Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)
Many of you probably have received via internet, the now popularized story of the father and the son who collected rare works of art. And then the son went to War and lost his life trying the save the life of another soldier. The father was crestfallen. Just before Christmas that year, the young soldier whose life the son saved, came to the door and presented to the grieving man a portrait of his son that he had painted. The man kept the portrait on his mantel and often admired its realism. When he died, an auction was held for all the rare works of art and among them was the portrait of the son by an unknown artist. At the auction, everybody’s eyes were on the rare paintings but there were no takers for the portrait of the son. The family gardener had fond memories of the son and he was the only one to bid ten dollars for the son’s portrait. That was all he could afford. At once the auctioneer announced that the auction was over. He told the puzzled gathering that there was a secret stipulation in the old man’s will. “The son, the son,” he auctioneer cried out, “whoever took the son will get everything.”
The irony, the paradox and the unexpected twist of this story is palpable isn’t it?
But the above story made popular by the internet is a modern, reworked, and dramatized version of an original story published in 1954. In that story, the chain of events begins with the death of a rich man. His household goods were put on auction. Among the goods was the photograph of the rich man’s son. The son had died at an early age. The only person to bid on the framed photograph was an elderly woman dressed in shabby clothes. She, it was later revealed, was the dead child’s nurse. The woman had dearly loved the child and wanted to have a keepsake of the child. When the woman went home and examined the photograph, she noticed a bulge on the back of the frame. She made a small cut and to her pleasant surprise discovered an envelope. In it she found the wealthy man’s missing will. The will stated that the estate was to go the one who wanted to keep the memory of his beloved son.
Notice the irony, the paradox and the unexpected twist?
But even this original story is hardly the first story to have the kind of irony, paradox and the unexpected twist at the end. There is yet another story of yet another Son! This is the story of an infant in the manger, Jesus, who is the Savior of the world. Talk about irony, talk about paradox, talk about an unexpected twist at the end of that story. I would like to use three of the paradoxes in that story to reflect upon Christmas and find practical implications for us.
1.Nazareth and Bethlehem. Nazareth was an obscure village in the little respected district of Galilee. It is here that the annunciation took place. Bethlehem, on the other hand, was the birthplace of the Dynasty of David. Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem connects him to God’s promise to David that his kingdom would last forever. As Jesus grew up, he would not be known as Jesus of Bethlehem, but Jesus of Nazareth. He would not be crucified in Bethlehem but outside the city of Jerusalem, in Golgotha. And here in lies the irony, the paradox and the unexpected twist. They looked for the Christ from Bethlehem, but he was from Nazareth. They looked for God, but God was in human flesh. They expected a warrior and a king but he would not fight or accept a crown. They expected him to come down from the cross but he stayed there till he died. And you, where are you looking for him? Where do you hope to find him? Remember the paradox when you look for him.
2.Fear and joy. When the angel appeared to the shepherds, their instinctive reaction was fear. The angel’s message to the shepherd’s on the other hand was “good news of great joy.” God, thus far, was perceived as the unapproachable. In fact, people even in Jesus’ time believed that if a person encountered God, they would perish by the very awesomeness of God. The good news that the angel delivered then was more than just the birth of the Savior. The good news was that the unapproachable God was now among them. People could touch God, hold God, love God and enter the depths of God’s being. But here is the paradox is all of this. Just when we think that we can touch, hold, and enter in the depths of God’s being, we realize that actually, it is the other way around. When we hold the infant it is he who is holding us; when we touch him it is he who is transforming us; when we enter into the depths of divinity it is he who is entering the depths of our humanity. Fear gives way to comfort and joy – all in the form of a helpless, innocent infant who is God.
3.Infant and Savior. The Son was born in an untidy stable unlike the romantically clean ones we see in nativity scenes. Think about the irony, the paradox, and the unexpected twist of this story. Who would have ever imagined that this infant that lay in the manger would change the history of the world? The infant in the manger is our Savior, Christ the Lord. The wood of the manger would finally become the wood of the cross. And just when they thought that they were finished with Him, one of those who crucified him said, “This truly was the Son of God.” The criminal on the cross is Savior, Christ the Lord. For now, it will suffice to reflect upon this infant. As the auctioneer said, “The Son, the Son, whoever gets the Son gets everything.” Today, with the rest of creation, we too much come to the manger to do homage, for this Son indeed is our Savior and our God.
I will conclude with a final paradox. Today, this altar is also a manger. The bread and wine that will lay on this altar is devoid of any awesomeness and glory. Perhaps this altar is Nazareth, perhaps it is Bethlehem. There is no infant here today, but there sure is the same God. As we receive the bread and wine, we have the opportunity not just to come to the manger, but to become the manger. For you see, “The Son, the Son, whoever gets the Son, get everything.” And now we realize that WE ARE THE PARADOX.
-Fr. Satish Joseph