Christmas Eve :: Love Came Down

There are those who do, those who watch, and those who have no idea what just happened. On Christmas Eve, Mr. Hunter reminded us that the same is true of Christmas: we spend a lot of time "watching" and "making" Christmas happen, yet most of us don't understand it.

Consider the start of John: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). Christ's Incarnation is the essence of Christmas. God's love for us is a love that involves action--the Incarnation is the supreme expression of God's love.

Soren Kierkegaard tells the parable of a King who falls in love with a peasant girl and wishes to marry her. But he faces a dilemma on how to approach her. If he issues a decree, she may feel she is forced to marry him. If he appears as himself, she might marry him for his wealth and power. He wants the peasant girl to love him for himself. Finally, he decides to appear as a peasant--as such, he successfully wins her heart (Kierkegaard, Philosophical Fragments, 1844). Kierkegaard uses the parable to illustrate how God approaches humans in the guise of another human: Christ's Incarnation.

As we search for the true Christ of Christmas, we must reject all of the false images of Christ presented to us:

• The Santa Claus Christ, who gives and gives and gives but asks nothing of us in return.
• The magic potion Christ, who magically solves all of our problems for us.
• The passport Christ, who offers us quick escape from trials.
• The middle class Christ, who encourages us to stay within our comfortable status quo.

The true Jesus of the Incarnation is God's Christmas gift to us:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)