Commentary
Sunday, 12/25/2016, The Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord
Shout for Joy
First Reading Commentary Isaiah 52:7-10
This is the day that we celebrate Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming of the Lord. Isaiah tells us that the Lord brings glad tidings, announces peace and bears good news announcing salvation.
The good news is the Gospel and on this day, Christ was born into the world to bring the Good News to us in a personal way. Christ is the Gospel and Christ is our Salvation. Glad tidings and peace belong to those who believe and those glad tidings and peace become eternal in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Isaiah tells us that when the Lord comes, He will say to Zion, “Your God is King.” Christ declared His divinity many times during His life on earth. Christ said that He is the Alpha and Omega, that His Kingdom is not of this world and that the way to the Father is through Him, the Son. Christ performed many works and gave us many signs that He is the Son of Man. He cured people, drove out demons, gave us the Beatitudes promising the Kingdom of Heaven and defeated death. Not only did Christ raise others from the dead, He proved that He is indeed the Son by raising Himself from the dead in three days according to Scripture.
Christ promised the Kingdom, forged the path for us to follow, provided His guiding Light, told us how to follow the Light and is ready to receive us with open arms when we get to the Kingdom.
In a very subtle way, Isaiah gave a prophecy of how Jesus would die when he said, “The LORD has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations.” Jesus stretched out His arms on the cross for the world to see and we continue to see that act of love for mankind anytime that we look at a crucifix.
None of this is news for those of us who believe because we know that Christ came to do these things. That is why we celebrate His birth.
But sometimes I feel like we neglect a very important fact. We get caught up in life and all of the fanfare that goes with Christmas which often times has nothing to do with Christ. In doing so, we forget that it was the Father’s plan to grant us salvation and that the Father promised to send the Son in Genesis 3:15 after Adam and Eve had sinned.
So when we celebrate Christmas, we should also celebrate the fact that the Father’s plan is at work and that His promise is being fulfilled. This is why we should do as Isaiah says, “Shout for joy.”
A Proclamation of Divinity
Second Reading Commentary Hebrews 1:1-6
The book of Hebrews begins by separating the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, God spoke through the prophets. Each prophet delivered a part of God’s message. Sometimes, the message was specific to the time that it was delivered. An example would be God telling Moses to lead His people out of Egypt. Sometimes, the message would be something to be followed throughout the ages. An example would be God giving Moses the Ten Commandments to pass on to the people.
In any case, as Hebrews tells us, God only spoke in part through each of the prophets in the Old Testament. But through Christ, in the New Testament, God’s message is complete and that is because Christ is God the Son. So as the Book of Hebrews continues, the divinity of Christ is proclaimed.
We are reminded that Christ did not come about when He was born into this world but rather, as the Second Person of the Trinity, Christ always existed. This must be true because it is through the Son that the Father created all things.
God took on human form, in part, so that we could see His glory in a way that we could understand. We are created in God’s image and Hebrews tells us that Christ is “the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word.” In other words, because the Son is the heir and because all things are created through the Son, nothing can exist without Son’s word.
Hebrews reminds us of Baptism, the crucifixion, the Resurrection and the Ascension. We were purified from original sin through Baptism and the sins which we commit, confess and repent were nailed to the cross. After His Resurrection and Ascension, Christ was seated at the right hand of the Father. These facts are at the heart of what Catholics believe which, is why they are important elements of the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed.
Today’s reading also gives one of the reasons for proclaiming the divinity of Christ by citing three things that the Father said to and/or about Christ. As we celebrate the Nativity of the Lord, the most important one of these things to remember, because the Father said it as He led the firstborn into the world, is this: “Let all the angels of God worship him.” The Father Himself makes it very clear that Jesus Christ is the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity and Lord God Almighty.
And the Word Became Flesh
Gospel Commentary John 1:1-18
John begins his gospel by giving us an explanation for what Jesus said about Himself, “I AM the Alpha and Omega” meaning that He is the beginning and the last. Jesus used the analogy of Alpha and Omega because they are words that we can understand.
The reality is that Jesus Christ was with the Father in the beginning because He is the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity. The Trinity is not three separate gods but it is three separate Persons in One God.
This is a mystery which is beyond our comprehension but because it is true, Christ is the Word. All things came to be through the Word of God. Therefore, all things came to be through Christ which means that we came to be through Him.
Jesus said, “I am the Light and the Way.” John tells us that the life that came through Christ was the light of the human race and that darkness has not overcome it. John is telling us that Christ has power over all things. Darkness has no power over us because the Light of Christ is within us. Therefore, the darkness that the evil one tries to overshadow us with has no power over us. We fall into the devil’s traps because we choose to sin.
Think of it this way. A single match will light up a room enough for you to see what is next to you or in front of you. But if you close your eyes, you will see nothing no matter how much light is in the room. If we do not follow the Light of Christ, it is the same as closing our eyes and allowing darkness to prevail.
John says that the world came to be through Christ but the world did not know Him. Christ came to what was His own, but His own people did not accept Him. John is making reference to the fact that Christ was a Jew but the Jews did not accept Him. Even though Christ lived among them and performed miracles in their presence, they did not accept Him. Why? Because: their eyes were closed and their ears were closed. They chose not to see and not to hear. When it came to accepting Christ, they chose darkness. There are people in darkness today, not because they have never been told about Christ, but because they choose not to believe.
John says, “But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.” We are all God’s children whether we accept God or not. So the real message in John’s statement is that those who accept Christ are saved by Christ because of their faith.
Then John tells us why the birth that we celebrate today is so important, “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” I believe that this is one of the most sacred passages in all of Scripture. Our Creator became one of us.
Jesus did not simply take on human form. He became human. He experienced everything that we experience—the good and the bad except for the one thing that He is not capable of and that is sin.
He laughed, cried and experienced all of our human emotions. He experienced everything physical including pain. I do not believe that it is possible for anyone to undergo the physical and emotional pain that Christ endured as He took our sins to the cross.
That’s love! In fact, if we take all of the love within everyone who has ever lived and put it together with all of the love within those who are yet to be born, we will not have enough love to measure up to the love that God has for us. That is why, if we never celebrate another person’s birthday, we should always remember and celebrate this one. That is why it has its own special name, Christmas.
