The Word Made Flesh

This is based on an article by Prof Donald MacLeod in The Monthly Record, Jan 1981.

Christmas is ‘that curious amalgam of paganism, commercialism and Christianity which Western civilisation has invented to tide it over the darkest days of winter.’

‘The church…appears content to leave the supreme mystery of its faith only vaguely hinted at in the glitter and faity of what it calls its greatest festival.  Christmas is a lost opportunity, a time when the world invites the Church to speak and she blushes, smiles and mutters a few banalities with which the world is already familiar from its own stock of cliches and nursery rhymes.’

‘What is this Christmas event which everyone hints at but no one talks about?’

Most of the Christmas story is legend

I’ve mentioned before that this blog is nothing if not up-to-date.  So I’d like to turn the clock back a year to a widely-reported interview with The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.  The interview itself was broadcast on the BBC’s Radio Five on 19th December 2007.  By the time the Daily Mail got hold of it the following day, the headline was

Three Wise Men are just a legend, says Archbishop of Canterbury

And that paragon of faithful reporting adds with horror:-

Dr Rowan Williams says there is no evidence for the Magi

Dr Williams is also said to deny that Jesus was born in December, in a snow-covered stable, where he was visited by three wise men bearing gifts.  Where will it all end?  Before we know it, he’ll be denying the existence of Santa himself.

Notes on Luke 1:46-55 – The Magnificat

THE MAGNIFICAT

The name comes from the Vulgate, as is the case with the other hymns in Luk 1-2.

The wording of the song may possibly belong to some later poet. However, the four days’ journey to see Elizabeth would have provided the opportunity for reflection on the story of Hannah and for her to compose her own inspired song. Luke clearly wishes us to know that it is Mary’s prophecy, and came substantially her Mary’s lips.

Consider this hymn with respect to Mary’s faith.

Notes on John 1:1-14 – “The Word became flesh”

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In the beginning – It is instructive to compare the starting-points of the four Gospels:- Mark introduces the story of Jesus by taking us back to John the Baptist; Matthew (in his genealogy) back to Abraham; and Luke further back still, to Adam. In place of the genealogies and nativity accounts of the Synoptists, John makes the coming of Jesus the historical manifestation of the eternal Word of God. Accordingly, John pushes us back as far as we can go, to ‘the beginning’. In doing so, he seems consciously to be recalling the opening words of the Bible, Ge 1:1. But whereas Genesis starts at ‘the beginning’ and immediately moves forward into God’s creative acts, John pauses at ‘the beginning’ to assert that before anything else existed, the Word already ‘was’. The Word, then, is characterised as eternal and uncreated. In this way, he is set apart in the most radical way from even the highest and best of created beings. Moreover, John seems to be implying that, since ‘the Word’ has existed from all eternity, so he has been active and involved in all that God was saying and doing in earlier dispensations.

“This will be a sign to you” – a Sermon

Text: Luke 2:12 – “This will be a sign to you”

There is something surprising about this: the humble circumstances of the Christ-child in the manger confirmed the angel’s announcement of a Saviour. We would expect it to be the other way round!

The Star of Bethlehem

Adoration of the Magi, by Giotto di Bondone, 1305–06; depicts a comet as the Star of Bethlehem

Colin Humphreys is Professor of Materials Science at Cambridge University.  He has a particular interest in the miracles of the Bible.  A while ago, he published an interesting article on the Star of Bethlehem.  He reckons that a series of unusual astronomical phenomena occurred in the period leading up to the birth of Jesus, culminating in the appearance of a tailed comet.  This comet moved slowly across the night sky (from east to south), with its tail pointing directly down (and so, from the vantage point of Jerusalem, appearing to point directly to Bethlehem).

I find Humphrey’s argument quite convincing.  This is his summary and conclusion:-

There are four key questions arising from the account in Matthew’s gospel, and other ancient literature, of the star of Bethlehem: (i) who were the Magi; (ii) is there a known astronomical phenomenon which fits the account; (iii) what induced the Magi to embark on their journey; (iv) can astronomy be used to solve the long-standing problem of the date of the birth of Christ. This paper attempts to answer these questions.

Sacked for denying the existence of Santa

A primary school teacher has been fired for telling her rowdy youngsters that Santa Claus does not exist.

According to a recent story in the Daily Mail, the children were so traumatised by this piece of demythologisation that they burst into tears and ran home and told their parents.  Mums and dads then wrote to the school complaining about the incident and were reassured that the supply teacher involved had been disciplined and would not be working for the school again.

One father, who described the  incident as ’shocking’ and believed it was done ‘with malicious intent’ but came up with a cunning plan to placate his distraught son:-

‘We told him that she did not believe in Father Christmas because of her religion and he’s fine now.’

Anna – a Meditation

Text: Luke 2:21-38

More than 80 years before Jesus was born in that manger in Bethlehem, a little girl was born somewhere around Jerusalem. I’m sure that she was her parent’s pride and joy. And I’m sure that she was strong, active and healthy. Anyway, in due course, she grew up and fell in love with the man of her dreams. They married, and she must have thought that they would live happily ever after. But after a few short years of married life, her husband died. She was left, bereaved, lonely, poverty-stricken. She never did marry again. But in her loneliness and need she had learned to trust in God. God would sometimes speak to her in special ways, and she would tell other people what God has said to her. Especially, God spoke to her about what the Scriptures said concerning one who was to come; a Redeemer; a Saviour; a Messiah. And she would go to the temple in Jerusalem to wait, and watch, and pray.

Year after year passed by. Life went on in the same old way. Anna was always to be found in the temple, day and night, praying for the coming of the Messiah. Some people laughed at her. Most simply ignored her. Just a few understood, and shared her longing that God would send a Redeemer. As Anna grew older and frailer, you might have thought that she would have given up hope. But she never did.

Some Christmas illustrations

“Long walk part of gift”

A woman missionary in the South Pacific Islands was explaining to a group of children the custom and significance of giving gifts at Christmas.  “Giving gifts,” she said, “expresses love and reminds us of the perfect gift of love we received from God:  Jesus.”  Later that week, a young native boy came to the missionary’s side and said, “I love you and want you to have this.”  He pulled from a straw basket the most beautiful shell the missionary had ever seen.  As she admired its beauty, she recognized it as a special shell only found on the far side of the island, a half day’s walk from the village.  When confronted by this, the boy smiled and said, “Long walk part of gift!”
   God “walked” 2000 years with his people before sending the gift of Jesus.  And he has walked 2000 more years expressing the significance of Him! (Source unknown)

An interview with Joseph – a ‘Sermon’

Text: Mt 1:18-25

[Note: the following was presented in the form of a semi-scripted, role-played interview with 'Joseph']

A little earlier, we listened to a reading from Matthew’s Gospel, 1:18-25.  This is a very familiar story, and yet quite puzzling in many ways.  So I thought it would be good if we could get it straight from the horse’s mouth, as it were.  I’m very pleased to welcome a special guest.  Joseph, thankyou for coming along and agreeing to answer a few questions about how the birth of Jesus came about.

Thankyou, it’s a pleasure to be here.

Great Texts of the Bible – John 1:14

Joh 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

We have, in this verse, the incarnation of the Word of God; his dwelling in our nature on earth for a season; the shining forth of his divine glory even during the days of his humility; and the riches of grace and truth that he brought with him.