Category Archives: Christmas

Christmas in the metanarrative of history

20 Sunday Dec 2015

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For this post, I would like to share a book excerpt from the great nineteenth century New Testament scholar B. F. Westcott which provides a “big picture” perspective on Christmas. Why is Christmas such a big deal? Christmas is a remembrance and celebration of the central event in the history of the universe. Westcott rightly calls the incarnation of Jesus Christ the central point of all history. All of human history (after the fall of man) that came before Christ’s birth was preparing the world for His coming, while all of history after Christ’s death and resurrection develops as a result from it, ultimately to be consummated when Christ returns to establish His kingdom. Here are Westcott’s words, from An Introduction to the Study of the Gospels (London: MacMillan, 1881), 46-48:

The Bible is the oldest and truest vindication of the dignity of History. When the [Jews] numbered the ancient records of their state among the works of the Prophets, they acknowledged that insight and foresight are only varieties of the same faculty, differing in their objects and not in their essence. The present, if we could read it rightly, contains the past and future, though that which is real and abiding is enveloped in a mass of confused details, so that it is visible only to the eye of the true seer. This follows indeed from the nature of the case; for truth in itself is absolutely one. But though it is one in itself it can only be manifested partially; and human history in the highest sense is the record of its successive manifestations in the life of men and man. . . .

Any real appreciation of Christianity in its worldwide relations must rest upon some such view of History as this. Christianity cannot be separated from the past any more than from the future. If we may venture so to speak, it was not an accident or an after-thought, but foreknown before the foundation of the world. The Incarnation as it is seen now is the central point of all History. And more than this, if we regard the great issues of life, all past history as far as it has any permanent significance appears to be the preparation for that great mystery, and all subsequent history the gradual appropriation of its results. Isolated efforts were made in ancient times to anticipate the truth for which men were waiting; and opposing powers sought to check its influence when it was set forth in the life of Christ; but premature development and open antagonism served in the end only to display the supremacy and consolidate the power of Revelation. The Gospel was no sudden or solitary message. . . . Christianity is in one sense as ancient as the Creation, resting on a foundation wide as the world and old as time. Step by step the groundwork of the Church was laid in the silent depths, and at last, when all was now ready, it rose above the earth, that all men might consciously combine to rear the spiritual temple of the living GOD.

What is true of the subject of the Gospel is true in a less complete degree of the record. The writings of the New Testament are not a separate and exceptional development, but the ripe fruit of minds which had been matured through long ages of various fortunes and manifold influences. The very language in which they are written is in some sense an epitome of ancient history. For it was the will of Providence that the people whom He destined to become the special depository of His revelations should not only develope [sic] their individual character but also by contact with Egypt, Persia, Greece, and Rome, assimilate the foreign elements necessary to the perfection of their work. The history of the Jews thus becomes as it were the key to the history of the world; and, by regarding the various stages through which it passed, it is possible to distinguish the various constituents which combined to form the character of the Apostles and to prepare men for their teaching.

Westcott is essentially arguing that the Bible presents the metanarrative of history, with the incarnation (Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection) as its center point. Westcott, in this book on the New Testament, focuses on the role of historical events to prepare the world for the establishment of Christ’s church. The church is, however, only one more step toward the ultimate goal of history, which is the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth. Also, Westcott is right to observe that a record of past events cannot rightly be separated from the outcomes they produce. The full significance of past events can only be known by showing their relation to the present and the future (though he misses the reason why the Jews called the OT historical books the “former prophets”—it was because they were written by prophets, not because they contain a significant amount of predictive prophecy). Returning, then, to the Christmas event: the coming of God the Son into the world as a Man, as God-in-the-flesh, was the key event which brought salvation to the whole human race, defeated Satan, and defeated death itself. All things having been thus accomplished, the world now awaits the return of Jesus to claim at the appointed time the kingdom promised by the Father. The birth of Christ in Bethlehem two thousand years ago therefore brings hope to the whole world and to each individual in it today, not just for one’s personal salvation, but also for the redemption of all creation (Rom 8:19-23). We ought indeed to celebrate the birth of the Son of God during the Christmas season, for—among other reasons—it is the center point of all history.

The Johannine Christmas story

19 Friday Dec 2014

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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that has been made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not. . . . And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the unique One from the Father), full of grace and truth.

So begins the fourth Gospel. In the Johannine Christmas story, there are no shepherds, no wise men, no angels, and no manger. There is no Bethlehem and no Nazareth. There is no census, no king, and no inn. John does describe Jesus’ entrance into the world, but he does this by presenting the Christmas story as a theological narrative. The Gospel of John was the last of the four Gospels to be written, so John was able to assume that his readers had an understanding of Jesus’ earthly origins from Matthew and Luke. This allowed John to start his presentation of the good news (gospel) about Jesus with a theological overview of Jesus’ origins and ministry.

