The salvation of the whole world

In the days when Jesus was born in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago, there was a pious man named Simeon who lived in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that he would not die until he saw the Lord's Christ. One day the Holy Spirit led Simeon into the temple - the very day the parents brought Baby Jesus to fulfill the requirements of the Torah. When Simeon saw the baby, he took Jesus in his arms, praised God and said: Lord, now you let your servant go in peace, as you said; for my eyes have seen your Savior, whom you prepared before all peoples, a light to illuminate the Gentiles and to praise your people Israel (Luke 2,29-32).

Simeon praised God for what the scribes, the Pharisees, the high priests and the teachers of the law could not understand: Israel's Messiah came not only for the salvation of Israel, but also for the salvation of all the peoples of the world. Isaiah had prophesied this a long time before: It is not enough for you to be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and bring back the scattered Israel, but I have also made you the light of the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 49,6). God called the Israelites out of the peoples and set them apart by a covenant as his own people. But he didn't just do it for her; he ultimately did it for the salvation of all peoples. When Jesus was born, an angel appeared to a group of shepherds who watched their flocks at night.

The glory of the Lord shone upon her and the angel said:
Do not be afraid! Behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be to all people; for to you today the Savior is born, who is the Lord Christ, in the city of David. And that is a sign: you will find the child wrapped in diapers and lying in a crib. And immediately there was with the angel the multitude of the heavenly hosts, who praised God and said: Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to the people of his good will (Luke 2,10-14).

When he described the extent of what God did through Jesus Christ, Paul wrote: For it was pleasing to God that all abundance should dwell in him and that through him he reconciled everything to himself, be it on earth or in heaven, by him Peace made by his blood on the cross (Colossians 1,19-20). Just as Simeon exclaimed about the baby Jesus in the temple: Through God's own Son, salvation had come into the whole world, to all sinners, even to all enemies of God.

Paul wrote to the church in Rome:
For Christ died for us wicked even when we were still weak. Hardly anyone dies for the sake of a righteous man; for the sake of goodness he may venture his life. But God shows his love for us in the fact that Christ died for us when we were still sinners. How much more will we be kept from wrath by him, now that we have been righteous by his blood! For if we have been reconciled to God through the death of his Son when we were still enemies, how much more will we be saved through his life now that we are reconciled (Romans 5,6-10). Despite Israel's failure to keep the covenant God made with them, and despite all the sins of the Gentiles, God achieved through Jesus all that was necessary for the salvation of the world.

Jesus was the prophesied Messiah, the perfect representative of the covenant people, and as such, the light for the Gentiles, the One by which both Israel and all peoples were saved from sin and brought into the family of God. That is why Christmas is a time to celebrate God's greatest gift to the world, the gift of His one and only Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

by Joseph Tkach


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