Every year Christmas comes like a tidal wave. The malls explode with busy shoppers, streets line with glistening lights, and the success of our Christmas can seem to hinge on “how good we did” under the tree. The schedule fills with family, friends, productions, parties and more. Yet amid our Christmas high, its true meaning can help bring us to a more fitting–and humbling–low.

In the synoptic Gospels, around the time leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, we find some of the most heart-wrenching literature in all of Scripture. From this brief period of time, a simple question of personal reflection can be drawn out. It’s a question of conviction: what will we do with Jesus?