“What Child is This?”

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

- Luke 2:11-12 NIV

Agood question: who is this Jesus, who came into this world as so many children do, born to a mother who found herself pregnant out of wedlock, born in the humblest circumstances, a manger being perhaps the modern equivalent of a cheap hotel room or a homeless camp (and probably not as well-furnished as a modern barn) and who eventually dies a most ignominious death, hung from a cross. So the first answer is clear: Jesus is God with us, and with us in the humblest of circumstances. When we look at Jesus’ life, we see that he was constantly serving, feeding, and teaching others. So the second answer is also clear: Jesus is God for us. And not only does he feed us with his own flesh and blood and teach us how to live a good and holy life, but he literally dies for us, as the once and for all sacrifice for all of humanity. The final answer to the question “What Child is This?” is that Jesus is the savior of the world, the personal savior of all who believe in him, but more than that, he who redeems creation itself. What child is this? If only we understood how important that question really is!

– Christopher Simon