Read: Mark 10:42-52
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (v. 45)
The second Sunday of Advent invites us to light another purple candle, traditionally representing love. If there is a central theme to Christmas, it is love. Even those who don’t attach Christian significance to the holiday think of giving gifts, preparing special surprises, meals, and moments with friends, family and even strangers to show love.
From heaven’s perspective, Advent is about a love that does battle. During the same season we ponder what to buy, God is buying something back, something that has been stolen. Perhaps we shop Sharper Image or Kohl’s, but God shops the slave markets, the streets, the alleyways and distant corners of our world. O come, O come, Emmanuel, / and ransom captive Israel, we sing.
“Ransom” is not a hoity-toity theological term. If someone is kidnapped, the perpetrator demands a payment to release the prisoner. Every person and thing belongs to God, but evil has brutally plundered, pillaged, claimed and chained. In that sense, we’ve all known slavery until Jesus paid the price of sin and separation from God. He made his advent, not to be served as a king, but to serve as a ransom on behalf of love. The one, the only One, whose life was perfect enough to buy back the many, thus closing the gap between God and us.
Prayer: Giver of good gifts, thank you for your love that does battle on behalf of all captives, freeing us in the truest sense of the word.
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Blogger Amy Clemens is the author of Walking When You’d Rather Fly: Meditations on Faith After the Fall. In it she explores childhood sexual abuse and how it impacted her faith (or lack thereof) for four decades. You’ll find not only her story, but better yet, the Big Story of God.
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