When my son was little and I would ask him questions about God and Jesus, his answers often were a version of “Because he loves us.” So, when I asked him, “Why did Jesus come to earth?” the answer I was looking for was “to save us from our sins.” However, my son’s answer was, “Because he loves us.” I was hoping for an answer about the purpose of Christ’s incarnation. Instead, my son answered my question with an answer of motivation.
Why did Jesus come to earth? Because he loves us.
Jesus left his heavenly residence to welcome us into the eternal experience of God’s perfect love. The incarnation was motivated by nothing less than love. God’s love for all is the foundation of Christmas celebrations.
We clearly see this motivation to love all in the first chapter of Matthew’s gospel.
A genealogy of imperfect people
Matthew begins his account with Jesus’ genealogy, his family tree of sorts. When I look closely at this list, four people stand out: Tamar (v. 3), Rahab (v. 4), David (v. 6) and Joseph. (v. 16). When we examine this list, we see drama hidden in the genealogies.
In Matthew 1:3, we read that Judah is the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar. To understand the drama in this verse, we need to know that Tamar is Judah’s daughter-in-law. In Genesis 38 we read that after the death of her husband, Tamar disguises herself as a prostitute and sits along the road. Judah, her father-in-law, comes along and solicits her services. As a result, she becomes pregnant with twins and names them Perez and Zerah. With a narrative like this, we might want to take Tamar’s story out of the genealogy.
As we continue reading the list of names, among the names we don’t recognize, we find two that might sound familiar: Boaz and Rahab. Rahab is a prostitute who helps the Israelites destroy of the city of Jericho. Boaz is a prominent man of noble character who we meet in the book of Ruth. The list of ancestors also includes King David, who fathers Solomon by Bathsheba, a woman with whom David commits adultery. More drama.
The genealogy of Christ contains all types of people with different backgrounds. Some are righteous with noble characters like Boaz. Others have sinful stories and backgrounds, like Tamar, Rahab and King David. We see some people we never heard of, like Salmon. What’s the point of mentioning these people?
I want us to see that when God reveals the family tree of Christ, he doesn’t trim the branches to make things look nice and tidy, no matter how foolish or messy the tree looks. God uses all kinds of people from all backgrounds to accomplish his purposes and fulfill his promises, even those with questionable backgrounds or those we may look down upon.
I think the point of this genealogy isn’t as much accuracy as it is knowing God’s heart and his redeeming love for all people. In the eyes of God, everyone has value, you and I included.
The uneducated have value in God’s eyes. So does the criminal, the accused, those who don’t look like us, the single parent, the divorcee, the widow, the orphan, the corporate executive, the Republicans and Democrats — all have value. God loves all and can use anyone because, in God’s eyes, everyone’s story is still not finished.
God uses sinful, imperfect people to accomplish his good purposes. Why? Well, because that is the only kind of person there is.
Love and obedience
After giving the readers insight into who Jesus is and who he descends from, Matthew tells of the birth of Jesus (Matt. 1:18-25). One of the people that sticks out to me in the story is Joseph.
Now, the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother, Mary, had been betrothed to Joseph, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit before they came together. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18-20 (ESV).
Joseph is engaged to Mary. They have not been together, and yet she is pregnant. Think about what must have been going through Joseph’s mind. I’m sure he was probably dealing with rejection and heartbreak, scared of what was going to happen. I imagine that he probably felt embarrassed. As Joseph wrestles with everything that is going on, he doesn’t want to shame Mary so he resolves to quietly divorce her (v. 19).
Joseph has no control over this stressful situation, so he tries to fix it. Isn’t that just like us? We often try to fix situations ourselves when we feel like we have no control. And what happens when we try to fix it? It makes it even worse. Because Joseph is a righteous man, he doesn’t want any more shame brought to Mary. So, Joseph decides to divorce her quietly.
