Christmas — Proper III

All four of the texts chosen for our use on Christmas Day refer to the coming of the Lord God. That coming is perceived in a way that is unique to each text. The most noticeable differences are that in the two texts from the Older Testament the coming of the Lord is expressed by use of a series of anthropomorphisms (depictions of God using various features and characteristics of humans), while in the two texts from the Newer Testament the Lord is depicted as coming incarnate (in the actual form of a human person). Let us look more closely at each of these texts. Perhaps the differences between these two depictions are not as large as they may at first appear to be.

Isaiah 52:7-10

This delightful portrayal of watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem singing joyously when they see the first indications of the return of the Lord God to Jerusalem is an entirely appropriate text from the Older Testament to serve as the First Lesson in Christian worship services on Christmas Day. The feet of the messenger who will be able to announce the return of the Lord God as they skip at a rapid pace over the hills approaching the city are described as beautiful, for their arrival means that the Lord God has come to the city to make it holy once more. The Lord God comes in the form of the feet of the messenger and of the voices of the watchmen. May our longing on this Christmas Day for the peace and salvation that only God can give to us be as great as that of the inspired poet of the Isaiah tradition during the period of the restoration of Jerusalem. May we, like the ancient Israelites, see the coming of the Lord in the feet of the messenger and in the voices of the watchmen among us.

Psalm 98

The primary anthropomorphism that is used in this psalm is that of a victorious military hero who becomes a king. The most notable human model for this achievement in ancient Israel was David and in our own history in the USA is George Washington. Most nations have military heroes who become political figures highly honored within the national-civil expressions of religion. Within the Older Testament use of anthropomorphisms, even when there are many references to physical characteristics such as the “right hand” and the “holy arm” of the Lord, it is not likely that a physical coming, an incarnation, a presence of God in human form is intended. Anthropomorphisms such as these are used with great frequency in the Older Testament and continue to be used widely among Jews and Christians, as well as among many Muslims, Hindus, and others, simply because such anthropomorphisms are the most vivid way in which people can attempt to describe God and depict actions of God. The use of anthropomorphisms in the language with which we and other people express faith in God does not imply incarnation. There is no doubt, however, that the heavy use of anthropomorphisms in Israelite-Jewish sacred scriptures and in Jewish theology contributed very significantly to the development of incarnation theology in the Christian Church and to our understanding of the meaning of Christmas.

In the final verse of Psalm 98 the entire world is called upon to sing praises to the Lord, who is depicted as the righteous, equitable judge of the entire world. For us as Christians during this Christmas season and throughout the year, it is easy to see Jesus as Lord with powers and responsibilities that are similar to those ascribed by the Israelites and Jews to Adonai as Lord.

Hebrews 1:1-4 (5-12)

The primary contrast in the initial portion of this treatise in which the writer argues that Jewish background followers of Jesus should not return to their Jewish lifestyle is between what is written here about Jesus as the Incarnate Son of God and the important but inferior prophets through whom God spoke and the angels who merely delivered messages from God. Jesus as the Son of God is said to be the heir of God, the one who will receive all that belongs to God. As in the Gospel According to John, the Prologue of which follows here as the Gospel selection for Christmas Day, Jesus is said to have been the one through whom God created the world. To Jesus is ascribed the reflection of the glory of God, the imprint of God’s nature. It is claimed in this document that after Jesus had himself gone into the “Holy of Holies” and offered not the blood of sheep and of goats but his own blood upon the altar in order to purify us from our sins, Jesus took his position at the right hand of God on high. Within these few verses we have a brief abstract or synopsis of the entire Christian understanding of salvation. It is a huge, adult-size gift package under our Christmas tree! It is far more than a series of anthropomorphisms; it is fully an incarnation theology. Its high Christology is matched only in the Fourth Gospel within our New Testament and surpassed only by the Gnostic Christians for whom Jesus was perceived to have been only divine and never incarnate.

John 1:1-14

How different this hymn of acclamation of Jesus the Christ as the Logos face-to-face with God and as God is from the Lukan writer’s literary drama scenes! Who would ever attempt to portray this hymn to Christ in a Sunday school or chancel Christmas drama? How many Christmas greeting cards have you seen that are based on John 1:1-14? The reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews, however, has prepared us for this.

The most perceptive among the members of the congregations in which we serve will be aware from their study of our biblical traditions and from their participation in Christian worship that there is not one theology but many “theologies” and not one Christology but many “Christologies” within our Newer Testament collection of documents. It would be appropriate within the message on Christmas Day to show that we are aware of the richness of our biblical tradition in these various Christologies, as a “preview of coming attractions” during the subsequent Sundays of this year. It would be helpful to share that for the Apostle Paul, divine powers were bestowed upon Jesus by God the Father through Jesus’ death and resurrection. For the Markan writer, God “adopted” Jesus and gave to Jesus powers as God’s Son at the time of the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. For the Matthean and Lukan redactors, God made Jesus the Son of God by means of Jesus being conceived within the reproductive system of a virgin woman by the power of the Spirit of God. Here in the Gospel According to John, as well as in the Epistle to the Hebrews, God had apparently made Jesus divine “before the foundations of the earth were laid,” and Jesus had participated fully or perhaps even with no involvement by God as God the Father in the creative process. We see, therefore, as we proclaim the Christmas message on Christmas Day using Hebrews 1:1-4 (5-12) and John 1:1-14 that we are at the extreme outer edge of the Christologies presented within our Newer Testament documents, Christologies in which there is no “baby Jesus” and, therefore, actually no “Christmas” as such at all!