Today, the Savior is born in the city of David, Bethlehem
The story of Christmas is a story of God’s supernatural act. Both
Matthew and Luke narrate the birth of Jesus Christ; they accentuate the fact
that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was conceived by the Holy Spirit. This act
makes the birth of Jesus Christ very unique and significant in the human
history. God’s encounter with the human history in the incarnation of Jesus
Christ is ‘the greatest love- revolution.’ Today, the event of Christmas is
being celebrated with pomp and festivity. What God did in the life of Mary
seems to have been forgotten in the world in which we live. What happened in
the life of Mary was God’s encounter which brought life- changing experience.
In Rome, Christianity received the status of religion which legitimated
Christianity as one of the religions in the world. To some, the event of
Christmas is meant to be a mere philosophy. God’s encounter with the sinful
humanity, thus, is being reduced to mere religion, culture, philosophy,
tradition and festival. Hence, it is important for us to capture the true sense
of Christmas as found in the birth narrative of Jesus Christ as found in Luke
(1-2). This will provide some insights for us to perceive the meaning of
Christmas and to emulate the core values entailed in the birth of Jesus
Christ.
I. Solidarity
with the Peopleon Margins and Borders
First of all, we find God’s
solidarity embedded in the birth narratives of Jesus Christ. In order for God
to bring the only begotten son, he had to confine himself to the human world.
This veracity of God’s coming into this world is notably seen in his adaptability
to embrace the vulnerable human lives, culture, place, language, etc. God,
being the power of all powers, the creator of the cosmos, and the splendor of
all glory condescended to be born in a small town, Bethlehem. The birth of
Jesus did not take place in the city of Jerusalem which was the seat of Judaism
and the centre of religious activity. The city of Bethlehem, except being the
town of David’s father, was small as far as the status and honour of the land
was concerned. This makes the point clear that the city was of no attention and
attraction. In addition, The Jewish religious class did not have set any
spotlight on this city. Jesus did not born in great cities such as Rome and
Athens, etc. Rather, he was in born in a tiny town (2:7). It is certainly
preposterous to human conventions and wisdom that the saviour of the world was
to be born in a place of littleness. Another facet of the Christmas story is
that his parents did not find any space in the inns, though the inns were
considered to be the resting places for the tedious pilgrims and travelers. In
those times, the inns were served as the place for the common people; it
provided hospitality to the pilgrims who were tedious. Nevertheless, the
parents of Jesus could not find place for the baby to be born even in such
places. Since there was no place in the inns, Jesus was born in a manger on the
roadside where cows and cattle lived. It was not clean and sanitized for the
baby to be born.
The circumstances that
shrouded the birth of Jesus Christ lacked hospitality and respectability.
In addition, Luke accentuates the fact that the message of Christmas was given
to the shepherds who lived on the periphery. The shepherds, who were found in the
birth narratives of Jesus Christ, belonged to a marginalized community; they
were labelled as dishonest, unclean, landless and poor. Since they did not own
any land, they were mostly hired to keep watch over the flock at night. This
indicates the status of the shepherds as despised and despicable. Luke’s
depiction of the shepherds in line with the story of Jesus’s birth highlights
God’s solidarity with the powerless, the poor, the vulnerable,
the oppressed and the marginalized. This loving act of God’s solidarity as
enacted in the birth of Jesus unfolds God’s loving solidarity with the lowly
circumstances and the humble people. In the eyes of Luke, the hope for world
renewal emerges not from the centre of Rome and the Roman emperor, Augustus
Caesar, but from the manger, the arena of God’s revelation. This illuminates
the fact that God brings renewal from the periphery of the society, borders and
margins not from the centers of the world order. Hence, the birth of Jesus
Christ lends powerful vision, passion and mission for those lives that live on
the periphery. The birth of Jesus Christ is good news to those who live on the
periphery of the society. Those who emulate the solidarity of Jesus Christ as
found in the incarnation of Jesus can derive strength from the life of Jesus
Christ for the renewal of life. All those who express their loving solidarity
with the poor and the vulnerable can be agents of change and renewal which God
intended to bring about in the event of the first Christmas.
