Word to the Wise
Tuesday, January 2, 2007 - Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen
[1 John 2:22-28 and John1:19-28]Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you wil remain in the Son and in the father. And this is the promise that he made us: eternal life.
During the liturgical season of Christmas, the Church makes the effort to reflect on the reality of the Incarnation. This means not just the admittedly charming stories that the gospels of Luke and Matthew provide, but also the more directly "theological" reflections that the Johannine tradition offers. Jesus is the baby in the manger. All the other characters in the scene have their own role in the story. Jesus is ALSO the "Word made flesh." Since the "infancy narratives" were supposedly written in the light of the rest of the gospels of Luke and Matthew, they reflect ALL of Jesus' life and not just its beginning! So, what we have heard from the beginning is a bigger story than a physical birth (as important as that fact is!). It is an entire life of a person who has promised us eternal ife if we accept the truth from the beginning that "The Word was made flesh and dwelled among us." In using the word "story" I do not mean something made up out of whole cloth. I mean the truth about God's grace, God's presence among us. Living in this story is eternal life. AMEN
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