Christmas
is the liturgical season in which Christians celebrate every year the birth of
our Lord Jesus Christ. The birth of the son of a humble carpenter (Mt 13,55) who
divided human history into two parts: years and centuries before and after
Christ.
The
account of his birth in the Gospel of Luke, as with all human accounts, and therefore
as in all biblical accounts, is interwoven with historical details and confessions
of faith.
Concerning
the historical information, Luke underscores
his concern to provide a temporal and spatial framework that is as precise as
possible for the birth of the “Savior”. Thus Luke tells us that:
· “In
those days a decree went out from Ceasar Augustus that the whole world should
be enrolled. This was the first enrollment when Quirinius was governor of Syria.”.(Lk
2,1-2, CEV).
Further
historical data of the simple yet outstanding Lukan account of the birth and
infancy of Jesus are his references to:
·
“The city of Nazareth,
in Galilee” (Lk 2,4).
·
“His wife Mary, who
was pregnant” (Lk 2,5).
·
“There were shepherds
in the region…” (Lk 2,8).
But
all the strength and intentionality of the account, according to Luke, are
placed on the confessions of faith of the primitive Christian community —“in
light of the Passover”— concerning the child, now raised from the dead, the
infant who is now proclaimed as their Lord.
In
Luke’s account, the following confessions of faith are high-lighted:
·
“Of the house and
family of David” (Lk 2,4)
·
“The city of David, known
as Bethlehem, in Judea” (Lk 2,4)
·
“An angel of the Lord appeared
to them, the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with
great fear. The angel said to them: ‘Do not be afraid, for behold I proclaim to
you good
news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today, in the city of
David, a savior has been born to you who is Messiah and Lord’ ” (Lk 2, 9-11)
· “Glory to God in the
highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Lk 2.14)
After
twenty centuries, even though the social, historical and cultural circumstances
have changed, we can affirm that our creed is a historical faith and religion, founded
on facts that occurred in a proven and irrefutable way in the time and space of
human history (D.V. 2).
Yet we
can especially say that after twenty centuries, in the liturgical season of
Christmas, as Christians we unite in the very same confessions of faith proclaimed
by the early Christians in their communities. And today, as we do every day and
always at Christmas, we also confess that the child “wrapped in swaddling clothes
and lying in a manger” was born to us as the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord, “the
way, the truth and the life” (Jn 14,6), the one who fills the sense of history of
our personal, family and social life.
Thus
Christmas is a liturgical season with historical foundations, yet it is
especially a season of joyful celebration for the good news of great joy that the birth of the Son of God meant
for the early Christians who proclaimed it as such in the beautiful Lukan account,
and for us who also acknowledge this fact in the current moment of our own
history.
This good news, this great joy amply justifies all the celebration of Christmas. Therefore
we desire for you: Merry Christmas!
