Do yourself a favor before Christmas. Read the gospel accounts of Jesus’ birth. Then read Genesis 1 through 3, then read Revelation 12, and then open Romans 16:20.
That’s the whole story of Christmas.
- It’s not just a sweet.
- Poetic story.
- Heralded by stars and angels.
- It’s a violent war story.
- The story of a cosmic war.
- A conflict between the forces of good and evil.
- As Mary gave birth away from home.
- Heaven and hell took up arms.
I think of Leeloo from the film Fifth Element, which came down to Earth at the beginning of the film, pursued by evil forces who want to destroy the planet, is perfect and innocent, but is also there to fight. life redeeming the planet. Read the previous passages and watch the film again. This is the story of Christmas.
I think of Alan Furst’s spy novels, in which the whispers behind enemy lines invoke fury and danger, when the little, unsuspecting ones open the way to corrosion of the forces of good and eventually invade the land captured by the forces of evil.
And, of course, I think of Hard to Kill, which we already knew was a Christmas movie, but think a little more: a hero travels to a distant land (McClane is a New York policeman in Los Angeles) to reconcile with his fiancée (she changed her name) and save her from the forces of evil that have captured her. Yippee ki yay.
In Genesis, the serpent crawls into a perfect world and begins to lie, eroding its foundations. In Revelation, this evil being has grown into a furious dragon: his power and domination are much more menacing. He blows smoke, rages, drops stars, from the sky, but he’s still doomed.
And the first attack on him was not marked by cries of soldiers, gleaming swords or cannons, it is marked by the crying of a baby.
The world didn’t welcome him. We only offered her mother, who was in labor, a stable to protect her from the elements. The child Christ was born and placed in a manger, a place where animals feed. Then, giving his last breath on the cross, he quotes a psalm to describe his death as follows:
They open their mouths against me, like a lion that breaks and roars [?] Dogs surround me; my hands and feet pierced me (Psalm 22. 13,16)
The baby is drowsy for the first time in a day care center and, 33 years later, his death would have been as if he had been torn apart by wild animals. He also told his disciples that they should feast on their flesh and blood, a way to symbolize and experience union with him; to experiment and see that he is good, that he emerges victorious from Satan, from sin, and from death. Think about this symbolism: only if we tear it apart and devour it can we participate in its redemption.
There must be no doubt that Christmas is the greatest cause of joy the world has ever known. Imagine if Christ hadn’t come. Imagine a life in which there is no eternal hope and in which we stay to try to redeem ourselves.
Christmas is also a time to stop and think. Remember the whole history of Christmas; not the cute, fluffy side of the market. Do you remember all this? the condescension of Jesus a baby, his birth in a dirty barn, his dream in a crib . . . returns us to the land where he found us. The Nativity, often described in a tender and pasty way, is in fact a painful representation of Our sin and our fall. As Jerome said, Jesus was born into a lot of excrement because he knew that’s where He would find us. Remember also that the birth of the child Christ broke the fury of hell.
Remember, your resistance was useless
And above all, remember that the violence and humiliation of Christmas occurred because God loved us enough to suffer all this for us and for us, in Christ we were never left alone in our sufferings, pains and humiliations, came the one who made the world. in him as a child and experienced all his difficulties and injustices so that, by The Grace of God, he could be our comfort in the years to come.
That is why in advent we proclaim:
Console, comfort my people, say your God; Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, shout that your militia’s time has passed, that your wickedness has been forgiven, and that you have already received twice from the Lord for all your sins. Sins. A voice that cries in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord; to make its way into the wilderness to our God. Each valley will be filled, and all hills and hills will be razed; the tortuous will be rectified, and the rough will be smoothed; the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh shall see it, for the mouth of the Lord has said it (Isaiah 40:1-5).