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 Many people are born every year. So what makes the birth of Jesus of Nazareth so special? Why celebrate the birth of a man born over 2,000 years ago? In the reading for today from the Gospel of John, we are given several clues as to why this man of long ago continues to be given special attention. John writes of Jesus,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
With these words, the Apostle John begins his writings of the good news of Jesus the Christ.
John places Jesus’ beginnings not in the little town of Bethlehem, but before all things were created. The apostle tells us that Jesus was no ordinary mortal. Instead, Jesus like God has always existed. Not only has Jesus’ existence always been, but Jesus has also always been with God. God and Jesus are inseparable. There never was a time or moment when Jesus did not exist. This statement alone cannot be said of any other man born into this world. Before Jesus became a man, He was always God as the Son of God and as a Person in the Blessed Trinity.
In the first sentence of the first book of the Bible, the prophet Moses wrote these words, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The holy scriptures teach us that God is the One who created the heavens and the earth. Ergo, Jesus as the Son of God helped to create all of creation. The Apostle John tells us that Jesus is the Person of the Trinity whose role in creation was the speaking or Word of God. We know this because the Greek word from the original text of the Gospel of John is logos.
Logos means the creative Word of God and is used in the Holy Scriptures to describe God’s power of creation by simply speaking things into existence. Such as when God created the heavens and the earth, God spoke them into being. In John’s Gospel, the Greek word logos is used to describe God taking on the flesh of a man through the creative power of the Word of God.
Logos is also used to describe God’s way of communicating to humanity through the speaking of God’s Word as it is written down in the Holy Scriptures. When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Jesus began each response with the words, “It is written” as a reference to the power of God’s written Word.
The Word of God throughout the scriptures prophesied the coming of the Messiah into the world. Beginning with the Fall of Humanity, the Messiah was promised to be sent to redeem humanity. It was the Word of God that taught the Israelites how to prepare for the coming of the Messiah through teachings on every aspect of how they lived.
The miracle of Christmas is not that a virgin became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Even our modern medicine can do this. The miracle of Christmas is that God would even care enough for humanity to become one of His own creatures. This is the miracle of Christmas that God so loved the world He became one of us to redeem us from our fallen state. God’s love for us is the true miracle of Christmas.
Not only did God love us enough to become one of His own creatures through the miracle of the Incarnation (God becoming Man); all of humanity has been given the gift of life. The fullness of life while on earth and then eternal life when our flesh passes away.
This gift of life given to us by God through Jesus the Christ is so powerful that all who accept this gift become new creations. No longer are we held in the bondage of sin and darkness, instead the righteousness of Christ becomes our righteousness. Christ the Son of God comes and lives inside of us making us vessels of His light of glory for all to see. No longer are we seen by our creator as creatures of darkness for through Christ we have become creatures of the Light.
It is the Light of Christ within us that draws others to Christ. Just like a moth is drawn to a flame. So too are those of whom the Lord has ordained to become children of God drawn to the Light of Christ for their spirits recognize the Light of their Creator living within us. Yet, there are also those who even today continue to reject the Light of their Creator. Choosing instead to stay in the darkness of sin and turning away from the One and Only Hope that can save them and bring them into the Light. Remaining slaves of their own desires and refusing to become the children of light that God created them to be.
For those who receive the Light of Christ, St. Paul writes, “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.’” The unconditional love of God, the miracle of Christmas, embraces us as His very own making us joint-heirs with His Son Jesus. What an amazing gift! It is more than priceless, it is incomprehensible!!!
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