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      • 40. One of the Greatest Need America
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      • 45. Memorial Day
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      • 51. Decoding the Da Vinci Code
      • 52. Thanksgiving is not a Holiday
      • 53. What a Christmas Present!
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      • 54. What Do You Mean by that?
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      • 67. Tribute to My Mother
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      • 68. Real Spiritual Growth
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      • 71. Do We Need a Pope?
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      • 79. The Redemption of Tookie Willaims
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      • 80. Is Religion a Problem?
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      • 83. Judas: Betrayer or Best Friend?
      • 84. Weekend or Week--Beginning?
      • 85. A Tribute to My (Spiritual) Father
      • 86. Your Relationship to the Word of God
      • 87. What an Opportunity!
      • 88. America's Four Gods
      • 89. How to Deal with Your Enemies
      • 90. The Case for Systematic Exposition
      • 91. Don't Miss the Message
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      • 92. I can Afford it!
      • 93. The Gospel according to Patricia
      • 94. The Functional Church
      • 95. Who wants to Deal with a Taxman?
      • 96. Vital Virtures
      • 97. Have You Grown up Yet?
      • 98. A July 4th Reminder
      • 99. The Volume of Silence
      • 100. Biblical Illiteracy
      • 101. A Modest Political Propospal
      • 102. How to Handle Credit Cards
      • 103. When it is Tough to be Thankful
      • 104. Romney's Religion
    • 2008 Articles 105-114 >
      • 105. Continue
      • 106. A Tribute to Jack
      • 107. Why Good Ftiday?
      • 108. Happy Birthday
      • 109. The Most Important Room in the House
      • 110. The 80-20 Rule
      • 111. Be Sensible
      • 112. To Be Like Christ
      • 113. Sweet Reasonableness
      • 114. The Other Benefit of Christmas
    • 2009 Articles 115-126 >
      • 115. What Determines who Obtains Eternal Life?
      • 116. The Healing Touch
      • 117. The Function of Dysfunction
      • 118. When Your World Falls Apart
      • 119. 24-7-365
      • 120. To Complain or not to Complain
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      • 123. God's Timing
      • 124. Jesus Wept
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    • 2010 Articles 127-138 >
      • 127. Don't Ask; Don't Tell
      • 128. A Forest Dark
      • 129. The Rule of Law
      • 130. The Hits and Miss of Grace
      • 131. People Need the Lord
      • 132. Examples Worthy of Notes
      • 133. A Hassle Reduction Strategy
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      • 135. My Favorite Poem
      • 136. Let's Put the Cross in its Place
      • 137. "Don't Spare Me"
      • 138 The Unseen Message of Christmas
    • 2011 Articles 139-147 >
      • 139. What Parents Should Teach their Children
      • 140. How to Avoid Having to Serve
      • 141. What Happen to Mike?
      • 142. An Atheist Recommends God
      • 143. Surprise
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      • 148. Truth or Consequences
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      • 150. Take a Break
      • 151. The Worth of an Individual
      • 152. A Tribute to Nana
      • 153. Jesus Crossed the Line
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      • 160. A Tribute to Sumner Wemp
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      • 161. How to Finish Well
      • 162. Rewards
      • 163. Spiritual Binging
      • 164. There is no way out of this one
      • 165. Half Empty or Half Full
      • 166. Nones
      • 167. Greet One Another with a Holy Kiss
      • 168. God's Answer to Atheism
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      • 170. The Problem of Fellowship with God
      • 171. Character Development
      • 172. For Mercy's Sake
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      • 173. Lies
      • 174. Endure to the End
      • 175. Teaching Children How Money Grows
      • 176. The Principle of Delay
      • 177. By Their Fruit
      • 178. Sermons that Changed My Life
      • 179. If Paul Harvey were the Devil
      • 180. The Principle of Practice
    • 2015 Articles 181- >
      • 181. In Wrath Remember Mercy
      • 182. Choosing the Right Shepherd
      • 183. The Lord's Requirements
      • 184. Your Ear Lobe. Thumb, and Big Toe
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The Other Benefit of Christmas

_We all know that because of Christmas, we have a Savior. The shepherds heard, “For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a Savior” (Lk. 2:11). Joseph was told to name the Babe “Jesus,” a name that means “Jehovah is Savior,” “For He will save His people from their sins” (Mt. 1:21). In order for Jesus to be our Savior, He had to die for the sin of the world and be raised from the dead. When we trust Him to be our Savior, He saves us from our sins. That is one of the great spiritual benefits of Christmas.

There is another. Jesus is not only a Savior, He is a sympathetic High Priest (Heb. 4:15). As a Savior, He was born to die. As a sympathetic High Priest, He was born to live and experience human life first hand. Hebrews declares Jesus was tempted in all points as we are (Heb. 4:15). Jesus knows what it is like to be tempted by the Devil (Mt. 4:1-11). Isaiah says, “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3). Jesus knows what it is like to grieve at a funeral (Jn. 11:34-35).

When Lazarus died and Jesus saw Mary and the others weeping, He groaned in spirit and was troubled (Jn. 11:33). Commenting on this passage, Barclay says, “Jesus shows us a God whose very heart is wrung with anguish, a God who in the most literal way is afflicted by our afflictions.”

When Lazarus died, Jesus wept (Jn. 11:35). Warren Wiersbe calls the shortest verse in the Bible (“Jesus wept.”) the deepest verse in the Bible. Why did Jesus weep? He knew that He would raise Lazarus from the dead (Jn. 11:11). Wiersbe suggests that His weeping reveals His humanity. As a human, He entered into our experiences. He knows how we feel. His tears assure us of His sympathy.

Jesus can “sympathize with our weaknesses” (Heb. 4:15). The Greek word translated “sympathize” is a compound word made up of the two Greek words: “with” and “suffer.” “It expresses not simply the compassion of one who regards suffering from without, but the feeling of one who enters into the suffering and makes it his own” (Westcott). The Greek word translated “weakness” means “without strength.” It was used of physical illness (Phil. 2:26) and financial need (Acts 20:35). Yet it is “sufficiently comprehensive to include any form of felt need” (Guthrie). Except for sin, Jesus experienced it all from birth as a babe to the painful death of crucifixion. He knows what it is like to be betrayed by someone close, to be denied by someone dear, and to be deserted by virtually all of His followers. Because He was born in Bethlehem two thousand years ago, Jesus understands whatever you are going through today.

Contemplating Jesus as a sympathetic High Priest, the author of Hebrews urges us to come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy (for past failure?) and grace to help in our present need (Heb. 4:16). What a “Christmas” gift!

                                © G. Michael Cocoris, 12/25/2008
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