Meditation: Why Did He Come?
Jesus himself explains why He came:
“Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them, but to fulfill them” (Matt. 5: 17).
“I come not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt 9; 13).
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
“I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness” (John 12:46).
“For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37).
“…the Son of Man came not be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28).
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me…” (John 6:38),
“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
Meditation: Why Did He Come?
Jesus explained why He came in Luke 4:18-19.21:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”… And he began to say to them. “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:18-19, 21).
Meditation: Why Did He Come?
We do not believe in an absent God, an invisible, intangible, eternally elusive God. We believe in a God Who, when man fell into the ocean of sin and was drowning, did not just stay in heaven and shout directions on lifesaving, but jumped into the ocean to save him. We believe in a God Who intervenes in our lives:
a God Who came to call not the righteous but sinners;
a God Who came to seek and save the lost;
a God Who came not to be served but to serve;
a God Who came to give us the abundant life;
a God Who came as light that whoever believes in
Him may not remain in darkness;
a God Who came not to judge the world but to save the world.
He came at Christmas. He comes today. He will come again at the end of time.
Prayer:
You came for me, Lord, to be my salvation, my light, my Savior, my Life. And You will come again one day to take me unto Yourself eternally. Glory be to You together with the Father and the Holy Spirit now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen
~ Presbytera Emily Harakas & Fr. Anthony Coniaris, DAILY MEDITATIONS and Prayers for the CHRISTMAS ADVENT Fast and Epiphany: Living the Days of Advent and Epiphany according to the Orthodox Church Calendar
