First reading: Is. 7: 10-14
“Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: Ask for a sign from the Lord,
your God; let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky! But Ahaz answered, ‘I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!’ Then he said: Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men, must
you also weary my God!? Therefore the
Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear
a son, and shall name him Immanuel.”
Second reading: Rom. 1: 1-7
“Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and
set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised previously through his
prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel about his Son, descended from David
according to the flesh, but established as Son of God in power according to the
spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our
Lord. Through him we have received the
grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of
his name, among all the Gentiles, among whom are you also, who are called to
belong to Jesus Christ; to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be
holy. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Gospel reading: Mt. 1: 18-24
“Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy
Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was
a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her
quietly. Such was his intention when,
behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son
of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this
child has been conceived in her. She
will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people
from their sins. All this took place to
fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall
name him Emmanuel, which means God is
with us.’ When Joseph awoke, he did
as the angle of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.”
It may not be obvious but all three readings focus on the
subject of Jesus’ nature. Being born of
a virgin necessitates our belief in him as begotten by God, thus making God His
Father and Him God’s very own Son, sharing in One and the same divine nature as
God.
Reflection:
As beautiful as these readings are, they also represent the
very stumbling block for all non-believers in Jesus Christ. Some see Jesus as a man who made himself out
to be God. But we who do believe see Him
as having always existed as God, first, and then chose to become man, second,
not the other way around. For us this is
evidence of God’s overwhelming love for all humanity by choosing to come down
from heaven to become human like us in order to save us.
Part of this belief requires accepting the principal of sin
as a reality that warrants the horrible consequence of death or damnation as
the Judeo-Christian faith believes.
Without a Messiah to save us from this just consequence we would all be doomed. Unfortunately, many non-believers do not
accept this principal as a reality.
Therefore, they see no personal need for a savior.
The real error, however, is greater than disbelieving in our
need to be saved from the consequence of death or damnation for sin. By becoming our savior Jesus saved us from
every aspect of sin, not just the eternal consequence for it. By faith in the divine nature of Jesus Christ
we submit ourselves to the Lord who is able to subject all things to Himself,
thereby giving us new life in him by which we become able to overcome every
aspect of sin in our lives on a daily basis.
The real reason more people don’t believe in the divine
nature of Jesus Christ, and become Christian, is because we who call ourselves
Christians fail to display that new life by our own ability to overcome sin in
our own lives. Why should they believe
as we believe when we do not show ourselves any different from those who do
not? As Paul says,[1]
we must life lives worthy of our call, and do so for the love of converting
those who do not believe.
That is our responsibility as Christians; to be the light in
this darkened world.
Come, let us all be the light for those who do not as yet
believe in the divine nature of Jesus Christ so that they too may discover new
life in Christ.
[1]
Eph. 4:1-6 “I, then, a prisoner for the
Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with
all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through
love…”
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