What does God do? He interrupts Joseph’s plan and what looks like a messy situation is a miracle in the making. While Joseph is sleeping, he has a dream in which an angel of the Lord appears to him and tells Joseph, “Do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”
A virgin birth is truly a miracle that only God himself can do. The Holy Spirit creates life in Mary’s womb without the help of Joseph. That’s miraculous.
Let’s not miss God’s message to Joseph: “I know you didn’t father this child, but I need you to be there for Mary. I need you to help Mary raise this child. Protect them, provide for them and love them.”
God understands that Mary will have a tough time raising a child on her own. So, God intervenes and leads Joesph to make Mary his wife. I’m sure it was difficult for Joseph, but his heart was comforted by the words of the Lord sent by his messenger, “Do not fear.”
I don’t think Joseph could articulate every one of these truths at this point, but I know he believes. And out of his love for God, Joseph obeys. He loves Mary. He marries her, possibly at great risk to his reputation. He names his son and loves Jesus as his own.
Understanding love
To truly love starts with an understanding of the gospel and begins with those right in front of us. For Joseph, that means Mary.
When we love someone, we are willing to put aside our self-bent desires, fears and insecurities and put the needs of the other person ahead of our own.
- Loving all is sacrificing oneself for the good of another. It doesn’t always require reciprocation or that the person is deserving.
- Loving all is being willing to have our lives interrupted and complicated by the needs and struggles of others without impatience or anger.
- Loving all is making a daily commitment to grow in Christ’s love so that the love we give and offer to another is increasingly selfless, mature and patient.
- Loving all is committing daily to admitting our sins, weaknesses and failures. It’s resisting the temptation to offer an excuse or shift the blame.
Where does the ability to love start? It starts with Jesus. It begins with an understanding of the gospel. The name “Jesus” means “the Lord saves.” The infinite, unlimited God took on flesh so he could live and die for the salvation of all who believe in him. God drew near because he loves all people. He came down to our level. Isn’t that beautiful!
God came down
Think about hugging a little kid. They’re not normally our height. When they come up to us with arms up, and they’re trying to hug us, we have to kneel. It’s awkward, but we must get down to their level. And, when we hug them, we can feel their little heartbeat. That’s what God did.
God came down to our level so that he could see things from our vantage point. He humbled himself and got on our level to experience and see things the way we see things. That’s amazing! God demonstrates his redemptive love by taking the initiative to send his Son. God is with us to save us from our sins.
There is no better news than God saying to you and me that we don’t have to clean ourselves up. We don’t have to pretend; we don’t have to act like we have it all together. We just have to say, “I am a sinner and hopeless apart from Christ. But in Christ, because of his love, I believe what he has done and receive his redeeming grace and love, and freely receive eternal life through Jesus Christ.”
Christ loves us so relentlessly, and at times we can hardly comprehend it. The things we define as love such as the best marriage, the most sacrificial parent or the most head-over-heels couple, barely scratches the surface of Christ’s love for us.
Love takes its model and its power from Jesus. We love only because he first loved us. Our love culminates from the Spirit’s work within us. This love is the good news our world needs, the love of Jesus is the best news for us, our cities, our country and the world.
The essence of Christmas lies in the profound depth of God’s love, exhibited in sending his Son to save humanity from sin. Christ’s birth signifies God’s intimate involvement with humanity, his willingness to meet us at our level, to understand our struggles and to offer salvation through love.
This love, displayed on the cross, sets the ultimate benchmark for what it means to love all. It’s a love that doesn’t require perfection, reciprocation or deservingness. It’s a transformative love that humbles itself, sacrifices and perseveres through hardships for the sake of others.
As we celebrate this Christmas season, let’s remember that God’s love encompasses everyone—regardless of our past, status or background. Let’s emulate this love in words and actions—embracing, accepting and valuing everyone we encounter. In loving all, we mirror the divine love that came down to earth as a humble child, offering hope, grace and salvation to all who believe.
Mario Trujilo and his wife, Stephanie, are USMB church planters in Pueblo, Colorado, with City Church.
