CHRISTMAS
And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, come let us adore Him…
For thousands of years, the Israelites had waited for their promised Messiah but when He was born, there was no room for Him in the inn. During advent we have waited for the coming of Jesus, this Christmas, was there a room for Him in our hearts?
Jesus could have been born in Rome, the seat of power; in Alexandria, the seat of knowledge, in Athens, the seat of beauty and wisdom. But He chose to be born in Bethlehem, in a stable, laid in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. These are powerful symbols that speak about the real meaning of Christmas.
Why in Bethlehem? Because Bethlehem means “house of bread.” Jesus’ life from the very beginning of His earthly existence until the end was meant to be the Bread of life, nourishing the hunger of humanity. Born in Bethlehem, being the city of king David, Jesus would become the New David shepherding the New People of God. This universal King did not come through a conquest but through the radical simplicity of being a tiny baby. He chose to be born in a stable, a most unlikely place to welcome divinity, because the people did not recognize Him, yet the animals did: “The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib but Israel does not know, my people do not understand” (Is. 1:3). He was laid in a manger where the animals feed because one day He would become food to feed the hungry. That manger would serve as God’s cradle of the New Humanity. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes because his parents could not afford the royal robes. There were no fireworks, no welcoming party because divinity chose to celebrate away from the funfare of the world in order to give way to silence and adoration.
Who were God’s first guests? The poorest of the poor: Mary and Joseph and the shepherds. They were the very first ones who saw the face of God because they were simple, pure and humble.
These are the most striking symbols of the first Christmas that continue to remind us of the radical meaning of God becoming a man. God’s magnificent design is both overpoweringly attractive and awe-inspiring that no human wisdom could ever fathom.
Christmas is just the beginning when God became a pilgrim journeying with humanity in an attempt to bring us back to where we should belong. Today God has become a child so that all of us may become adopted children of God!
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