All
we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own
way; and Jehovah hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. -- Isaiah 53:6 (Darby)
The
fifty-third chapter of Isaiah is the quintessential chapter in the
Bible that lays out what the anticipated Messiah is going to bring to
humankind. It is a chapter that has been around for thousands of years
and embodies the very depth of traditional religious meaning for two
religions - Judaism and Christianity. Much of the chapter should ring
familiar to anyone raised in either faith.
Christians
believe this Messianic person is coming in the person of Jesus Christ,
whose birth we will be celebrating in just a few days. The description
of the Messiah's earthly work is fraught with suffering and pain.
Christmas is normally celebrated as the "Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas"
holiday of fat Santa, the prancing and pawing of each little hoof, brown
papered packages tied up with string, and the romantic cuddling under
warm blankets since we've no place to go - let it snow, let it snow, let
it snow. This might be the romantic comedy side of Christmas. It
would be a shallow simpletons holiday, however, were it not for the
Messiah's coming of Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 brings the divine tragedy to
Christmas. It is the grim reality that humanity has a dark side, lives
in a society that is sprinkled with evil, misery, and death and that
there comes a remedy to cure all of that, that gives the deep grace and
light to Christmas such that its romantic comedic side can establish
peace and prosperity to all.
Without
the reminder in Advent of the cross, to which is nailed our sins and
our failings, and from the root of which comes our forgiveness and our
very salvation all the shallow Christmas cheer of 10,000 Christmases
would not be enough. All the gifts Santa could bring off every list of
every girl and boy could not match the Love that God infuses into the
human story when Jesus takes the manger. When the Angel Gabriel touches
Mary and God incarnates into human life humanity transforms from vile
banality to transcendent spiritual force that creates a people who walk
by faith, hope, and love. At Christmas Love came down. He was wounded
for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, yet with his
stripes we are healed. Don't let the shopping malls near you drunken
you with so much cheer that you forget the deeper, quieter, more serious
reason we're celebrating!
Prayer:
No comments:
Post a Comment