It’s easy to forget that the person whose birth date we celebrate December 25th came for a purpose.  And while I may be saying things that have been said before, I would be remiss if I didn’t recall the reason why this child whom they named Jesus appeared on the scene some 2,000 years ago.

The answer is simple.  It was for guys like me.

You see, I am one of the people this child, when he grew up and became a man, said he came to seek out and save.  “It is not the healthy who need a doctor,” Jesus said, “but the sick.”

An accurate description for a man who despaired of life and had no hope of it ever getting better.  A man who knew he needed God but rejected Christianity and wanted nothing to do with this purported ‘son’ of God.

Yet, for reasons perhaps I’ll never know, I was wanted by him, and somehow, by means even more mysterious, he was able to persuade me that his ways were better than mine, and that what I really needed was a relationship with him.

It was a relief I must say, to realize there was help for this illness I suffered, this disease of the heart.  The cure was this Christ I had resisted.  But now I welcomed him.

What would compel a man who was said to be the savior of the world to come for a person like me?

He came because he was compelled by love.

It was because God loved the world that he sent his son.  Christ so loved God that he came.  Both knew that my deepest need was love.

What an amazing love it is.  Why else would one by whom and for whom the heavens were made and the earth sent spinning in space condescend to such a low estate?

Why would he who was eternal and immortal confine himself to a body that grew hungry and thirsty and felt pain and sorrow and joy?

Why would such royalty stoop to hay and rubble and the smell of animals at the time of his birth?

Why else would this all-powerful being live in relative obscurity for thirty years, knowing who he was and what he came to do, yet keeping it secret until the time came for him to be revealed.

Why else would this one who could call down legions of angels in his defense allow wicked men to beat him and nail his tattered body to a tree?

Why else would this one of a kind allow himself to be cut off from his Father, from whom he received direction for every word and step? “My God, why have you forsaken me?” he cried from the cross.

I tell you that he did it because of love, and he did it for me.

But that’s not all.   Not only was he born on Christmas day to die for sorry souls like me, he came to tell us of a new order, a heavenly one.  “The kingdom of God has arrived,” he said. “You must change your hearts and minds and believe the good news!” (Mk. 1:15, Phillips)

His was a call to people who wanted something better and who recognized their ways to be so far from those of God’s that only a miracle could bridge the distance.  This is what this God in man’s body came to do.

His was a kingdom “not of this world,” the government of which would be his responsibility.  He was called “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  His kingdom would grow and grow and never come to an end.

All this love, all this purpose, all this power, wrapped up in a tiny babe, whose mother and father gathered ‘round on a cold winter’s night in a manger because there was no room for them at the inn.

All this, for a man like me, who could never dream of such riches in a million years.

This is why Jesus came.  This is why I remember the day he was born.

Among the many deep and limitless meanings of the crucifixion is the simple and most profound truth: a man may approach God.

It is written that, upon Jesus’ immediate death–the breathing of His last breath, His giving up His spirit, the veil of the Jewish temple–that thick veil which separated the holy place from the holy of holies, where God dwelt–was torn in two from top to bottom; signifying this: that the way into the presence of God was now open, not just to the priests or the super-religious, but to all men everywhere, for all time.

Hebrews encourages us in this. In light of what Christ has done the author writes,

“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (10:19-22).

Men are deceived in thinking that anyone can approach God any old way they wish; that there are many ways to God; that God hears every prayer; that God accepts everyone regardless of how they come. The truth is, there is but one way to God; the prayer God hears is one prayed according to His will; a man is accepted in Christ, and in Christ alone; and the approach to God is only through the veil of Christ’s flesh–that is, His death, burial, and resurrection. This is to say, His shed Blood.

Not one of us is turned away when we come to God the way He has prescribed, the only acceptable way; and in coming, we can be absolutely assured we shall be welcomed with open arms. This is the full assurance of faith the writer of Hebrews says we can have. It is not presumed upon any merit of our own–not our goodness (or lack thereof), not our righteousness (concerning which we do not have), nor based on anything worthy we have done. No, it is on the basis of the Blood of Jesus entirely and alone. We can enter the holy place by the Blood of Jesus. Period.

Our entry was inaugurated. That is, Jesus brought about the beginning of the approach to God.

It was new in that never before, since the fall of man, had a man the right nor the way into the presence of God. This was brand, spanking new.

It was a living way. The truth is, Jesus is alive–He is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near to God through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them. He died the death, yes; He was buried, true. But His spirit did not die and, on the third day was united with HIs body and, lo and behold!–we’ve the resurrected Christ!

It is alive in another sense, too. His Blood–the life being in the blood–it still speaks. In a very real sense the Blood is still alive; we see it in chapter twelve of Hebrews. In this snapshot of heaven as it now is, there is God the Judge of all, and Jesus the Mediator, and the spirits of righteous men made perfect, and the church of the firstborn. And then there is the Blood–the Blood is there, right now as I write these words. And it is speaking, it is speaking better things than the blood of Able. It is crying out, “Mercy! Mercy! Have mercy!”

The veil, it says, through which we enter, is Jesus’ flesh. How is that? Simply put, it is but through the broken, crucified body of the Son of God that men have their singular access to the immediate presence of God.

We’re told to draw near with a sincere heart. What is that? An honest one, a true one. Not presumptuous. Not for show (how could that be?). A heart laid open and bared to the One with whom we have to do. One that knows that God knows. You cannot hide anything from God. You come as you are without any pretense.