II. Salvation
as Reversal
God’s purpose behind the story of Christmas was to bring and to affirm
salvation to all persons in all its fullness. This is very clear in the birth
narrative of Luke 1-2. Luke reiterates this truth of salvation in many
instances (Lk. 1. 31, 47; 2. 11, 30). In particular, the angelic message to the
shepherds, “Today, in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is
Christ, the Lord.” (2.11). The baby that was born to Mary is called as the savior
of the world. This message of Christmas needs to be understood in the backdrop
of the Roman Empire. The hegemony of the Roman Empire justified class
stratification, thereby causing social disparity between the rich and the poor.
In the Roman Empire, the issues of privilege and power determined the status of
the people. Since power and wealth fully remained with the ruler and the ruling
class, the people on the periphery eked out to sustain their lives.
The people in the Roman world encountered violence, injustices
and slavery and poverty.
The land of Palestine (called at that time) which was under the Roman Empire,
was undergoing pessimism, hopelessness turmoil and confusion caused by the
political and religious class. Nevertheless, the faithful ones always looked
forward to the arrival of the Messiah; the eschatological anticipation was
rampant in the land. It was in this context that Lucan story of Christmas ought
to be perceived. With the arrival of the savior, God makes the story of
Christmas authentic and relevant to the contexts of the people. The salvation
of the world comes through Jesus Christ, who was born in Bethlehem. At this
juncture, one needs to understand the meaning of salvation. The simple meaning
of salvation is expressed in the name of Jesus: Jesus will save the people from
sins. However, salvation for Luke implies ‘status reversal’ which entails the
raising up the status of the lowly, the poor and the simple who were placed at
the bottom list of the society. The reversal constitutes the fact that God does
not work according to one’s status gained by the privileges of power and wealth
and social convention.
Though the Roman emperor was thought to be the patron of all the
citizens, he undertook the policy of stratification to benefit the status of
the ruling class. Under this system, the less fortunate and the poor were
victimized. In this context of social disparity and violence, the message of
the savior announced by the angels to the shepherds seeks to counter the pseudo
status and decadent values promoted by the Roman Empire.
The message of salvation characterized by love, peace, and joy seeks to bring
the good news of the gospel which is inclusive. Then, there is a new order
emerging from the baby born in manger which includes the lowly, humble and the
shepherds. This new order hinges on the good news of salvation which is
inclusive in nature. This message of inclusion as embedded in the Christmas
story comes as a counter to the principle of exclusion. Hence, salvation is
reversal which counters the culture of snobbery, hubris and eliticism based on
the privileges of wealth and power. In beholding the new born baby in the
manger, one is invited to internalize the core values of the kingdom of God
which includes love, joy, peace and hope. One’s perception of values ought to be
seen from the vision of the baby born in a manger.
Our life should characterize the core values of salvation as articulated in the
birth narratives of 1-2. (2: 10, 11, 13, 14) These core values include: i) Joy (1.14,
28, 44, 47, 58, 64, 68; 2.10, 13, 20, 28-29, 38).: there was an exuberant joy
experienced in the context of Jesus’ birth, Joy was a key theme in Luke’s
Gospel. On the one hand, Joy is experienced in the birth of the saviour, Jesus
Christ. On the other hand, the experience of the joy is also experienced in the
context of one’s response to the saving work of Christ (5.26; 7.16; 13.13;
18.43) In other words, the response to the message of salvation results in
exuberant joy. How can we have joy in the season of Christmas? Three letters of
the word ‘joy’ constitute a message for us to emulate: J stands for Jesus; O
refers to others and y stands for you. This implies that we need to place Jesus
at the centre of life. A true sense of joy will set in his or her heart when
Christ is placed at the centre of one’ life. In the second place, joy is
secured when one emulates the mind of Christ which was set for others. In other
words, emulating the other -mindedness of Christ in one’s solidarity with
others, one can have an abundant joy. Then, the placement of oneself in the
last place makes one exuberantly joyful. This is a new order of joy that the
birth of Christ brings into our lives.
