Our medical lives are totally governed by time. Scripture tells us that there is a time for everything, ‘a time to be born and a time to die’. The obstetrician might be forgiven for arranging the next delivery to suit his timetable. Sadly, some in our profession are suggesting that the terminally ill patients could be allowed to choose their own time of death. However, time is not the lasting criterion of life. We need to remember the startling statement in John’s gospel (ch. 1: 1) that Jesus, the WORD, was present before the beginning of time, and surpasses time.

What a lovely, suitable title for the Saviour of the world! We humans depend on words to be able to communicate our thoughts and feelings. To get anywhere in our medical work in North Bihar, India, we had to learn Hindi and also pick up some words in other local languages in order to communicate with and help all the patients from the surrounding areas. This was a lot for us – but how does the Almighty, the Creator, communicate with all the people of the world?

God communicates to all races, tribes and peoples through his having come, at the appointed time, in human form – in Jesus, the Word made flesh. More than that, the omnipotent and omniscient God laid down his life in Christ to communicate his love and desire to rescue mankind from sin. But he is not a dead letter. Christ rose from the dead, went back to heaven, is with us in the Holy Spirit and will be returning to earth at the right time. ‘Hallelujah, what a Saviour!’