6900 miles. That is how far it is from Wuhan, China to Denver. 6900 miles from the genesis of a global disease. A genesis that will be the topic of discussion and speculation and accusation and fury for years to come. The stuff of theories and books and movies.

A virus. Small. Contagious. And swift.

6900 miles. That is how far it is from Bethlehem, Israel to Denver. 6900 miles from the genesis of a global movement. A genesis that has been the topic of discussion and speculation and accusation and fury… and transformation and redemption for millennium.

A birth. Small. Isolated.

COVID-19. A mark on a generation. Unforgettable for a season. But finite. Discrete. Eventually, contained. The waves of impact washing over global economics and international politics. For a season. For now.

Bethlehem. Jesus. The living, loving, spotless son of God. A mark on human existence. Infinite. Eternal. Uncontainable and unconstrainable. The waves of impact washing through every nuance of life. No exemption to His love. No exception. God, loving the world in Jesus. Through Jesus. For now. For yesterday. For eternity.

A virus controlled with distance. A virus defined by masks. A virus that isolates.

A Savior defined by proximity. A Savior who comes near. A Savior who unites.

6900 miles. A submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. A parasite. A killer. Indiscriminate. Contagious.

6900 miles. An infant. Tiny and fragile against the backdrop of history. A Nazarene. A Jew. Working class. Life giver. Abundance bringer. Transformer. Contagious.

A virus that marks a generation. A King who marks the cosmos.

One confined to mortality. The other empowered by eternity.

One confronts medicine and economics. The other assaults the gates of hell.

6900 miles. From Wuhan to Bethlehem. From death to life.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10, ESV).

COVID-19. To steal and kill and destroy.

Jesus. Life giver. Abundance producer.

6900 miles. From death. To life.

A curve flattened for all eternity. Only. Always. Jesus.

Dan Wolgemuth is President/CEO of Youth For Christ. Youth For Christ has been a pillar of missional ministry since 1944, when the Rev. Billy Graham served as YFC’s first full-time staff member. Since then, Youth For Christ has continued to be both a rural and urban ministry on mission, and always about the message of Jesus.