Weekly Thoughts

FATHER MICHAEL’S DIARY

20 DECEMBER 2024

THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH

Those words from the prologue to St John’s Gospel will be very familiar to us as they will be read several times during our Christmas services. But do we ever stop to consider their profound significance and the enormous theological claim made by them.

The concept of God becoming a human being is unique to Christianity and something which distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. Other religions do have stories of gods assuming human form in particular the metamorphoses of Jupiter to make love to mortal women and the avatars of the Hindu deity Krishna who dallied with dairymaids. In both cases however the assumption of human form by the god was only temporary; the appearance of being human was simply that, an appearance.

What happened in the case of Jesus was quite different. The study of the incarnation ( as we call the coming of God as the man Jesus) forms part of Christology one of the most abstruse and difficult parts of theology because the concepts involved are so hard for us to get our minds around. We need to start with God’s revelation of the Godhead as a Trinity, as consisting of three persons, three expressions of a single being, which we call Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The second of these, the Son, expresses the active element of the Godhead, undertaking the three parts of the work of God: creation, redemption and glorification. The work of redemption, bringing creation to perfection, a process which could only occur within creation, involved the Son entering creation, which could only be done by being born as a human being. Such a step would involve a change in the Godhead for it would entail the absorption of human nature. Perhaps that begins to explain the uniqueness of the doctrine of the incarnation and the enormous claim it makes.

As I say it’s very hard to get your mind around all this, but to grasp even the beginnings of it enables you see the contrast with the shallow sentimentality and superficial bonhomie which has come to characterize this winter festive season. Perhaps what we need is some poetry, and we could do a lot worse than Bishop Bramley’s not-so-well-known hymn “The great God of heaven is come down to earth” (NEH37) the last verse of which goes

O wonder of wonders, which none can unfold:
The Ancient of Days is an hour or two old;
the Maker of all things is made of the earth,
man is worshipped by angels, and God comes to birth:  

Then let us adore him, and praise his great love:
to save us poor sinners he came from above.

READINGS AND PRAYERS

22 DECEMBER – FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT (O Rex) – Luke 1.39-45 – the angel Gabriel comes to Mary – that we may bear Christ into our world

23 DECEMBER – O Emmanuel – Isaiah 7.10-15 – the young woman shall bear a child – that the Holy Spirit may guide our preparations for Christmas

24 DECEMBER – Christmas Eve – Luke 1.67-79 – the dayspring from on high shall break upon us – that God may open our hearts to receive our Saviour

25 DECEMBER – CHRISTMAS DAY – John 1.1-14 – the Word became flesh – thanksgiving for the Incarnation

26 DECEMBER – STEPHEN, DEACON, THE FIRST MARTYR – Acts 7.51-end – the martyrdom of Stephen – all who suffer for the Faith today

27 DECEMBER – JOHN, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST – John 21.19b-25 – this is the disciple who is testifying these things – our parish church and all who serve there

28 DECEMBER – THE HOLY INNOCENTS – Jeremiah 31.15-17 – Rachel weeping for her children – the NSPCC and all child protection agencies