And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.
John 1:14
We celebrate Christmas because it reminds us that God loves us so much that he took off his glory and became man. In the writings of John, both in the gospel and in his letters, he stresses the importance of believing that God became man. In fact, if we read his version of the gospel, John always presents Jesus as very human. Yet, in his presentation of a human Jesus, John is also able to present the divinity of Jesus.
Catholics are often accused of idolatry because we call Mary as the Mother of God.Yet in that title, we acknowledge the humanity and divinity of Jesus. As John said in his letter, this is of God - because we confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh - because he has a mother. We also confess that he is of God because we call him God. Whenever we remember Mary then as the Mother of God, we remember that Jesus is both God and man.
What does this mean then, if Jesus is God and man. The quoted verse if literally translated will have read, And the Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us. To the Jews, this phrase had meaning because they know that they used to be tent-dwellers - as they lived in the desert. It also reminds them of the Tent of Meeting where the Ark of the Covenant stayed during their journey in the desert.
Jesus became man to pitch his tent among us. He came to join us in our sufferings - not only that, to take on all our sufferings and punishments - so that we might be reconciled with God.
To be reconciled with God is not having a good feeling. It is not a life without problems. It is a life of challenges and transformation so that when we meet our Lord, we shall be like him.
In his book, Imitation of Christ, Thomas a Kempis said that we have to be thankful if temptations come our way. The reason is that temptations strengthen us and teach us not to trust in ourselves.
Similarly, I would say that difficulties come because they strengthen us and teach us not to trust in ourselves, but to trust in the Lord. We have this confidence that Jesus knows how we feel because he became man.
Hebrews 4:15 says,
For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Because Jesus became man, he is able to sympathize with us. And this is the true meaning of Christmas - that God is always with us. It reminds us that through difficulties, uncertainties and danger, we have a God who is always with us - who became man - who knows how we feel - who died for us - so that we can all have life - and have life to the full.
May this Christmas season give us hope as it reminds us of Gods faithfulness.
Merry Christmas to everyone.
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