“But in these last days He has spoken to us through a Son” (Heb. 1:2).
When I was serving a rural North Carolina congregation in the mid 1980s, I became quick friends with one wonderful family. This clan lived at the base of a mountain in a quaint log home, and one of the daughters was deaf and mute. I learned a great deal in those years about sign language and how to communicate through hands and facial expressions with this young woman.
I also learned that communication is often difficult—even when we can speak to one another. Sometimes we speak without listening. Sometimes we hear what another person is saying, but we don’t comprehend. Communication—or the lack of it—is often at the heart of many human problems: relational, financial, marital, professional. If we don’t communicate effectively—listening and speaking—we often feel a breakdown of trust or understanding.
I appreciate what the writer of Hebrews had to say, then, about God speaking to us through Jesus. God was making the message clear: Through Jesus, God is speaking our language—communicating in a way that we can understand and appreciate.
This is, perhaps, the most wonderful aspect of Christmas. God is making the message clear by having Jesus speak to us in a way we can understand.
There is hope because God has sent a Son. How marvelous! We might say God used all of the senses to communicate this message with us: voice, hands, heart—everything.
May the hope of Christmas fill you with a deeper appreciation of these beautiful words spoken through Christ.
