Christmas Meditation

As you can tell, I have neglected this blog for a long time. This Fall was extremely busy and all my activities rolled seamlessly into the Thanksgiving/Christmas Season. I plan to finish the "What the Monks Can Teach Us" blog series after the first of the year. In the meantime, I thought I would offer this Christmas meditation.

A Christmas meditation first must focus on the coming of the Christ child. We start with the fact that Jesus came into the world: "The true light that give light to everyone was coming into the world" (John 1:9). Second, it must be a meditation. It must reflect upon the meaning and impact of the coming of the Christ child.

The Angel said to Mary, "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end" (Luke 1:32-33).

The Angel said to Joseph, "... you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).

The Angel of the Lord spoke to the Shepherds: "I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord." (Luke 2:10-11).

The Magi wanted to find the "one who has been born king of the Jews," so that they might "worship him." (Matthew 2:2).

Simeon said of the Christ Child: "... my eyes have seen [God's] salvation ... a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel" (Luke 2:30-32). And he warned, "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed." (vv. 34b-35).

John's gospel puts the nativity story in stark theological terms:

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. (John 1:14-18)

 Meditate on these things. Jesus is my Savior, my Lord, my King. Jesus brought Light and glory to me (and to the whole world). As Messiah (deliverer) Jesus rescued me from my sins (indeed, making atonement for the sins of the whole world). He revealed the Father to me by coming down from heaven and living among us. All this he did for me. He brought joy to me and to the world. And, he did all this by becoming a human baby. As the Hebrew letter puts it, "He partook of flesh and blood." A baby is completely dependent on others for everything. A baby literally cannot survive without the nurture of parents. It is easy to see the stark humility that Jesus suffered on the cross and in his death. But, to be born a man was the first and essential humiliation that made the cross possible. Every part of his early life was a humiliation. The King of kings and the Lord of lords became a slobbering infant so that we might know the power of God's love! Amen.