He Shared in Our Flesh and Blood

Hebrews tells us why the Son took on our flesh and blood: not merely to be born, but in order to die, and through dying, to break the power of death itself. He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. He became one of us, took our very flesh and blood, so that He could meet death on our behalf and defeat it from the inside.

And see the tender purpose at the end: "to release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Many people live their whole lives under a quiet, gnawing fear of death, and at Christmas, for those grieving lost loved ones or facing their own mortality, that shadow can fall heavily. To them this verse speaks directly. The Child took flesh in order to break death's grip and free the fearful. The One born to die has disarmed the thing we most dread, so that those who belong to Him need no longer live enslaved to the fear of dying.

If the fear of death, or grief at a death, weighs on you this season, bring it to the Child who came to break death's power. He shared your flesh and blood to set you free from that very fear.