He came to fulfil the Law and the Prophets, to bring a sword, to preach in the towns, to ransom his people, to seek and save the lost, to bring eternal life, to save the world… 

I started thinking a little about Christmas in yesterday’s blog post. Today, I thought I would carry on the theme. I asked my daughter what I should write about (normally the sign of desperation that I have nothing to write). She first suggested, ‘why do we have to have Christmas trees?’ I wasn’t convinced there was much worth saying about that. Not least, we don’t HAVE to have Christmas trees, they’re just nice and were introduced to Britain by George III’s German wife and popularised by Queen Victoria’s German husband. But she quickly followed up this suggestion with a much better one: why did Jesus come?

So, why did Jesus come? Here is what the Bible has to say about that:

To Fulfil the Law and the Prophets

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them – Matthew 5:7

To Bring a Sword

Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. – Matthew 10:34-35

To Preach in the Towns

[Jesus] said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is what I came for.” – Mark 1:38

To Serve and Ransom His People

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many – Mark 10:45

To Seek & Save the Lost

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. – Luke 19:10

To Bring Eternal Life

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16

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