ii) Peace: Peace is the resultant state of salvation. Peace is theological
because it emanates from God; this makes God as the author of peace. In
perception of peace, there is a threefold understanding of peace:1) peace with
God; 2) peace of mind; and 3) peace with others in the society. Peace with God
is realized as one responds to the message of salvation. Since peace involves
the mind, the peace of mind is attained when one experiences the presence of
God. The notion of peace has also a social implication. It evokes a whole a
social order which includes prosperity, security and harmony. When peace is
related to society it promotes the wellbeing of the society. But the truth is
that peace on earth could be only realized through the sovereignty of the baby
born in Bethlehem.
iii) Hope: The angelic message also augurs hope for the shepherds. A degree of
certainty was promised to the shepherds for them to find the baby wrapped in
swaddling clothes( 2. 12).Their hope was indeed, realized when they saw the mother
and the baby( 2.20). The finding of the baby by the shepherds in the manger is
an evident fact that there is hope for the people to find the meaning of their
life in God. The baby born in the manger signals hope to the hopeless. It is
imperative to perceive that hope emerges from a crisis of hope. It is the
experience of hopelessness that injects hope into lives. Let us embrace hope
for lives!
III. Songs
of Christmas as Community Celebration
What will happen to us as we respond to the message of salvation? There emerges
a host of angels started praising God for the birth of the saviour, Jesus
Christ. They glorified God in the highest and declared peace to man on earth.
Peace and goodwill are the precious commodities given to mankind. In this song
of Christmas, their praise was directed to God, not to Caesar. It is the song
that integrates heaven and earth. The symphony sung in the heaven provided
connectivity between the family of Jesus and the shepherds. Later on, we read
in the story of Christmas, the shepherds glorified and praised God. In 1- 2
chapters, one can find songs of joy celebrating the joy of salvation: the song
of Mary (1:46-52); the song of Zachariah (1: 68-79); and, the song of Simeon
(2:29-32). These songs portray God as the Centre of action. These songs bring
to the fore that God makes the promises and brings them into fulfilment. Thesingers werethus inspired by the spirit of
God to sing songs that could change their life- destiny.
Hence, there is a need to magnify and glorify God through singing. It is
through singing that we worship God. Let us, therefore sing songs of Christmas
that will transform the marginality of our existence. The meaningful worship
can thus transcend the mind-set of the worshipper. Let us celebrate the joy of
Christmas by singing the songs that would make the name of God known to the
people. Let our singing on this day make an impingement over others. The baby
in the manger invites us to experience life-change and to
be agents of change in the new order he creates. Christ’ coming to the world
provides genesis to the new humanity, In this construct, God uses the
vulnenarvle, despicable , the disreputable and the marginalized to build up a new humanity which is inclusive
in nature. . The song of Mary is a powerful indicator of drastic transformation
that God wrought over the community. The song of angels focus on God;s
solidarity for the earth. There is a collective concern for the entire
humanity. In other words, the Christmas’s
songs underscord God’s inclusive concern for all. Hence, it is rightly called
as “ Joy to the world…’We live at a time in which the community –life is
threatened and dismantled by life negating forces such as individualism,
isolationism and consumerism. The songs
of Christmas as sung by various individuals invite us to attach importance to
the community. It is the celebration in the community that makes a great
difference. My prayer for you is that you will encounter Jesus and be changed
by Jesus’s loving solidarity. Let us sing songs of celebration that will exalt
God and inspire others in the community. Let our music bring healing to the
disgruntled, the disinherited and disintegrated in our community and society.
Wish you a happy and merry Christmas to you!!!
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