Rather than calling Jesus by His human name, John characterizes Jesus theologically as the eternal logos (Word) who is the Revealer of the Father. John begins his description of Jesus’ origins by describing the Word as the eternal God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the Giver of life, and the Revelation of God in the world (1:1-5). The Word’s coming was announced by a forerunner, John (1:6-8), and yet when He came, His own revelation of Himself was rejected by the world which He created and by His own people (1:9-11). However, even though the Word’s own did not receive Him, the invitation to receive Him is open to all, and those who receive Him become His own (1:12-13).

The rejection of the eternal Word by His own people was powerfully ironic, but John saves the most powerful irony for v. 14, in which he at last describes how it is that the Word came into the world and was manifested. The eternal Word, who is the perfect revelation of the Father’s glory, became flesh and dwelt among us! To either a Gentile or a Jew, this was and remains a mind-boggling concept: the Word became flesh, without ceasing to be God! John completes the prologue to his Gospel by describing how the Word’s incarnate glory was seen by the world, attested by John, and experienced by believers apart from the Law as the Revelation of God (1:14-18).

Babies are helpless and fully dependent, and yet even as that baby in Bethlehem’s manger cried out for His mother’s attention, He was at the same time upholding all things by the Word of His power (see Heb 1:3). Extraordinary, isn’t it? It is good to be reminded at the Christmas season that this Baby whom we celebrate is the Creator of all things. Our God was in that feed trough, the One whom we worship and serve.

Source note: Some of the material in this blog post is copied from Volume 6 of my Interpretive Guide to the Bible.

Jesus, Immanuel

09 Tuesday Dec 2014

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And she shall bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus; for it is he that shall save his people from their sins. – Matthew 1:21

Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel; which is, being interpreted, God with us. – Matthew 1:23

Matthew’s Christmas narrative gives two names by which the Christ child would be called: Jesus and Immanuel. The name Jesus is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Joshua or, in its later contracted form, Jeshua. It occurs frequently in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament) as the Greek equivalent of these Hebrew names, and it was a fairly common name in the first century B.C. and A.D. (cf. Luke 3:29; Acts 13:6; Col 4:11). After the first century A.D., the Jews stopped using the name “Jesus” because of its Christian associations, while ancient Christians refused to use it as a common name out of reverence for their Lord.

When the angel told Joseph to call the Christ child “Jesus,” he gave an explanation of this name: it is he that shall save his people from their sins. The name Jesus means “Jehovah (Yahweh/the LORD) saves” or “Jehovah who saves.” Although other men in Christ’s day bore this name, only Jesus Christ actually fulfilled the meaning of it. Others with the name simply stated it as a fact, which they could not personally fulfill; but Jesus bore the name as a statement of His life’s work.

Unlike the name “Jesus,” the name “Immanuel” was not an official designation of Christ’s human name by the angel, nor was it a name by which Christ was known during His earthly life. Instead, Matthew cites it in a quotation from Isaiah 7:14, where a son is promised as a sign to the house of David. Matthew gives the meaning of this name himself: “God with us” (or, “God is with us”). This meaning of this name is significant because it testifies to the divinity of Christ and to the reality of the incarnation. This Jesus is God, yet He has come as a man to dwell with mankind.

Taken together, the names Jesus and Immanuel form a Matthean Christmas message: God is with us, and He has come to save us from our sins.

Where was God?

01 Monday Dec 2014

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Have you ever had a time in your life (or maybe many times) when it seemed like God was letting a disaster happen to you? Many years ago, there was a faithful, godly newlywed couple for whom everything seemed to be going wrong, in spite of their faithfulness to God. They lived in poverty, in a rough, blue collar town, and were despised by the elite people in their society. Then, when the wife was expecting to give birth within a few days or weeks, the couple received an order from the government to immediately make a difficult journey to a faraway town in order to pay a tax.

When the couple arrived at their destination, the wife began to have birth pangs, but no innkeeper would offer them a private room where she could give birth, nor would any of the guests or residents give up their own accommodations for her. The couple ended up heading to the edge of the city, where they made an arrangement with some farmer. The woman gave birth in a barn or cave, and laid her baby down to sleep in a feeding trough, next to the animals. But that was just the beginning of this baby boy’s rough start to life: soon after his birth, the family would be forced to flee for their lives to another country when a government official gave an order to kill their baby out of pure spite; later, after six more children had been added to the family, the husband would die unexpectedly, leaving the firstborn son responsible to provide for the needs of the large family. This son, in spite of being faithful to God, would die in his mid-thirties after a life of suffering and rejection.

Where was God while all of this was happening? Didn’t He care about this faithful couple and their faithful boy? Why was there never any financial relief for them, or relief from the pressure of their enemies in government and society? Why didn’t God give them a comfortable life in the end as a reward for their faithfulness?

Where was God? As we read the Christmas story in Luke 2, we find that God was there all along. In fact, He was physically present. This was the way that God chose to send His own beloved Son into the world, and this was the difficult life that God chose for His Son to live. What a perspective adjuster! When times are tough and it seems like everything is going wrong, we ought to remember Jesus, and to reflect on the truth that sometimes tough times come as a result of God’s love for us. What we think is best for us may be completely the opposite of what God knows is best for us.