“Unto us a Child is born; Unto us a Son is given.”
Who could have ever come up with the story that happens to be the true story?
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.”
The God who made everything turned to unworthy sinners and gave… And what He gave was His Son. What He gave was Himself. His life. His Death. His eternal commitment to fix everything and make it right…forever.
John Webster:
What is given is the personal,
communicative self-presence of Jesus Christ,
in and as whom the creative,
redemptive and perfecting works of God,
willed by the Father
and brought to realization by the Holy Spirit,
are enacted…
The church’s Lord, Jesus,
is the incomparably comprehensive context
of all creaturely being,
knowing and acting,
because in
and as him
God is with humankind
in free, creative and saving love.
Because he is Lord,
he can only be thought of as Lord;
if he is not thought of as Lord,
and with the rational deference which is due to him as Lord,
then he is not thought of at all.
He is not simply baby Jesus. He is the Lord—given, coming, born.
The baby Lord. The Lord, the baby.
So it was, at the beginning:
And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.
And so it was, at the end:
When they saw Him, they worshiped Him…
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying,
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
Merry Christmas, everyone.