Why He Came

 Did Jesus come to earth to be our sacrificial atonement because the Father ordered Him to do so?

Some think yes.

But what does Scripture tell us? Well, for example, Jesus said of Himself, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters the flock. He flees because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.” (John 10:11-15)

Jesus came to earth and laid down His life for you and me because He LOVES you and me. Because He cares about us. Because He wants to meet us in our pain and loneliness and confusion and lost-ness.

That’s the very theme of the three parables in Luke 15 – the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. I hope you will take the few minutes to reread that chapter: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+15&version=NABRE

Sometimes even well-meaning theologians and pastors believe and teach the strangest mixture of falsehood and truth. And that’s why it’s imperative that the listener be as those Christians in Berea who examined the Scriptures daily to determine the truth of what St. Paul was teaching (Acts 17).

Please, do not be spiritually lazy. It is too easy to be deceived by nice-sounding philosophies.