginably more than those words can communicate to me. I affirm that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God, but my capacity to understand what that means is limited. Your Majesty and glory are beyond human comprehension, and even in heaven, the journey into the knowledge of you will be limitless. And yet you invite me to know you even now. You have established your throne in the heavens, and your sovereignty is over all. Still, you are also immanent and intimate in the lives of those who respond to your loving initiatives. Grant me the dignity of growing in my knowledge of you as I promise to respond with trust and obedience. In your royal name I pray. Amen.