One of us

Christmas has not always been celebrated by the Church. For the first few centuries, the most important holy day was Easter. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ were the central events of salvation. The birth of Jesus was of little concern. Perhaps this is because only two of the Gospels even make mention of it. John and Mark take Jesus’ existence for granted. No need to talk about someone’s birth when it is self-evident that they must have been born.

Of course, to some in the early Christian movement, it was not self-evident that Jesus was born. For some who believed that Jesus only appeared to be human, Jesus’ physical birth was a non-issue because it never happened. For some who believed that Jesus became the Son of God only when he was adopted by God at his baptism, his physical birth was like everyone else’s. No big story there.

It isn’t until around the second century that we find records of any celebration of the birth of Jesus, and these assign it to January 6, which is now the feast of the Epiphany. Other considerations eventually assigned the birth of Jesus to December 25^th.

But what is of interest to me is how the celebration of Christmas has overtaken the celebration of Easter to the extent it has, and how it has passed over into the popular imagination of people all around the world, including non-Christian cultures. Granted, much of what has passed over has been a strange blending of the Biblical story and the Santa Clause mythology. But there is something about the Christmas story, the original one, that is, that draws the human heart towards it.

My suspicion is that it has to do with the Incarnation. In its most basic formulation, the Incarnation of the Son of God as Jesus, the son of Mary, proclaims that God became one of us.

Matthew in his gospel turns to a verse in Isaiah that says, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel,” and then pushes the point by translating the name: “which means, God with us.”  This is the center of gravity of the Christmas story: God has come to be with us.

I suspect that this is what people over the centuries have needed to hear over and over, year after year. That their labors and struggles, pain and perplexity are not in vain. That they have not been abandoned to the vicissitudes of life. That what happens to each of us ultimately matters in the grand scheme of things. And that the Architect of that grand scheme cares.

At bedrock, that is what underlies all the hubbub of Christmas. Christmas proclaims that God loves us all so much that he sent his only one-of-a-kind Son to be one of us, to be with us, through it all and in it all.