Cradle to Cross

<p>When discussing Christmas with family or friends, I get a variety of responses when I say these words: “No cross, no cradle.” Some reply with a puzzled look, others have laughed saying the opposite is true. Every once in a while, someone will nod. They know exactly what I’m talking about.</p><p>.</p><p>God became a real human and walked among us, but He didn’t choose to descend from atop a lofty mountain or emerge all muscled and powerful out of the sea. No, Jesus chose to take the route we’ve all taken... in order to inhabit the earth. He came as a baby. He had a mom, an earthly dad (or stepdad, depending how you look at it), and a heavenly Father. If it had all stopped there, we might never have known a single thing about Him.</p><p>.</p><p>How wonderful it must have been to hear Jesus speak, watch Him heal, and listen to His prayers. He challenged the ruling and religious authorities, but He was also able to speak aid and comfort to the downtrodden and forsaken. The people must have thought He could be the promised warrior Messiah.</p><p>.</p><p>But then came the cross.</p><p>.</p><p>In Mark 8:31, Jesus began telling a different tale, one that included His suffering, rejection, and death. What was this? Not at all what the disciples or the people wanted to hear. But as each of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) tells Jesus’s story, we get to an undeniable truth. This wonderful, healing, gracious man was going to die.</p><p>.</p><p>Believers know the reason Jesus had to die: to become the real Savior. A temporary ruler, a great president or general, would have come and gone like so many others before them. But Jesus? He died so that we could have eternal life. He saved us by rising from the dead.</p><p>.</p><p>If Jesus had not done that, His manger-cradle that we celebrate at Christmas would have no significance. No cross, no cradle. • Susan Sundwall</p><p>.</p><p>• What part of Jesus’s life and continued work gives you the most hope? How could you celebrate the gospel this Christmas... and bey