Christmas Eve: Jesus Was Born to Save Us (Matthew 1:21; John 12:44-47)

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Christmas Eve: Jesus Was Born to Save Us (Matthew 1:21; John 12:44-47)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends in Poland, OH on Dec. 24, 2025

I have a few lights with me, why?

How many of us like darkness? I am a runner, that is not a secret. I have run at almost all hours. The only hours I have not been on the road are between 1:00 am and 3:30 am. I have been out at 3:45 am. I have been out until close to 1:00 am running. It is neat to be out running as the sun rises. I start out running, needing light to light my path. However, eventually I realize I can see. I don’t need my light.

Jesus came to save us. Jesus also came as the light of the world.

This Christmas season, we have been focusing on why Jesus came to us. Why did God become a man?

Jesus came to do the Father’s will (John 6:38-40).

Jesus came to give us fullness of life (John 10:10).

Jesus came to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37-38).

Jesus came to save us.

Matthew 1:21

“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

John 12:44–47 (NASB95)

44     And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me.

45     “He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me.

46     “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.

47     “If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

Jesus was born to save us.

  1. Believing in Jesus means believing in God, the Father.
    1. In the previous two verses (John 12:42-43), John writes that many, even of the rulers, believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees, they were not confessing Him. They loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.
    2. This is happening during Jesus’s passion week.
    3. Now, He speaks in John 12:44.
    4. Believing in Jesus means believing in He Who sent Jesus.
    5. Who sent Jesus?
    6. Gal. 4:4 shares that God, the Father, sent the Son.
    7. In John 12:45, Jesus says that when we see Jesus we see the One Who sent Him. That is God, the Father (John 14:9, Jesus says he who has seen Me, has seen the Father). Col. 1:15 and Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God.
    8. This is the mystery of the Trinity.
  2. Jesus came as Light in the world so that we would not remain in darkness.
    1. In John 12:46, Jesus says that He has come as Light into the world.
    2. This is a common theme in John’s gospel (John 1:4; 3:19; 8:12; 9:5).
    3. Just think of it, Jesus opens our eyes to the truth about reality and Jesus saves us.
    4. Jesus gives us eternal life and fullness of life.
    5. This takes us out of darkness and into the light.
    6. It is like trying to understand something and then when one understands it we exclaim, “I see…”
  3. Jesus came to save the world.
    1. In John 12:47, Jesus says that when one hears His sayings and does not keep them, He does not judge them, for He did not come to judge the world but save the world.
    2. There is a judgment; this is about Jesus’s first coming. When He returns, He will come as the judge (John 5:22, 27-30; Matt. 25:31-32).
    3. Jesus says He came to bring salvation.
    4. Why did Jesus come?
    5. He came to save us.
  4. Do you know Him? Do you know the light of the world, or are you in darkness?
    1. Have you come to a point in your life where you have accepted Jesus into your heart for the forgiveness of your sins? Jesus didn’t come to earth just to live with us; He came to instruct us and to die in our place.
    2. The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The Bible says that the penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23). The Bible says that Jesus is the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except by Him (John 14:6). The Bible teaches that sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2). The Bible says that God will not let the guilty go unpunished (2 Thess 1:8-9). Yet, the Bible teaches that God loves the people of the world (John 3:16). That is a dilemma. God can’t tell a lie, or He wouldn’t be God (Numbers 23:19). God doesn’t change His mind (1 Sam 15:29). That is why God sent Jesus. The guilty must go punished. Jesus took our punishment on the cross. The penalty of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life.
    3. One of the most exciting things that you can do while celebrating Jesus’s birthday is to make it your spiritual birthday as well. You can accept Jesus’s free gift of salvation right now.
  1. God created us to be with him (Gen. 1-2).
  2. Our sin separated us from God (Gen. 3).
  3. Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen. 4-Mal. 4).
  4. Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again (Matt. – Luke).
  5. Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life (John – Jude).
  6. Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever (Rev. 22:5).

Prayer

[1] John F. Hart, “John,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1644.

[2] R. C. Sproul, John, St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary (Lake Mary, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2009), 237.

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