______________________________________________________

CHRISTMAS DAY

Today we celebrate Christmas Day--the incarnation of God's Son for the salvation of the world.  While the Christmas Eve lections highlight the immanence and historicity of our Messiah's birth, the Christmas Day Scriptures seem to focus on the transcendence and the theology of the incarnation.   Instead of swaddling clothes and praising shepherds we find the gospel passage exploring into the theological texture of the incarnation: "The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him" (John 1:9-10).

The Epistle lesson, too, takes the God's-eye perspective to proclaim the transcendence of God's Son: "but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds." (Hebrews 1:2).

The Hebrew Scriptures were undoubtedly selected to confirm the fulfillment of OT prophecy in the person of Jesus.  In this vein, Isaiah prophesies to the arrival of the Messiah in such a way that "...all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God" (52:10). The cosmological dimension of Isaiah's prophecy is certainly well reflected in John's account (1:1-15)

The Psalter provides that theological element that has accompanied us throughout Advent: the Second Coming of the Lord.  Even on Christmas Day, amidst all the celebration, we are to maintain a watchful and  prayerful attitude toward the future: : "for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity" (Psalm 98:9).  Merry Christmas!