Christmas is almost upon us. Today marks the fourth Sunday of Advent when Christians light the fourth candle on the Advent Wreath. The time of waiting is nearly over. But what are we waiting for? Well, we wait for the feast of Christmas when we remember the birth of Jesus and the way in which Christians believe he fulfilled the longings of his people. We wait for new experiences of his coming into our life as we try to live a life of faith, and we wait for his final coming at the end of time when at some point in the unknown future God’s kingdom will triumph and be finally established on earth. Till then we wait in faith and hope, longing for the Kingdom of God and doing our little bit to extend its influence around us.
These statements are not straightforward. They are statements of faith with a great deal of theology behind and around them. I sometimes struggle to make sense of them? Karl Rahner said that there are two ways of studying the significance of Jesus – what he called Christology from above and Christology from below. Christology from above is captured in the carol ‘at the hour of silent midnight’ where it states
At hour of silent midnight, O mystery of love
Earth’s longed and sighed for Saviour, Descended from above …….
Lo! earth is changed to Heaven, For earth is Jesus’ home:…..
They found the God of Heaven (in) an infant meek and mild.
According to this theology the God of heaven has come down to take human form in the person of Jesus. It stresses the divinity of Jesus and makes him unique among men. Christology from below is focussed much more on the human life of Jesus. It situates him in a particular place and at a particular time, it gives him a genealogy (found in the gospels) and therefore a DNA that goes far back in the history of the people of Israel, even as far back as Adam and then back to God but not in a way that is different from other human beings. Christians and Jews believe that all human beings are made in the image and likeness of God, share in the life and energy of God and are animated by the Spirit of God. There is a God – presence which is the source and heart of life. Sometimes in scripture it is called Wisdom, sometimes it is called Logos or Word and sometimes it is called Christ. It is a universal presence which has expressed itself from the beginning of time in nature which also includes humanity, but for Christians in a particularly open and perfect way in Jesus. Richard Rohr puts it like this “We daringly believe that God’s presence was poured into a single human being, so that humanity and divinity can be seen to be operating as one in him—and therefore in us! Instead of saying that God came into the world through Jesus, maybe it would be better to say that Jesus came out of an already Christ-soaked world. The second incarnation flowed out of the first, out of God’s loving union with physical creation”.
And this incarnation that we celebrate in Jesus took place at a troubled time in a troubled part of the world. He was born a Jew in Bethlehem which was that part of Israel known as Judea. Bethlehem of course is now situated in Palestine and for me it has been impossible to sing some of our carols and listen to the readings of the prophets so loved during Advent without feeling a deep pain of what is happening in that part of the world. This is not to suggest that Jesus was a Palestinian (Palestine didn’t exist in his time) or to deny the tragedy of the Israeli hostages and the pain and fear of the Israeli people but it is to honour and face up to the reality of the suffering happening in the very places that become the focus of our attention at this time. For Christians Jesus’ presence and participation in our common humanity leads them to see him in the poor and oppressed, in those suffering because of war and violence, in those who are abused, trafficked – the list can go on and on. Often iconography depicts this.
It was with some sadness therefore that I learned of the controversy over the figure of the baby Jesus lying on a keffiyeh which was seen by Israelis and some Jews as a political statement – a controversy that reached even Glasgow with someone asking me what could be done about it. Each year the Vatican nativity scene is designed by an artist from a different part of the world and this year the artist was from Bethlehem so to use a keffiyeh was normal to him and he denied any political intention. Each year the nativity is presented to the Pope and then the baby removed to be returned on Christmas Eve – will the keffiyeh be there or not when this happens this week? I will be very sorry if it is gone because that becomes a political statement if it removed because of Israeli or Jewish pressure. Surely Christians are free to show solidarity with the suffering of their brothers and sisters in the land of Jesus birth without it being seen as political. In doing this Christians will not be taking sides but recognising the pain that exists on all sides and longing and earnestly praying for peace.
These statements are not straightforward. They are statements of faith with a great deal of theology behind and around them. I sometimes struggle to make sense of them? Karl Rahner said that there are two ways of studying the significance of Jesus – what he called Christology from above and Christology from below. Christology from above is captured in the carol ‘at the hour of silent midnight’ where it states
At hour of silent midnight, O mystery of love
Earth’s longed and sighed for Saviour, Descended from above …….
Lo! earth is changed to Heaven, For earth is Jesus’ home:…..
They found the God of Heaven (in) an infant meek and mild.
According to this theology the God of heaven has come down to take human form in the person of Jesus. It stresses the divinity of Jesus and makes him unique among men. Christology from below is focussed much more on the human life of Jesus. It situates him in a particular place and at a particular time, it gives him a genealogy (found in the gospels) and therefore a DNA that goes far back in the history of the people of Israel, even as far back as Adam and then back to God but not in a way that is different from other human beings. Christians and Jews believe that all human beings are made in the image and likeness of God, share in the life and energy of God and are animated by the Spirit of God. There is a God – presence which is the source and heart of life. Sometimes in scripture it is called Wisdom, sometimes it is called Logos or Word and sometimes it is called Christ. It is a universal presence which has expressed itself from the beginning of time in nature which also includes humanity, but for Christians in a particularly open and perfect way in Jesus. Richard Rohr puts it like this “We daringly believe that God’s presence was poured into a single human being, so that humanity and divinity can be seen to be operating as one in him—and therefore in us! Instead of saying that God came into the world through Jesus, maybe it would be better to say that Jesus came out of an already Christ-soaked world. The second incarnation flowed out of the first, out of God’s loving union with physical creation”.
And this incarnation that we celebrate in Jesus took place at a troubled time in a troubled part of the world. He was born a Jew in Bethlehem which was that part of Israel known as Judea. Bethlehem of course is now situated in Palestine and for me it has been impossible to sing some of our carols and listen to the readings of the prophets so loved during Advent without feeling a deep pain of what is happening in that part of the world. This is not to suggest that Jesus was a Palestinian (Palestine didn’t exist in his time) or to deny the tragedy of the Israeli hostages and the pain and fear of the Israeli people but it is to honour and face up to the reality of the suffering happening in the very places that become the focus of our attention at this time. For Christians Jesus’ presence and participation in our common humanity leads them to see him in the poor and oppressed, in those suffering because of war and violence, in those who are abused, trafficked – the list can go on and on. Often iconography depicts this.
It was with some sadness therefore that I learned of the controversy over the figure of the baby Jesus lying on a keffiyeh which was seen by Israelis and some Jews as a political statement – a controversy that reached even Glasgow with someone asking me what could be done about it. Each year the Vatican nativity scene is designed by an artist from a different part of the world and this year the artist was from Bethlehem so to use a keffiyeh was normal to him and he denied any political intention. Each year the nativity is presented to the Pope and then the baby removed to be returned on Christmas Eve – will the keffiyeh be there or not when this happens this week? I will be very sorry if it is gone because that becomes a political statement if it removed because of Israeli or Jewish pressure. Surely Christians are free to show solidarity with the suffering of their brothers and sisters in the land of Jesus birth without it being seen as political. In doing this Christians will not be taking sides but recognising the pain that exists on all sides and longing and earnestly praying for peace.
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