Luke: Savior

“…the angel said, “Do not be afraid.  Look, I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.” 
Luke 2:10-11 [NJB]

From childhood, my daughter Laci wanted to be a lifeguard..  The minute she reached the age qualification, she took the classes, got her credentials, and obtained a job at a summer camp in the Blue Ridge.  All of 15 years old, she split her time between lifeguarding at the camp lake, and working in the horse barn.  On the first day of the last week of camp, the teen girls were in the lake taking their swim tests.  There was a roped off section where the tests were being given, and the two lifeguards were inadvertently taking a break from watching, chatting with each other as the girls splashed around.  Laci was not on duty that day; dressed in boots, jeans, and a long-sleeve shirt, she was on the way to the horse barn to begin her work. Walking past the lake, she noticed first the chitchatting lifeguards; her second glance over the lake as a whole brought into focus a 13-year-old girl actively drowning in the middle of the lake.

Instinct and training took over instantly.  Laci took off on a run, jumping the wood fence, yelling as she went.  Diving into the lake fully-clothed, she swam as hard as she could toward the drowning girl. It was the only time in her lifeguard career that she was afraid she would not get there in time.  That would have been catastrophic; Laci did not have any lifeguard equipment with her, and it could have taken forever for divers to find the child at the bottom of the murky lake.  By God’s grace she reached the girl before she slipped back under again, and delivered her to the shore and the waiting staff.  Laci was a hero at camp for the rest of that week.  She was, however, much more than merely a hero.  She was the child’s savior; without thought to her own peril, she gave everything she had to save a child who could not save herself.

The angels singing over Bethlehem had far more than just a glorious melody to share with the startled shepherds.  They had news of great joy – to be shared by ALL the people:  In Bethlehem had been born their SAVIOR. The human race, drowning in the pitch-black ocean of sin, needed a strong arm and a mighty hand before they slipped away forever into eternal death.  Salvation had been promised in the Garden of Eden.  Its fulfillment was wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

Good Christians, now rejoice, with heart, and soul and voice;

Now ye need not fear the grave, Jesus Christ was born to save.

Calls you one and calls you all to gain His everlasting hall.

Christ was born to save!  Christ was born to save!