It’s to be with full assurance. The one thing we can have absolute confidence in is the word of God. What do we have without this? The whims of men and of the world’s thinking. The Bible says we can come, and it says we can come for these reasons; therefore, we can come fully assured–right? Yes, indeed!

There is no ground for apprehension in approaching God if you come in His way. And this is through the veil of Christ’s death on the cross; through, in, and by His shed Blood. No fear of rejection, of punishment, of being turned away. The Throne of Grace is wide open–God says so, so it is. So, you come.

Thus, among the transcendent and indescribable meanings and benefits of the crucifixion, the one–I believe the chief one, is the freedom, the liberty, the joy of approaching God.

“And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn our in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away” (Matthew 27:59-60).

In that quiet place, the stone having been rolled over the entry and sealed, Mary and Mary having observed, and now with soldiers sitting there, little was known that though the body of Jesus lay still in that rocky tomb, there was very much going on in the spirit.

I am no theologian–well, maybe I am. Given all my studies of the Scripture for forty-three years, maybe I am a bit of a Bible-scholar, eh? That said, I make no such claim. But I do think upon Scripture much, and when I read certain things, other things come to mind. That said, my mind goes to thinking what transpired during that span of time the corpse of Messiah laid wrapped up in cloth in Joseph’s grave.

I’ve taught on the theme of resurrection before in my Foundational Truths class. And in my teachings on Righteousness I’ve also covered briefly this multi-day period between Jesus’ death and His resurrection.

We all know the reason for the crucifixion. Christ died for our sins. He bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we being dead to sin might live to righteousness. Jesus gave His life a ransom for many. He not only bore our sin, but Paul teaches He became our sin. He became, as it were, a loathsome thing to God. He was punished by God with the punishment that was our punishment, that was our due on account of sin. I think most Christians understand this, at least the just of it.

Punishment for sin however does not mean simple, physical death. It means eternal banishment from God. It means forever in hell. It means you are forever cut off from God with no chance of returning. It means there is this chasm between you and God which cannot be spanned. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus is the mediator between the two of you, that He can bridge the gap–but that is a topic for another time. I speak about what was happening between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

What I mean to say is that in paying the penalty for our sin, the brutal and unimaginable pain of being crucified was not the end of it. In fact, it was not even the greatest suffering to be had by our Lord. No, the greater pain of all time and eternity was that of the Son–forever one with the Father, being cut off from the Father.

We breeze over the cry of Jesus from the cross when He said, “My God! My God! Why have You forsaken Me?” We cannot for a moment consider Jesus was just saying this to make sure He fulfilled the Scripture. No, He fulfilled the Scripture by being cut off from God, forsaken by the Father. Jesus Christ, the Son of God from all eternity; one with God, of the same essence as God, Himself the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, this One was at the moment of crucifixion, separated from God. He experienced in real time what every man, woman, and child will experience when their time comes and they have not been reconciled to God. Banished from God. No, His cry was a real one. He, in agony no man could ever imagine, truly questioned the Father: “Why have You forsaken me? Why? Oh, why? “

Yet He did not give up His faith. He said, “Into Your hands I commit my spirit.” And, “It is finished.” Meaning to say, “I’ve done what you commanded Me to do.” “I’ve born the punishment due these, and as the worst part, I am banished from You.”

If we believe in the atonement at all, and are at all familiar with the Scripture, we know it did not end there–the punishment, I mean. No, what awaits all men apart from God is not only physical death, and not only an eternal separation from God, but assignment to the dungeons of the damned, the garbage heap of humanity–Hades, or hell as we would know it. To pay the penalty for our sin, fully pay it, Jesus had to go to hell.

Now this is where I might be a little theologically unclear. Maybe that is because the theology itself is unclear. But the trusted creeds tell it this way, and I believe Scripture supports it, if not outright describes it.

It is written that, “He ascended”–as in the resurrection, but then says, “what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?’ And, in another place, “You will not abandon My soul to Hades”–that is to say, “You will not leave Me in hell.”

I think the kingdom of darkness thought it had clinched the deal upon the death of Christ and His being forsaken by the Father. They had Him now. Now the whole earth, their domain then and even now, was theirs and would be forever uncontested. They had Him in their clutches. I’m thinking, just speculating because I don’t really know, that Jesus must’ve experienced at least a taste of that awful place: He had to experience what all lost souls indeed will experience, if He were to fully pay the price, to fully “taste death for every man”.

But Death nor that dark kingdom could not hold Him (Acts 2:24). No, instead He stripped them of their powers. He made some declarations, some proclamations to them there in that prison (1 Peter 3:18-20). And then, wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, the Power of God showed up, the glory of the Father, the Holy Spirit. And He yanked Him up from that God-awful place. He was innocent. He was the Son of God. The Father said, in effect, “No way, Jose!” On His way up, He laid hold of those held captive. He disarmed the rulers and the authorities; He made a public display of them (Colossians 2:15). The timing was such that upon His being snatched up by the Holy Spirit, His spirit was reunited with His body and, lo and behold! The resurrection!

Again, I am speculating as to some of this. Not one of us knows for certain what happened during that time Jesus body lay in the tomb. But we get glimpses. And we know He fully paid the penalty for our rebellion against God.

“The Lord (that is, the Father) was pleased to crush Him (Jesus), putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord (the Father) will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He (the Father) will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant (Jesus), will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great; and He will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:10-12).

The thing to learn from all this is that it was of God. The Father was pleased to crush Him. In observing the anguish of Jesus’ soul, the Father would be fully satisfied. Jesus would bear our iniquities and, by this, make us right with God.