by Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy
v1In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. v2From the very beginning the Word was with God. v3Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him. v4The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to people. v5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out. (Read: John 1:1-18)
The Twelve Days of Christmas ends on January 6 being the Feast of the Epiphany in the church calendar. The Philippines has the reputation of holding the longest observance of the Christmas season. The Christmas season starts to be felt once the ‘ber’ months commence with Christmas carols played in the radio and television programs start their countdown. While in the church’s liturgical calendar the 24 days preceding Christmas day are still in the season of preparation called Advent, the secular observance of Christmas three months in advance and seems to conclude abruptly the day after Christmas day. The greetings you will get from thence are now only wishes for the New Year. Most are so excited and rushing to be in Christmas and yet as eager to be done with it. Let us savor this holy season of joyous celebration by going deeper to the meaning of what we do and the symbols we see. It is in the first place the birth of our salvation.
***
One of the main features of Christmas are the indispensable lights put on in various ways and devices. In my observation this tradition’s true meaning and significance has dimmed through the years. This could be attributed to the commercialization of Christmas and other add-ons which are not even connected to the reason of the season. To the more minded celebrators the Christmas light symbolizes the bright star that shone on that first Christmas eve, ‘Soon afterward, some men who studied the stars came from the East to Jerusalem v2and asked, “Where is the baby born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star when it came up in the east, and we have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2: 1b-2)’. But John revealed to us the more profound and mystical meaning of that light in our gospel lesson this second Sunday after Christmas. The Christmas light is all about the Christ who came among us to be the light of the world darkened by sin.
***
The gospel of John presented a distinct perspective about the coming of Christ compared to the Christmas story in the synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. John has his unique style of presenting the good news with his direct telling about the Savior. As one preacher observes John puts Jesus in a situation and then clarify who he is and what he has come to do with a statement that begins with the words, “I am.” Put Jesus in the desert surrounded by people who are chronically unsatisfied, and Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35). You can put him in the midst of people who are confused, people who ask, “Who are you, Jesus? What makes you different from all the other gurus, rabbis, and religious leaders?” And Jesus says, “I am the gate for the sheep. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture” (10:7, 9). It is an act of self-definition. You can put him at graveside, in the midst of grief-stricken people, and Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live” (11:25). Or put him in the midst of people who feel disconnected by life’s difficulties, and Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing” (15:5).
***
Jesus defines himself and says, “This is who I am….” In the eighth chapter, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (8:12). His words echo the opening words of the Fourth Gospel, where the writer defines the person and work of Jesus in terms of light. “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people … The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world” (1:3-4, 9). In the Christmas Eve service, we heard read from the book of the prophet Isaiah, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” We celebrate Christmas as a festival of light. In the bleak of the continuing pandemic, why not shine a little light? How can we shine that light?
***
The days between Christmas and Epiphany or the Twelve Days of Christmas are several feast days in the church calendar. Three major feast days: Saint Stephen (26th), Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist (27th), Holy Innocents (28th), Saint Thomas Becket, martyred in 1170 of his refusal to be controlled by King Henry II, and the feast of Holy Name on the first day of January. These feast days share a common theme: human dignity. Dignity is one of the most important things to the human spirit. It means being valued and respected for what you are, what you believe in, and how you live your lives. Treating other people with dignity means treating them the way we’d like to be treated ourselves. Saint Stephen, first deacon of the church was martyred because of what he believes about Jesus as the Messiah; Saint John the evangel proclaimed, ‘for God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but will have life eternal,’ that the Son of God came to redeem human dignity destroyed by sin. The massacre of innocent babies commemorated in Holy Innocents day is a grave reminder of tyrants’ disregard of human lives even of the innocent ones just to stay in power. Today we witness the incessant trampling of human rights by injustices committed particularly to those in the margins. Human lives are violated in the guise of keeping the peace, of perpetuating the ruling elite. The truth is sacrificed for the sake of political survival and expedience.
***
The 30th of December is also declared as Jose Rizal Day. The execution in 1896 of our national hero and patriot Dr. Jose Rizal is commemorated this day. He is well-known for being a propagandist and his way of fighting the Spanish Government through his writing by revealing the inhumane manipulation of the Spanish Government in the Philippines. He was executed by the Spanish colonial government for the crime of rebellion after the Philippine Revolution, inspired in part by his writings, broke out. Though he was not actively involved in its planning or conduct, he ultimately approved of its goals which eventually led to Philippine independence (Wikipedia). All for the Filipino human dignity Jose Rizal willingly faced martyrdom and in a way became the light in the darkened Philippines due to tyrannical rule by the Spaniard colonizers.
***
This Sunday starts the new year of 2022. I am very sure that as we wish for a better year we cannot help but carry over some baggage accumulated through the years particularly the recent two years. These baggages may be necessary to make the coming year better. Let us convert these to fuel us to be light in any dark situation brought about by circumstances we cannot control. The gospel of John begins when everything was new, before the creation itself had any baggage. John begins when the only thing that existed was the Word. “In the beginning was the Word.” John drew here on Greek philosophy, in which the Word (Logos) was the ordering principle of the universe. He drew from the book of Proverbs as well, where personified Wisdom said, “The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth” (Proverbs 8:22-23). We can say that, in John’s mind, at the very beginning of everything, there was order, purity, goodness, and wisdom. This Word, this manifestation of goodness and order, was not static and unchanging. The Word was creative and dynamic. This Word brought into being the world and all that exists. As abstract as this language sounds, it helps us to hear that our world has meaning and purpose. God created the world; it didn’t just happen. Something happened to God’s creation. Darkness crept into God’s world, polluting the goodness, the order, and the purpose. Darkness is John’s word here for the evil in God’s creation. Yet that is not to remain unchallenged, unchanged or perpetuated. Christmas changed all that with the divine life infused to human life – “… v14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). To all who believe in Christmas the continuing call is to share in that glory and divine life by striving to be the light in whatever we do and wherever we may be.
Wishing you all a blessed Christmas Season in anticipation of a bright New Year 2022!
Let us pray.
O God, who wonderfully created and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.**
