By Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy
v5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out….
v14The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father’s only Son. John 1:5, 14
Since the original manuscript of this article did not see print last Sunday I am retaining some of the thoughts of the same about Christmas while expanding it to include two important events in the Christian and secular calendar observance: the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus and the dawn of the New Year both of which falls on the first day of January.
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Once again last Tuesday was Christmas day – we joined the whole Christendom in the joyous celebration of the birth of Jesus the Messiah. This birthday anniversary celebration is the most celebrated all over this planet. While the event is recorded in the Holy Bible which has its controversial issues, the birth was and is accepted by people that populate almost all of the civilized world despite arguments and questions about the accuracy of the date. Unfortunately, after December 25 to most, it’s back to ordinary days except for another stressful planning how and where to welcome the New Year. But hey, it is still Christmas and if you are aware of the jingle ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ it will last until January 5th.
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There are some manuscript publications claiming to be the result of thorough and scientific archaeological researches that December 25 could not be Christmas day or the birth of Jesus the Messiah or if at all. These publications claim that shepherds were out watching their flocks as written in the Gospels – and in in those days flock-watching or bringing them to grazing grounds was only possible from spring to autumn. During winter, the sheep were sheltered in the shepherds’ corrals. Israel’s temperature are so cold in winter which is intolerable and even fatal to both human and animals in the open fields. It must be lower on those days and would be doubly hazardous. Hence, the freezing condition was an impossible obstacle to shepherds and animals that night.
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Historians say that December 25 was deliberately chosen as it was also the day Pagans honoured the sun god Mithras. The celebrations were synchronized to accelerate the acquiescence by pagans to Christianity when it was declared as the Roman Empire’s official religion. Considering the above and there are more in social media – it remains that Christmas has always been traditionally about Jesus Christ. And yet, it is not about him at all. If we look around us the symbolisms or advertisements about Christmas are so far away detached from that first Christmas. And lately there is this idea of removing Christ in the celebration of Christmas.
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Removing Christ in Christmas celebration? I am sure that most if not all who are in or with the social media came across with this weird idea. This maybe the most preposterous if not anomalous proposition or idea relative to this season’s celebration. But then — it is being proposed if not already done by some societies with the same preposterous and anomalous characteristics. Given as it may, whatever the background of December 25 as Christmas day, it is the day of celebrating Christ’s birth. At this juncture it would be best for every well-meaning celebrators of Christmas to revisit, recover, and rediscover the meaning of the celebration called Christmas.
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The celebration of this season is about Christ. Accounts of his birth and him may be controversial (and now commercialized) it is still about Christ – the Messiah, the scripture-prophesied saviour of the world. We cannot remove Christ in Christmas. In the words of my lawyer-lady friend Chyt, let me quote her: “Jesus is one of the leading figures in human history. Christians believe that he came as God. There are not a few skeptics who doubt this. But no one can deny that he came as a man. In a world of misery and greed such as the one we have today, it is worth looking into his life, at least as a man. He had more than a mouthful to say against greed and oppression. He lived a life of purpose. “I came,” he said, “that they might have life, and that they might have it abundantly.” By ‘they,’ he was referring to the poor and the oppressed. To propagate his ideology, he chose members of the working class as assistants. He and his disciples walked the streets and went to all corners their sandaled feet could take them to preach about loving one’s neighbors as loving oneself and doing unto others what one wanted done unto oneself. He exhorted everyone to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, help the sick, share resources. He put the welfare of others above his personal comfort. The issues of the poor and the powerless found a champion in him.” I fully agree.
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Yes, Christmas is about Christ – the Messiah born among us. Savior of the world. And we are still in this season of joyous celebration. The lyrics of Johnny Cash’s song could bring us back to the reason of this season, “Merry Christmas Mary, thank you for the child… thank you for the Lord Jesus… thank you for the child.”
Yes Virginia, Jesus is the name of that child whose birth most of the inhabited world celebrate every year. In the recently released movie ‘Justice League’, the voice over narrates, “Darkness, the truest darkness, is not the absence of light. It is the conviction that the light will never return. But the light always returns, to show us things familiar. Home, family, and things entirely new, or long overlooked. It shows us new possibilities and challenges us to pursue them.” This time, the light shone and still shines not on the superheroes but in Jesus whose birth was long prophesied, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
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Within the traditional and liturgical twelve days of Christmas is the celebration of the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. The gospel of Luke wrote this account by which Jesus was named, “A week later, when the time came for the baby to be circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name which the angel had given him before he had been conceived.” (Luke 2:21). The name Jesus was foretold before he was born through an angel and a dream to Mary and Joseph respectively. With the instruction of an angel to Joseph the salvific implications of the name was revealed. This is the only place in the New Testament that salvation is connected with sin and of Jesus as the Savior, “She will have a son, and you will name him Jesus—because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21). This salvific meaning of the name Jesus puts light to the words of John the Evangelist referring to Jesus as the light. Darkness is equated to the chaotic existence in this world because of sin and some philosophical conviction puts it in the concept of Yin and Yang or the good and the bad eternally coexisting in battle. But that is not so in Biblical theology. Light shall overcome darkness even if some are convinced and despair that light shall ever overcome darkness in the end.
This is the meaning of the name given to the child born on Christmas day.
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The linguistic history (etymology) of the name Jesus is a Greco-Roman derivation of the Hebrew name Yeshua, which is based on the Semitic root y-š-• (Hebrew: éùòý), meaning “to deliver; to rescue.” Yeshua, and its longer form, Yehoshua, were both in common use by Jews during the Second Temple period and many Jewish religious figures bear the name, notably Jesus in the New Testament, and Joshua in the Hebrew Bible (Wikipedia). Hence this meaning affirms the essence of the words of the gospel of John, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out….The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father’s only Son…”
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On Tuesday we shall be entering another year. I am reminded with the familiar song of John Lennon, “And so this is Christmas… and what have you done?… another year over, another just begun..”. Indeed, if we are to be ready to face another year we should be bold enough to answer this question – and even go further by asking ourselves, “what have I failed to do?” relative to who we are in social status or in our 3Ts: time, talent, and treasure.
Let us pray.
Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of
Your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our
hearts, may shine forth in our lives,; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
