and the infant lying in the manger.
They find an infant in a manger. But who is this child? He is the Word who is with God and who is God (cf. Joh. 1:1). He is the image of the invisible God (cf. Col. 1:15). The fullness of God dwells in him bodily (cf. Col. 1:19). He is God in his very nature (cf. Phi. 2:6). He is, as the creed reminds us, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, consubstantial with the Father. Yet the shepherds find him as an infant in a manger. Is anything more incongruous than this? Even so, it is not just outward appearances. "Every spirit ... acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh" (cf. 1 Joh. 4:2). Though truly God he was "born in the likeness of men" and "found in human form" (cf. Phi. 2:7). "Now since the children share in blood and flesh, he likewise shared in them" (cf. Heb. 2:14).
No wonder Mary keeps these things in her heart and reflects on them. There is more here than even preternatural intelligence will ever fully grasp. Mary knows her child is not to be ordinary. But to give birth to the Word: What wonder! If God simply enters the world through Mary as though through a door we might understand. But the one whom the world cannot contain becomes part of the world. He becomes part of Mary. The Word which is from all eternity becomes the child of Mary. Mary becomes the mother of God himself!
The LORD lets his face shine upon us in a way greater than we dare to hope. This face is no longer simple metaphor for a personal being that has no physicality. There is a true Holy Face to behold and adore. There are true eyes to look kindly on us. His ways are known upon the earth because he himself comes to demonstrate those ways. We are right to rejoice.
May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
Only in this flesh he receives from Mary can he bear the burden we cannot bear. Only with this humanity can he offer obedience to the Father for us. Only as true man, subject to pain and suffering and death, can he die for us. In doing so he sets us free. Because "through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life" (cf. Heb. 2:14-15).
Thank you Mary, for your yes. You have unleashed greater blessings than even you realized for all mankind. This new year teach us to say yes as you do. May the full Jesus, fully human and fully divine, be born in the heart of each one of us today!
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