Hebrews 1:1-12
Psalm 19:1-4, 11-14
Luke 2:1-20
What Child is this?
As the stars changed course to point to a manger in Bethlehem, Herod the Tetrarch asked three wise men of the East, "Who is this? King of the Jews? Where is he?" (Mt 2).
"Who are you?" John the Baptist asked the Lord Jesus. "Are you He who is to come?" (Mt 11:3)
"Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?" the Disciples asked each other.
And when he entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?" (Mt 21:10)
Seminary professors point to the hallmark question of St. Mark's Gospel: "Who is this?" and style Him "the Messianic Secret," for He bids all who behold His identity to remain silent.
To all who would follow Him today, everyone who aspires to be His disciple, He continues to challenge with the greatest question we shall ever be asked: "Who do you say that I AM?" (Mk 8:27-29, Mt 16:13-16, Lu 9:18-20).
By tradition every creature near to that manger knew. The ox and ass and lamb knew the scent of their Master and Maker. Every angel knew. But it was left by Divine Providence for God's human creatures to ask, "Who is this?"
We humans, receiving the gift of the Sacred Scriptures, point to secrets and riddles. Yet, God plainly reveals Himself. In the Midian Wilderness, He tells Moses, "I AM Who AM," not a creature but rather the only one in history Who is not a creature. During the first Great Theophany of Christ, as He descends into the waters of baptism, the Father plainly speaks: "This is my Beloved Son, with Whom I Am well pleased" (Mt 3:17). On the Mount of Transfiguration, as Peter kneels down to worship Moses and Elijah as gods pledging to build them pagan-like temples, Father God interrupts him, again saying, "This is my beloved Son, with Whom I am well pleased; listen to Him" (Mt 17:5). But who on earth hears Him?
Perhaps we discern a very great divine principle here. As we read in the Book of Wisdom, "The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God" (Wisdom 3:1-9). That is, we must first commit our hearts to God before we are able to see and to hear. Jesus declares,
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For this people's heart has grown dull,
and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes they have closed. (Mt 13:15) |
We must first open our hearts in belief and love, or we will not be entrusted with the holy things. For those who do not believe or whose hearts are divided or distracted by worldly desires, only riddles remain. "And the fool says in his heart, 'There is no God'" (Ps 14:1).
How many unbelievers have asked through the centuries
"But if this is God's Son,
why should was He born amongst barn yard animals,
and
despised shepherds,
defiled by dung-stained straw?
If this is God's Son,
then why do not Heavenly Hosts storm the Temple police
or Roman Legions to spare Him the despicable execution of a common criminal?
The Apostles struggled against these questions from the start.
St. Paul called the ignominious crucifixion of Jesus a stumbling block to would-be believers.
For while Greeks seek wisdom and Jews look for a sign,
we Christians have foolishness:
the Son of God nailed to a cross (1 Cor 1:22-25).
In this broken world, we must see double. For the world itself is a haze of toxins, and through its vapors we are condemned to see refracted mirages. Should we partake of these intoxicants, then our interior life becomes a mirage — hearts filled with poisonous desires and minds chasing down false pathways.
But consider those have always rejected worldly pleasures. The pink flesh of their hearts beat in purity. Their exquisitely sensitive minds seek God continually and are repulsed by ungodly words and thoughts. They see crystalline truth. They see the simplicity of God's ways and hear the sweet clarity of God's voice.
The prince of this world (1 Jn 5:19) is double. He is called the Deuce — the duplicate, the root word of duplicity. For this reason he is called "the father of lies." He "has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him" (Jn 8:44). His beautiful lies poison many hearts, though not all. Yet, by the grace of God, all are given a chance to see through the illusional, and finally delusional, life, or rather death, which he offers.
How is this done? Exactly how is it that each human being given a way to see through him? Unfailingly. It is done through love. Have you ever been in love? I mean caught up in a head-over-heels, all-encompassing, and life-changing love? If you have, then you will instantly be schooled in a very great truth: love cannot abide lies. Love is ripped apart, torn asunder by lies. The first and good instinct of true lovers is to share all, to admit everything, to entrust each other with every precious truth, yes, and every shame.
But "God help the man (or woman) so wrapt in Error's endless train" (Faery Queene, Spenser), catching the beloved in a lie .... and then another. Once lies are discovered Love senses the oxygen of its life departing. Doubt creeps in. And the heart begins the cruel process of shrinking and dying. You see, the counterfeit is not a subtle thing. In the pure and clear light of love, it is obvious, irreversible, inescapable.
The properties of love are trust, sincerity, faith in the beloved, and good will.
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"A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country
for a long while. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.' But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.' And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others."
When [the unfaithful] had heard this parable of Jesus', "they said,
'Surely not!' But He looked directly at them and said,
"What then is this that is written:
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The Great King could have sent His troops. The King of Heaven could have sent His powerful and fearsome angels. In this case, the already rebellious would rebel all the more. Besides, God's Kingdom is not built by force, but rather by willing consent. He does not desire a police state or a kingdom of puppets and robots. It is the kingdom of our beating hearts, of our utmost hopes and holy desires.
As His servants have been treated shamefully, beaten, wounded, and cast out, instead, He sends ... a helpless child, vulnerable to the cold, and, by the standards of the world (at least on this night), an outcast. A baby has been placed on the doorstep of our hearts, in this sense, a foundling. And we are moved on this silent night to love Him.
If we do, we will discover that in the fullness of our own good growth, we will love Him with all our heart and with all our soul and and with all our mind. For He will touch the deepest parts of love, causing our hearts to swell unto bursting. And in this all-encompassing, life-changing love, we will discover safety, purity, and truth — plainly spoken and plainly understood truth. And we will have peace, peace unto our very souls. Embrace this peace, for it is the desire of the everlasting hills.
May you hold it now and always.
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"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased!" |