December 25 Christmas – Mass during the Day
Isaiah 52:7-10
Hebrews 1:1-6
John 1:1-18

A. Text and Context
• Today is the mass of the day for Christmas and the center stage is the WORD BECAME FLESH and made his dwelling among us as proclaimed by the author of the gospel John the Evangelist
• So do not confuse yourselves because we are talking here of 2 Johns
• The writer of the gospel is John the Evangelist and his subject in the gospel is John the Baptist
• The author of the gospel John the evangelist was still a teenager of about 15 years of age when he was the one chosen by Jesus and given the responsibility to take care of the Holy Mother at the foot of the cross during the crucifixion
• Somehow during the ministry of Jesus St. Joseph has already died and so Jesus aware of his impending death on the cross has given the task to John the Evangelist to take care of his mother
• Mother, behold they son, son behold thy mother. That was John the evangelist who in his later years will write the gospel of John and the Book of Revelation
• This evangelist is now writing his own gospel the gospel of John and here in this gospel passage the author is describing John the Baptist as the man who was sent by God to testify about the truth of Jesus as the light who has come into the world
• God has appointed John the Baptist as the witness of the great light who has arrived
• So what was the testimony of John the Baptist?
• The testimony of JB started when he was still in the womb of his mother Elizabeth
• Remember the episode of the Visitation. According to the traditions of the Church Elizabeth was very busy doing her household chores in her home when the Blessed Mother knocked at the door of her house
• Elizabeth just ignored the knocking thinking that it was just one of the neighbor’s children playing in their yard
• But the little John the Baptist was so wild with motion inside her womb. It was actually the little John the Baptist who is now 6 months old who prodded her mother Elizabeth to open the door and receive Mary the Mother of his Lord
• And so the 2 babies inside met each other for the first time during the visitation. And it was also the 1st testimony of John the Baptist about Jesus the Savior and the light of the world
• And so throughout the ministry of John the Baptist he was testifying and witnessing all about the truth of Jesus telling the people to repent because the kingdom is at hand, the Messiah has arrived
• So the testimony started in the womb and it will end when John and Jesus are now both adults when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan river by John the Baptist and will soon be martyred for telling the truth

B. Human Situation
• This is a beautiful story of a testimonial of John the Baptist who was doing his role of preparing the Lord as to what God has sent him to do: from the womb to the tomb
• Now we go back to the 1st part of the gospel and it says: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made
• So make no mistake my dear brothers and sisters. Jesus Christ already existed from the very beginning. Jesus was already with the Holy Trinity from the very beginning
• God the father has only willed that His only son will have to be born as a human being because there is a great and extreme need of redemption
• After Adam and Eve have fallen from grace, and so did also the whole and future generations of humanity have also fallen
• Just think of that, the whole of the divine trinity has to decide how to solve the problem of saving the human race! And so what was the solution?
• And so Jesus has to undergo all the travails of being born as a human being. God has to prepare so many things
• God has to prepare Mary, God has to prepare Joseph, God has to prepare John the Baptist
• And before that God has to prepare the parents of Mary, God has to prepare the parents of John the Baptist
• And before that God has to prepare the prophets, the line of David, etc. etc.
• Oh my God! God has been so busy preparing so many things for the birth of our Lord
• So Jesus did not just come to the world very easily it is a preparation of thousands of years after the fall of humanity from grace
• That is why today we celebrate the joy of remembering the birth of our Lord who was born as a human being in a manger in Bethlehem 2020 years ago because it heralds the beginning of our salvation
• And this work of salvation is just the beginning. It still has to end on the day of the resurrection to complete the process of redemption
• Now I have to expound a little on theology. You might ask why is there a need for God to do this? To be born as a human being?
• He is a God and he can do everything at the flick of his finger
• This is what we call in theology as the Sacramental Principle so you will understand why God needs to send his only son
• God is here in the highest heaven. He is infinite, he is unlimited, he is the supreme good, and he is the highest good. He is the creator
• And man is in the world, so limited, finite, and lacking in almost anything. We are just a creation of God
• Before the fall of Adam and Eve it was okay, the relationship was fine as we bear the image and likeness of our creator. There is a kind of wholeness, harmony and unity with our creator. Adam and Eve would talk to God face to face
• But, after the fall from grace, when humanity has fallen into sin, there is now a great dividing line that separates humanity from God
• And so God has to send his only son and has to undergo all the travails, all the pains, all the difficulties as a human being
• So Jesus now has 2 distinct characteristics: Jesus is both human and divine
• His divinity makes him mediate the purpose of God who is divine
• His humanity makes him mediate the needs of the people who is human
• That’s why the greatest role of Jesus is a MEDIATOR between God and man, between the divine and the human
• Because of his human nature Jesus understands everything all the difficulties of a human being
• It’s the fullness of God’s communication with us according to the 2nd reading in the letter to the Hebrews
• The MEDIATION of Jesus is the restoration of God’s broken people in Isaiah

C. Challenge
• So the bottom line of all the preparations why God has to make a tremendous preparation just to send his only son to save us; just to make the eternal word become flesh – the bottom line and the reason of all reasons is really because of LOVE
• God cannot just abandon us, because he is so full of love
• So today, we learned that it is only love that matters before God, and I will just give you one question for reflection and introspection
• HOW MUCH LOVE HAVE WE GIVEN TO OTHERS APART FROM OUR OWN SELVES?

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John 1 verse 1-18