Christmas Midnight 2010, Love Incarnate

Christmas I, Midnight

Matthew 1: 1-25

This is the book of the new creation, which has happened through Jesus Christ [or, the generation of Jesus Christ], a son of David, who is a son of Abraham.

 Abraham was the father of Isaac,

   Isaac the father of Jacob,

   Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,

   Perez the father of Hezron,

   Hezron the father of Ram,

  Ram the father of Amminadab,

   Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

   Nahshon the father of Salmon,

  Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,

   Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,

   Obed the father of Jesse,

  and Jesse the father of King David.

  

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

  Solomon the father of Rehoboam,

   Rehoboam the father of Abijah,

   Abijah the father of Asa,

  Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,

   Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,

   Jehoram the father of Uzziah,

  Uzziah the father of Jotham,

   Jotham the father of Ahaz,

   Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

  Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,

   Manasseh the father of Amon,

   Amon the father of Josiah,

  and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

  After the exile to Babylon:

   Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,

   Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

  Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,

   Abihud the father of Eliakim,

   Eliakim the father of Azor,

  Azor the father of Zadok,

   Zadok the father of Akim,

   Akim the father of Elihud,

  Elihud the father of Eleazar,

   Eleazar the father of Matthan,

   Matthan the father of Jacob,

  and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

From Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David to the deportation to Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the exile in Babylon to Christ are fourteen generations.

The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way: Mary, his mother, was

Rembrandt

betrothed to Joseph. But before they were aware of having come together, she conceived a child by the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph however, her husband, who was an upright man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, was considering whether he should quietly set her free [or, decided to consider all this a mystery.] As he was pondering this, behold the angel of the Lord appeared before him in a dream and said to him:

 “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because that which is to be born of her is conceived out of the power of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall give him the name Jesus, that is, the Bringer of Healing, for he it will be who will heal his own of their error and guilt. “

All this took place so that the word of the Lord, spoken by the mouth of the prophet, might be fulfilled:

“A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and they will call his name Immanuel, that is, God in our midst.”

           

Now when Joseph rose from his sleep he did as the angel of the Lord directed him, and he took Mary to himself as his wife, and he knew her not until she bore her son, and he gave him the name Jesus.  

Christmas I, Midnight

Dec 25, 2010

Matthew 1:1 and 17-25

A cup can be empty; it can be filled to the brim; and when it can contain no more, it can overflow.

God is an uncontained being, whose nature is overflowing, abundant love. In the beginning He created stars, sun, earth and all upon it. The human being was His centerpiece. He surrounded Adam and Eve with his love.  He poured a drop of His divine being, His love, into them, and into every human soul since.

His loving goodness flows through the universe, invisibly, like air. His love is the connecting force that holds the universe together.

With the conception of the Christ Child, God began a new human creation. God poured the full measure of His love, his Spirit, into conceiving this child. He created a human being out of whom would pour an overflow of love. This child was to be the first of such. In Christ Jesus, God created a divine human healer, one capable of pouring the full measure of God’s never-ending love out into all human souls who open to Him.

The Christ Child is love incarnate. It is God’s love that shines from the Child’s eyes. It is a love that corrects our errors; it is a love that extinguishes our guilt. A poet said:

Our eyes reach out for what is small, tender, 

 or shining, Something wants 

 to be born into this world, 

 and we grow inward and heavy with it.[1] 

It will be love, growing and overflowing in each human soul, shining from our human’s eyes, the Christ in us, that will heal the world.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Nils Peterson, “December”.