There once was a father who loved his son tremendously. It was his only son, a son so dear to him and a son from whom life was to issue forth. Great promises of life, descendents, the continuation of the father and the son’s love was to pour forth through the son into the world. Then the father was told to sacrifice his son. He loved his son, but he knew he had to do what he must. Resting his son’s head upon the wood, he prepared to give his son up. That Father was Abraham
There once was a son, a child dearly loved yet chosen. He was dear to his father’s heart, but was brave enough to face the darkness and the enemies no one else was. He even faced the hate of those he loved and eventually was given the right to rule over his people. That son was David.
Both of these figures trace within human history, in the very flesh and blood of human lives, the image of what we remember today in Christmas. They give an image of God the Father. He is the origin, meaning and goal of all. His love for him and his son is at the base of all that is and that ever will be. God’s plan was to come from the common yet mysterious.
God’s love had been great, eternal, the creative force of the entire universe and all mankind, but now it must be made visible. Jesus is that son close to the father’s heart, given to bring us life and to be our king. Jesus is the one source of our salvation. Within him and because of him we can call God by the sweet name “Father”.
Jesus came not just to make the Father’s love visible, but to make all things visible in its light! The love of God becomes not just another things to see in this world, but because the light with which to see all things. Jesus is for this world forever the presence of God’s creative love in our midst. Let us not be afraid. Through the darkness of human history, God’s light has shone. Through our human history, there is a divine thread running through it. Let us all know without a doubt that we are loved. We have a father who loves us.
Do we know how to be children? Jesus gives us the path and the means. Run back to the Father. The relation to the Father is the depths of the personality and personhood of Jesus. It defines Him, it defines us. Let us allow Jesus to teach us how to be children again.