25 December 2013 - word made flesh, love incarnate,

25 December 2013 - word made flesh, love incarnate, 


The LORD has bared his holy arm
in the sight of all the nations;
all the ends of the earth will behold
the salvation of our God.

It is as yet a small arm that we behold on this Christmas morning.  But as we look at this babe we finally "see directly," before our eyes the LORD himself restoring the world.  Our world until this morning is a tired repetition of sin and sadness.  Finally in this Divine Child something new comes.  Finally in the birth of this new Adam all things begin to be made new.

We tend toward the sentimental when we look at the child Jesus.  There is some cause for that as we consider the greatness of his love for us and the beauty and humility of his plan.  But we should be exultant as well.  This tiny newborn hand is the hand that wins victory.  The power of sin is broken forever.  This baby's arm, which we see directly before our eyes, is the holy arm of God.

Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
his right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.

In the old order of darkness God only "spoke in partial and various ways" but now, in Jesus, he speaks to us completely, holding no secrets back.

in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son,
whom he made heir of all things
and through whom he created the universe,
who is the refulgence of his glory,
the very imprint of his being,
and who sustains all things by his mighty word.
Jesus is God revealed to us.  He reveals his glory and his might, his very being.  And yet we see him in a manger laid.  He is an infant.  He reveals tenderness and humility.  He reveals unquenchable love.  We hear him say, "Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me" (cf. Joh. 15:15).

We see his right hand and holy arm, now so small, that wins victory for him. And we remember that he wins this victory by stretching out that arm to be nailed to a cross.  His glory and his majesty are so far removed from our stereotypes about power.  He is the light of the world.  We see in his light that our minds are still darkened somewhat, thinking according to the norms given by the world.

He is the light of the world.  He is the source of all life and light.  Purified by this light we see things as God sees them and can come to share in his own life.  We receive the "power to become children of God" as we are enlightened by the light that comes from believing in his name.

This is what it means that "the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us".  It means that we behold the light of his glory and have the darkness cast out from our hearts and minds.  He takes flesh precisely so that we can see him and touch him.  He wants to be seen by the entire world.

All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.

Joy and peace he brings.  Let us open our hearts to him

From his fullness we have all received,
grace in place of grace,
because while the law was given through Moses,
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.