Monday, December 24, 2007
(Luke 2:67-79)
A boy returned home from school recently to tell his grandmother that Jesus was not born in December but in March. The date, he explained, was changed for commercial reasons. It is likely that the lad is partly right. No one today knows exactly when Jesus was born. It may have been during the month of March or any of the other months.
The indications that the gospels give regarding a Jesus’ birthday – a census decreed by Caesar Augustus and a strangely moving star – appear to be more theological than historical markers. The Church (not Macy’s) placed the date at the end of December because this too conforms to what we believe about Christ. As Zechariah refers to him in the gospel this morning, Jesus is “the dawn...that shine(s) on those in darkness and the valley of death and guide(s) our feet into the way of peace.” In other words, Jesus is like the sun that appears every morning and especially like the sun of late December that reverses, in the northern hemisphere at least, the trend of decreasing daylight throughout summer and fall.
Comparing Jesus to the sun helps us appreciate his significance. Just as the sun provides heat and light so that we may live naturally so Jesus provides us love and truth so that we might have a relationship with God. Without Jesus our love would be like a firecracker that sparkles for a moment and then fizzles until it becomes cold ash. Without Jesus we would wander in the darkness of sin choosing to do, like a dog feasting on rotten meat, what can harm us. The date on which Jesus was born is not important. What is important – indeed absolutely necessary – is that Jesus is with us.
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