The Perfect Gift
Picture it, a bright, beautiful sun-shiny day with just enough chill in the air to remind you of the season. It was an important day, one that would determine the gifts given to millions of people; it was Christmas Eve, the last shopping day before Christmas.
My husband worked at the mall for twelve years so each holiday season I had the joy of being caught amongst the non-Amazon shoppers of the world. God bless all those people out there shopping for their loved ones, to each his own, but I wanted no part of it, that is why God invented the internet. Nevertheless, I was forced to be among the hordes of last-minute shoppers, forced to endure thirty minutes of bumper-to-bumper traffic leaving the mall parking lot when I did not even get out of the car. But this day, among other shopping days, was important because it determines what gifts are given. Now, for those who say that Christmas is not about gift-giving, I beg to differ. The television says it is about gift-giving, the billboards, our parents, and the culture, all teach us that Christmas is about gift-giving, and while I would love to go on a tangent about the commercialization of Christmas, that is not what this is about. In fact, there is nothing wrong with gift giving; gift giving is great! It is definitely more blessed to give than to receive and we should know, after all, we are the recipients of great gifts from the Creator. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given,” talk about a gift (Isa. 9:6).
I googled it and the internet said that a gift is, “something willingly given to someone without payment.” Imagine a gift, perfectly wrapped, the only thing you have ever needed, something that satisfies every ounce of your being. It was not easy to acquire, but not because of the long shopping lines, oh no, much worse, the gift giver gave up everything. He left His throne in the heavens; felt shame, rejection, and betrayal, all just to give you this gift. There is no experience, no emotion, no pain, that you could feel to which He cannot relate. He has felt it all as God made low, and that perfectly wrapped gift is His sacrifice for you and me.
Picture it, a pitch-black sky in the middle of the day. No sun illuminating the sky, no, the sun had stopped shining. Jesus, beaten and worn, trudged up the hill towards Calvary to meet His fate with the weight of the cross on His back (Lk. 23). Only hours before, He was in the Garden of Gethsemane praying “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” (Matt. 26:36-46). On this day, He submitted to the Father’s will, determining the gift given to millions of people.
Jesus resolved to lay down His life for the sins of the world, His agony revealed in His blood-infused sweat. His agony, not out of reluctance to do God's will or for His journey to the cross, the agony that caused “sweat that became like great drops of blood” was for the thought of becoming the enemy of God (Lk. 22:44).
Hematidrosis is a condition in which “capillary blood vessels that feed the sweat glands rupture causing them to exude blood, occurring only under conditions of extreme physical or emotional stress” and Jesus was indeed under an extreme amount of stress (Mayo). It has been said that God did not forsake Jesus, but in that moment, He did because Jesus became sin! Every nefarious, disgusting, insidious, unholy, unrighteous thing about us, Jesus, perfect Jesus, took upon Himself as if it were His own sin. The separation from God that we deserve, He endured so we would not have to pay the price. Hmm, “something willingly given to someone without payment,” according to the internet, that's a gift.
Think about the gifts you purchased this season. I am going to step out on a limb and say that none of them are as priceless as the gift God has given to you. He did not just give you life, He gave you life more abundantly through Jesus Christ! With His bruises and His nail-scarred hands Jesus is the perfectly wrapped gift, the only thing we have ever needed, that satisfies every ounce of our being. He has overcome the world and sits at the right hand of God the Father! No more fear of separation from God because of His gift of salvation. There is one catch, you have to accept a gift before it is yours. This Christmas season, accept the gift that is salvation through Jesus Christ, it is the perfect gift.
