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HEBREWS 2:14–15 (NIV) |
DAY 2 |
He…shared in their humanity so that…
he might free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
IN OUR BLEAK MIDWINTER
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It likely was not a “bleak midwinter” when Jesus was born. Given the climate in Palestine, there likely was no “frosty wind” moaning, and it’s highly unlikely that “snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow.” But these haunting lines from nineteenth-century English poet Christina Rosetti’s poem, now best known as the Christmas carol “In the Bleak Midwinter,” still ring profoundly true.
By describing Christ coming in the harshest of winters, Rosetti painted a picture of a harsh world in desperate need of hope. Her words “Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone” point beyond the literal to the state of human hearts—wounded and hardened by pain and death.
And in our bleakest of winters, Christ comes. The One who, as Rosetti penned, “cherubim worship night and day,” was content with the humility of living “fully human in every way” (HEBREWS 2:17 NIV). He entered our world, sharing in our humanity to “free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (V. 15 NIV). He came to forever free us from the grip of death on our hearts, to free our hearts to experience joy.
It’s a gift beyond words and beyond repayment. As Rosetti concluded, “What can I give Him, poor as I am?” But our prayer can be, “What I can I give Him: give my heart.”
MONICA LA ROSE
In what ways are you experiencing a “bleak midwinter”?
How does the gift of Christ offer hope?
Dear Jesus, please help me give You my heart.
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TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | HEBREWS 2:10–17
10 God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.
11 So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.
12 For he said to God,“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters. I will praise you among your assembled people.”
13 He also said, “I will put my trust in him,” that is, “I and the children God has given me.”
14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.
15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.
16 We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham.
17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.
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