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Mailing Address: PO Box 575
860.658.7627
Mailing Address: PO Box 575
860.658.7627
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December 17, 2021On this Fourth Sunday of Advent, our attention turns now to preparing for the celebration of the birth of our Lord. During the early part of Advent we focused on the Second Coming of Christ in his glory. Now in these final days of Advent we remember the account of how Jesus came into the world. The scene in this week’s Gospel follows upon Mary’s encounter with the angel Gabriel, who announces to her the astounding news that she will become the mother of the Son of God. Gabriel also mentions Mary’s cousin Elizabeth who, though unable to have children thus far, now in her advanced age has conceived and is six months along. So Mary rushes off, on a bit of a dangerous journey, to be with her cousin through the final months of her pregnancy and to share her own astonishing news with Elizabeth. The moment she hears Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth recognizes that Mary is carrying “her Lord.” Even John (who will become the Baptist) recognizes the presence of Jesus by “leaping for joy” in utero.
This beautiful encounter of Mary with Elizabeth, known in our tradition as “The Visitation,” reminds us of the very humanity of Jesus. Often we think of the divine nature of Jesus, the power of his preaching and healing miracles, his resurrection from the dead and ascension to glory. But do we ever think about what it means that Jesus also was fully human? Advent and Christmas is a time for us to reflect on the human nature of Jesus, the very fact that God would become one of us in the first place, and then the implications of Jesus being born. We have our nice, tidy images of this reality from Christmas card images, but it was far from being neat and tidy. His birth would have been like any human birth. Mary went into labor. Jesus had to be cleaned up after his delivery and wrapped in a blanket (i.e. “swaddling clothes”). All of this taking place, not in a sterile hospital room, but in a dirty, smelly stable with animals all around. Once Jesus returned with his parents to Nazareth, he had to grow up like any human child, learning to walk and to read, playing with his friends in the streets of Nazareth, possibly falling and scraping his knees or banging his thumb with a hammer in Joseph’s carpentry shop. He got hungry and thirsty, and likely caught colds and the flu like the rest of us. He had to learn his faith from his parents, Mary and Joseph, and attend Hebrew school at his local synagogue in Nazareth. All of this would be part and parcel of his true humanity.
As we finish up our Christmas shopping and presents are wrapped, we can now savor the coming of our Savior into the world 2000 years ago. Take some time in these final days of Advent to appreciate the fact that God was so crazy in love for us, that he would send his Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity to become one of us – like us in all things but sin. Wonder at the truth that God became truly human and experienced all the things that we as human beings experience: great joys and deep sorrows; true friendships and the disappointment of betrayal; good health and unimaginable pain on the cross. Appreciate that through Jesus, God now knows firsthand what it’s like to be one of us, as we hear in the letter to the Hebrews, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.” As you celebrate Christmas, be sure to keep the true meaning of this holiday. Meditate on Christ’s humanity. Recognize that the best presents we could ever receive is the presence of God himself!
