What would change in your life if Jesus was physically present?
When you’re in the middle of an argument with your wife, what if Jesus walked in the door? Would anything change? When you’re worshiping God in church, what if Jesus came in and sat down in the front row? Would that change anything? When you’re sitting alone at your computer, and that tempting link floats across your screen, what if Jesus stopped by? When you’re sitting in the doctor’s office and you get the bad news, and you’re feeling anxious and worried and hopeless, would anything change if Jesus walked in the door?
The reality is that Jesus did walk in the door, 2000 years ago. And he never left.
In Matthew 1, the name given to Jesus was Immanuel. God with us. Which doesn’t just mean God around us for a few years. Not just God among us until he returns to heaven. It means God one of us.
God became one of us, and he’s still one of us! Many Christians don’t realize this, but Jesus is still human. He has a resurrected body, like we’ll have after the end of this age, but he’s still 100% divine and 100% human. Jesus wasn’t doing a short-term missions trip to some third-world country, and then going back home after a while. He sold everything, and moved right into the slums in the third-world country — our country — and he stayed here. He’s one of us. Forever!
And he didnt just leave behind his memory. He said to his disciples the night before he was crucified, “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” He was talking about the Holy Spirit, who is also called the Spirit of Jesus in Philippians 1. Jesus is still here through the power of the Holy Spirit living inside every believer. That’s why Jesus said, “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Jesus is with us in our families, with us in our jobs, with with us at our Christmas parties, with us in our free time, with us in our church.
So what will that change in your life?