Being the first to do something is typically quite
an accomplishment.
Edmund Hillary was the first to reach the top of
Mt. Everest. Amelia Earhart was the first women to fly solo across the Atlantic
Ocean. Neil Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the moon. Roger
Bannister was the first to run a mile in under four minutes.
Edmund Hillary was the first to reach the top of
Mt. Everest. Amelia Earhart was the first women to fly solo across the Atlantic
Ocean. Neil Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the moon. Roger
Bannister was the first to run a mile in under four minutes.Leif Ericson was the first European to sail to America. Ferdinand Magellan was the first to sail around the world. Roald Amundsen was the first to travel to the South Pole.
History remembers people who are first and we have
a name for some of them: Pioneers.
Pioneers pave the way for others to do what they
did. Pioneers, for whatever reason, are history’s “favorite”.
Today’s reading is Exodus 11:1-10, the story of
the last plague God imposes on the Egyptians.
The Israelites were captive to Pharaoh. God,
through Moses, told Pharaoh to “Let my people go” nine previous times. Each
time Pharaoh disobeyed, and each time God delivered a plague on the land.
The tenth plague is the plague of the firstborn,
where all the firstborn children (and animals) are put to death.
A harsh punishment to be sure, but the wages of
sin are death.
Earlier, God told Moses that, “Israel is my
firstborn son” (Exodus 4:22). Today’s reading is also a story of redemption:
God saved Israel, his firstborn son! He saved Israel not only from the Plague
of the Firstborn, but also from the slavery of Pharaoh.
Through Jesus Christ’s atoning death, we too, as
believers, are also God’s firstborn. God saved us from eternal
damnation and freed us from the slavery of sin. We are God’s favorite, his
selected people to carry on the “family name” and carry out his Will.
Tonight and tomorrow we celebrate the birth of
Jesus Christ.
While we go through the gifts in our stockings,
while we open our presents, while we eat our dinner and while we visit with
relatives and friends, let’s pause a minute or two and thank God for making us
his firstborn.
Have a blessed Christmas!
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