The reason for the season is actually quite strange… (click to read more)
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A Priest, a Rabbi, and an Imam Walk into a Bar…
A few months ago, I found myself in a conversation that seemed like the beginning of a good joke.
It was during one of Dubuque’s inter-faith programs, the Children of Abraham.
This particular program was at the synagogue. I don’t remember what the topic was, exactly, but after the program, I found myself in the fellowship hall enjoying refreshments.
It was, at this point, that I entered into a conversation with one of my Muslim friends who asked, “How is it that Jesus is God? How can God take on flesh?”
So, here I was, in the fellowship hall of the Jewish synagogue discussing the Incarnation with a Muslim!
I’m not sure how well my explanation was understood, but I think, even if Christians really start to think about it, it is strange.
The idea that a God – beyond space, time, and matter – becomes a part of a limited creation is an idea that takes a while for our heads to wrap around.
Yet, this is what we celebrate every year at Christmas: God wrapping himself in our flesh so that he could die a miserable death on a cross, descend into hell, and then rise again on the third day, and, 40 days later, ascend into heaven to sit at the right-hand of the Father.
This isn’t a celebration of the birth of a wise teacher, or of a great prophet, or some super-human-angel-like person, but the birth of the eternal Word into time.
But the question quickly becomes: how radical was this, really?
Is this a complete break with the traditions passed down from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Is this a break from the Law of Moses? Does this align with the prophets of old?
Was it expected that God would become human to save us from death?
Let’s take a look.
Isaiah and God With Us
We’ll start with the prophets because, it seems, they’re the most straightforward.
Perhaps the most famous passage comes from Isaiah:
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel. (Isaiah 7:14 RSV altered)
As 21st century Christians, we immediately recognize the “virgin” as Mary the Theotokos, or “God-bearer.” And, there’s a clear reference to who this child is: Emmanuel, which is “God with us.”
A bit further on, Isaiah gives us a further glimpse into this enfleshed God.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6 RSV)
So we discover that a child is born and, in some way, this child represents the presence of God.
We also know that this seems to be good news.
Isaiah gives him a lot of political titles, perhaps pointing to a hope that foreign oppression will be overcome. We’ll be, in some way, set free.
What Isaiah doesn’t do is say how.
Sure, later in Isaiah we get the famous”Suffering Servant” passages (for us, a glimpse into the Messiah’s death), but that’s at the end of Isaiah. And, until the crucifixion causes the disciples to reexamination the Isaiah prophecies, I’m not sure anyone put the two together: this child is the suffering servant.
Micah’s Ruler of Israel
The Gospel of Matthew (2:5-6) draws upon a different prophecy, one in Micah, to help us understand the birth of God.
But you, O Bethlehem Eph’rathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in travail has brought forth; then the rest of his brethren shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. (Micah 5:2-4 RSV)
Here’s our reference to Bethlehem, the “House of Bread,” where Jesus was be born.
Micah paints a picture of ruler, but not just any ruler: one whose origin comes from a time before – the “ancient days,” he says.
According to Micah, Israel will be “given up,” perhaps to some sort of enemy, until this leader is born from a woman in “travail.” Only then will peace “rest” again upon us all.
So, just like Isaiah, this prophecy points us to the birth of a great leader who will set us free.
But, again, we only seem to be dancing around our question: was it really expected that God would become human to do these things? To set us free? And, set us free from what?
Atonement Forshadowing
It seems to me that the answer we’re looking for goes much deeper than treating the prophets as predictors of the future, oracles that foresee the birth of the Messiah.
I believe the answer lies in a deep reading of the Old Testament, but not just a deep reading of Scripture, but a thorough understanding of the rituals described in the Old Testament, especially the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16).
Also known as Yom Kippur, this was the day that the High Priest of Israel entered into the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem Temple to atone for the sins of all Israel.
Briefly, the service went something like this:
- There was a preparation where the high priest bathed, clothed himself in a linen tunic, and obtained a bull and two goats.
- The high priest first slaughtered the bull and sprinkled its blood in the Holy of Holies. This offering was to cleanse the high priest from his sins so that he could proceed with the next step.
- Next, the high priest slaughtered one of the goats, which represented the Lord, and he sprinkled this blood around the Temple. It is this offering, the slaughtering of the Lord, that cleanses the people of their sins.
- After that, the priest emerged to lay his hands on the second goat. When he did this the sins of Israel where passed on to this goat, who was then driven out into the wilderness.
- Finally, the high priest bathed again and changed into his vestments in order to burn the bull and the first goat as an offering. This was done outside the city walls.
Now, you’re probably wondering: what does this have to do with Christmas? How does any of this foreshadow the birth of God in the flesh?
The Enfleshed Lord
The answer lies in the interpretation of these events.
The vestments of the priest, as well as the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple, was made from materials of four different colors.
These colors carried a lot of meaning, they signified the stuff that the world was made out of: earth, water, air, and fire.
Solomon, his book on Wisdom, pulls it all together for us.
For on [the high priest’s] long robe, the whole world was depicted… (Wisdom of Solomon 18:24)
We also must remember that the high priest wore a turban around his head that carried the divine name of God on it: YHWH, “the Lord.”
So, when the high priest wore this name, he represented God.
But, this wasn’t a disembodied God…remember, the vestments that the high priest wore represented created matter. The vested high priest was the “Lord of Glory” veiled in matter.
In other words, he represented the incarnate, enfleshed God – exactly what we celebrate at Christmas: a God who vests himself in matter and makes himself known through creation.
This is all done during a ceremony that cleanses us of our sins – an atonement that renews us and gives us a fresh start.
A God in the Flesh, as It was Foretold
So, was the idea of a God taking on flesh foreign to the writers of Scripture? Was it a shock that God revealed himself in this way?
Well… yes and no!
It may have come as a shock to find that God appears as the son of a lowly carpenter and not as the son of a great king.
It may have come as a shock that this carpenter’s son grew up to be a wandering preacher who gets himself crucified by the Romans, rather than a great general with a grand army.
But, upon further reflection, the shock really wasn’t that surprising.
Isaiah and Micah told the story of a God who is born to free, not only Israel, but all people from their oppression.
The ritual performed on the Day of Atonement foresaw a God who wraps himself in creation in order to take on our sins.
When we put two and two together, we find the Old Testament telling us the Christmas story: the story of God acting in time to set us free from our sins; the story of a God who conquers death-by-death, giving us new life.
When you think about it this way, the story of Christmas is the really the story of Pascha (Easter), and our Paschal hymn merges with our Christmas hymn.
Christ is born, dies, and rises from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.
For us, there can be no better news!
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
P.S. Join the ancient celebration of God in the Flesh!
I now invite you to enter deeper into the mystery of Christ with the Orthodox Church!
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