Herod’s Soldiers at the Family Reunion

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Being convicted of a sin is not the same thing as feeling vaguely bad about it. In Scripture, conviction is described as being “cut to the heart,” it is a heart-piercing.

Jesus was born into this sinful world in order to deal with sin—to really deal with it. He is no false prophet, that we should expect Him to daub around the edges of the wound, saying peace, peace, when there is no peace.

The gospel message is not that we have to die, as though we are offering the supreme sacrifice to God, a sacrifice that He will accept. No, our death is necessary, but it is a gift to us from Him, given to us in the death of His Son. Jesus died so that we might die—Jesus was cut to the heart so that we might be cut to the heart.

 

Christmas is a drag when sinners are in charge of it. Who wants Herod’s soldiers running through your family gatherings? Well, Herod’s soldiers do, and if their presence has anything to do with your commands and permissions, then it is time for you to be cut to the heart.

And you cannot cut yourself—that is what the priests of Baal do. You simply surrender to God, on the basis of what Jesus did on the cross. You do not offer the sacrifice of dying; you receive the gift of death. The difference between the two is stark, the difference between night and day, goodness and evil, selfishness and love. And when you receive death, you also, in the next moment, receive life.

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