Who Is Jesus? Part 1نموونە

No Longer Slaves

You know that one singer or athlete that you can’t stand and your friend absolutely loves? Influential people can be polarizing. Even as a toddler, we find this to be true about Jesus. The wise men want to worship Him. Herod wants to destroy Him. The general population is troubled by the unrest surrounding Him. Why? Jesus is still a baby. He hasn’t made any claims about His identity or grabs for authority. Yet we find Jesus’ family having to flee for their lives to Egypt. 

Well, when the wise men enter the region, they go straight to the regional governor asking, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” 

Hearing this, Herod is outraged. He was the self-proclaimed king of the Jews, though in actuality he was simply a placeholder for the Roman empire. Herod was deeply and arrogantly attached to the power of his position.   

So in his insecurity and desperation, Herod issues this command: Kill all the baby boys in the region who are two and under. Shockingly, this wasn’t the first time a fearful ruler had commanded infanticide among the Jewish people. Around the time that Moses, the prophet and vessel God would use to rescue His people, was born in Egypt, Pharaoh, concerned about rebellion, gave the exact same order. Moses’ mother hid him in a basket and set him in the river. His sister followed at a distance and later watched as her brother was unofficially adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, rescuing him from the death sentence. Crazy.

In much the same way, Jesus, the ultimate rescuer of all people, was spared from Herod’s death sentence. This horrific event actually points us to the fact that Jesus is the second Moses. What does that mean? Well, look at the parallels in their lives:

• Moses came from Egypt; Jesus came from Egypt. 
• Moses crossed the Red Sea; Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River.
• Moses and the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years; Jesus was led into the wilderness for 40 days.
• Moses received the Law on a mountain; Jesus taught the Law on a mountain. 
• Moses was used by God to rescue His people from slavery to the Egyptians; Jesus, God in the flesh, rescued us from slavery to sin.
• Moses taught and operated under the old covenant; Jesus initiated a new kingdom and with it, a new covenant. 
• Moses relayed what he heard from God; Jesus taught with all the authority and power that came from being God.

See, not only was Jesus a second Moses, He was a better Moses. He did what Moses and the Law he introduced never could—He rescued us from our slavery to sin.

How did we become enslaved to sin? Paul says it like this: 

Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Romans 6:16 NLT

As slaves to sin, we are headed toward death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Today, we get to choose what or who we will follow. Our own sinful desires and the pride that drove Pharaoh and Herod? Or the One who came to rescue us from slavery and show us how to live freely and truly under God? The better Moses.