Reflections based on Luke 1:35; 4:31–37.

We have spent some time, over the last few weeks, looking at the elaborate rituals and sacrifices within the Old Testament. We are now going to turn our focus towards Jesus, to spend a little time considering how He reflected the holiness of God while He walked this earth. We will be looking at what His sacrifice meant for us in terms of our standing before our holy God later on in this series too. 

We know that Jesus was born as a human and yet the verse in Luke 1 reveals that He was also divine: ‘the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God’. This was necessary for our salvation. Just as the animals sacrificed in the Old Testament needed to be without blemish, the One who provided the ultimate sacrifice had to be found to be without sin — to be holy. That is why God had to send His own Son in order to save us. 

Jesus showed us how to live, as humans, by the power of the Holy Spirit and yet through His words and actions, He also revealed who He is. Indeed, the miracles He performed were signs that pointed to His divine nature — and even the demons had to acknowledge who He was, as we can see in the Luke 4 passage. Before it is ordered out of the man, the demon calls Jesus ‘the Holy One of God’.

While the crowd was amazed at Jesus’ power and authority how sad it was that so few of them recognised who He was. I think that’s partly why Jesus asked His own disciples, in Luke 9:20, who they thought He was. They needed to be clear that He was sent from God in order for them to begin to understand why it was that He was there. Not to be the all-conquering, defiant Messiah that would lead them to rise up against their oppressors, but the pure, holy, blameless Lamb that would be slaughtered for their – and our – sin. 

Prayer: Jesus it is humbling to think about how You willingly obeyed Your Father and came to earth as a human, knowing the horrific suffering that awaited You. Your sacrifice gave us direct access to the Father. Thank You holy Lord. Amen.