The Reason for the Season

The Reason for the Season

"Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him(Jesus) to be executed.  
When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.  
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 
The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” 
The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar  and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” 
There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 
But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  
We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’” 
Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” 
                                                                                          Luke 23:32-43.
Today is Christmas eve. Tomorrow the 2.2billion Christians around the world will be celebrating the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is one of the two most holy days in the Christian year.
At Christmas we get the image of this little child placed in a manger because there was no room for his family in the inn.  Yet this is just the beginning.
This Jesus would grow up quietly out of the limelight in a small backwater village of a back water area of the Roman empire.
Thirty three years later he would become what most historians say is the most important figure in human history.
His ministry on this earth lasted only three years and he would never move far from his place of birth.
In that time however he taught a group of men that would go out and literally change the world without lifting a sword.
A group of men and women that would change the world through love and love alone.
Producing followers that now equal close to a third of the worlds population and the number is still growing.
Jesus himself was crucified for a crime he did not commit. Yet even in death we see a microcosm of the world.
He was put to death for political reasons by religious leaders that should have supported him. He was put to death with the full consent of ruling secular authorities who admitted he had done nothing wrong deserving death.
Even as he hung on the cross flanked by two criminals we seen the choice every man and woman in the world must make.
Luke records,
“One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 
He doubted who Jesus was even as he was dying.
Luke goes on to say,
“But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  
We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’
Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
The man believed who Jesus was, the Christ, the one and only Son of God. The saviour of the world.
All to often at Christmas Christians and non-Christians alike forget the “reason for the season”.
The reason for Christmas is Easter a time when Jesus died for our sins. When God reached down and said this is how far I will go to reconcile you to me.
It is my hope that this Christmas you will consider your relationship to Jesus who said
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
                                                                                                                      John 3:16,17.
That you will decide for yourself just who Jesus is. Is he simply a good man or is he God’s One and Only son who died for your sins. Who died that you might have life eternal with God.
Think about it