Christmas 2016

Isaiah 52: 7-10, Hebrews 1:1-6, John 1:1-18

A few years ago, just after joining a nursing home activities department, we were presented with materials for “Lessons and Carols.” The gospel passages seemed altered. When I asked the presenter about it, she said, “They’re too hard for people to understand, especially the beginning of John, so I made them easier.” As I work in a ‘Catholic’ facility, our residents had heard the opening of John for eighty or ninety years, many times a year. They’ve heart-know Jesus as The Word; the concept is not difficult for them.

Prophets were considered mediators between the Lord and the people. The letter-writer suggests, however, the message of the prophets is incomplete and fragmentary (4). Similarly, the word for angel used in the letter, in both Hebrew and Greek means messenger. Jesus as the Son of the Father sits above the angels and the summation of the prophets. The writer explains the difference by stating, “Jesus is the ‘charakter’ of the Father.”

‘Charakter’ is a synonym for ‘Logos,’ (2). Logos, meaning The Word, is used by John to refer to Jesus. “Dynamic here in similar to John 1:1-18 where Jesus is celebrated as the Word of God. The fact that God is the speaker in both cases establishes God as the point of continuity between the old and the new ways of divine revelation (3).” Barclay also suggests ‘charakter’ means both a seal and the impression of the seal (4). Jesus is the Lord Himself and the promise of His presence, issued from ancient time.

In modern parlance, when we use the expression, the word, we could mean a few different things. If someone greets you by way of saying, “What’s the word,” or says, “What’s the word on the street,” the implication is long-waited for news or information that is not common knowledge. If we are struggling to express ourselves clearly we may say, “Oh, what’s that word…” We are searching for the right word, as if there’s a perfect one to capture what we mean. Despite the modern flair of these idioms, they deepen our understanding of Jesus as The Word.

In Isaiah, the sentinels are waiting to proclaim good news; The birth of the Word is indeed long-waited for, perfect Good News. The sentinels will tell the people, “The Holy City has been restored, come home.” The birth of Jesus, the beginning of the Gospel, also calls us home. Christmas restores us, each year, to our spiritual roots. Metaphorically, I may have come to ruins in the passing year, but my soul and spirit are invited to be a restored and revived.

Journal Questions:

Recall a situation in which someone simplified content in a way which distorted meaning and was unnecessary. How did you feel?
Would you describe yourself as the “seal and impression of that seal” of Jesus? What changes might you make to be so?
What within you is Christmas reviving and restoring this year?

Resources:
1- The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentarty on the Bible. Abingdon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 1971.
2- New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1990.
3- The New Interpreter’s Bible: One Volume Commentary. Abingdon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 2010.
4-The Letters to the Hebrews, Barclay, William. The Daily Study Bible Series. The Westminister Press. Philadelphia, 1976.

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