“When Christ came into the world, he said: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight. Then I said, “As is written of me in the scroll, behold, I come to do your will, O God”‘” (Hebrews 10:5-7).
These verses are from the New Testament’s Epistle to the Hebrews. They’re Jesus’ first words at Christmastime, Jeremiah J. Johnston, PhD, told Fox News Digital.
This Sunday marks the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the final week in the preparatory period before Christmas.
Johnston is an elected member of the New Testament scholarly guild Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas, president of the Christian Thinkers Society and pastor of apologetics and cultural engagement at Perstonwood Baptist Church in the Dallas area.
“The scriptures reveal a conversation between Jesus and God at His incarnation,” he said. “Quoting Psalm 40:6-8, the author of Hebrews portrays the preexistent Christ speaking through the psalmist.”
Jesus’ birth was during a time of “religious and political exhaustion,” Johnston said.
“Late Second Temple Judaism had expanded God’s commandments into 613 laws of which 248 were positive (‘do…’) and 365 negative commands (‘do not…’),” he said.
This, he said, turned the practice of religious faith into a mechanical “burden of endless rules” that lacked heartfelt devotion.
Jesus followed God’s will on behalf of humanity.
Additionally, the situation was bleak for most people living in the Roman Empire during Jesus’ time, Johnston noted.
The average life expectancy was just 20 years, he said — and about a quarter of the population was in dire need of medical attention.
“As much as 40% of the population lived in slavery,” Johnston said. “The much-celebrated ‘Pax Romana’ failed to deliver true peace.”
True peace was achieved in the world not through religious rituals or political power, but because Jesus followed God’s will on behalf of humanity, he said.
“His first recorded words, as echoed in Hebrews 10:7, reveal this mission: ‘Then I said, “Here I am – it is written about me in the scroll – I have come to do your will, O God.”‘”
During Christmastime, “these words remind us that God desires wholehearted obedience, not empty rituals,” he said.
In the verse, the use of the phrase “in the scroll” is a show of Jesus’ commitment to scripture, Johnston told Fox News Digital.
“From His first words to His final moments before death, Jesus consistently upheld the fulfillment of God’s Word,” he said.
“Unlike the four Old Testament sacrifices mentioned in Hebrews, which often lacked accompanying faith, Jesus’ sacrifice was voluntary and wholehearted.”
God, Johnston said, “repeatedly rejects hollow religious acts without sincere devotions.”
Unlike the animal sacrifices, “Jesus willingly gave His life to fulfill God’s eternal will, as planned before the world’s foundation,” he said.
During the last week of Advent and leading into Christmas, “may we follow Jesus’ example by offering our lives in sincere devotion to God, magnifying His love and peace through our actions and relying on Him,” he said.
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