Forthright Magazine http://www.forthright.net Straight to the Cross COLUMN: FINAL PHASE Baby Jesus by J. Randal Matheny, editor Christmas season softens the heart and allows mushy feelings to surface. For a few weeks, that's a good thing, I suppose. We do could a lot worse. A bit more of it all year 'round might smooth the hard edges of the world's societies. In places the mushiness turns to carelessness and materialism. But what to expect from a holiday borrowed whole-cloth from pagan religion and given a veneer of Christianity? So facts about the birth of Christ get skewed and retail sales make business owners happy. More than one way to have joy at Christmas, right? In the New Testament, there's no reason for the season, but somebody made up one. And people get mad today when the season goes from holy day to holiday, from mangers and creches to crowds at the mall. BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS I like to think of the baby Jesus. As the first step in the fulfillment of God's plan of salvation. In the traditional creche, the scene is a crowded one around the manger. Animals. Shepherds. Men from the East. But with so many marching through at the beginning, when the Incarnation came, only one from that first crowd was present at the End. Mary. "Now standing beside Jesus' cross were his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene" (John 19:25 NET). Mothers obviously want to be near their children. Just yesterday I read an article where mothers waited on the sidewalk while their children took college entrance exams in Rio de Janeiro. But Mary is more than mother, she is, at the end, the consummate disciple. She takes up her cross at the end as well, has borne it for years. The Father is even conspicuously absent as the Son hangs from the cross and cries tears of pain, as he must be, to fulfill the plan. THE KING MUST DIE Early on, Jesus knew he was born to die. Somewhere between childhood and his baptism, his human consciousness absorbed his divine purpose, set before his birth, determining that there would be an entrance into the world of men. Part of that divine silence which we would do well not to linger on. But Jesus did begin with the end in mind. Beginnings move toward an end, and endings mean new beginnings. Something like the English line, "The king is dead; long live the king!" GOSPEL MATH Two out of four gospel accounts begin with Jesus the adult. Only Matthew and Luke record details of the baby and child that was Jesus. All four, however, record his crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection. And they devote major space to these events that occurred in rapid succession, in a matter of days. Jesus' birth was important, no question there. But his ministry showed the man; his death, the plan. CONTEXT Could the divine plan have called for an adult Jesus to be beamed down to earth, ready to hit the ground running? After all, the old Adam, they say, had no belly button. Sounds plausible, but the new Adam needed a Context. And that had been provided for him, after being built up during centuries. Four hundred years of silence. Whipped-up messianic expectations. Roman peace and mobility. All in the fullness of time (very different from the nick of time), says Galatians 4:4. "But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law" (NLT). SECOND TIME I was not present at the manger, nor at the cross, when it happened. I missed the first time, though I have gotten in on the story since then. But I'm determined to be there the second time around. During Christmas, besides thinking about the baby Jesus, think about that, too. "... after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation" (Hebrews 9:28 NET). ---- Read that story about the Brazilian mothers in the online version: http://www.forthright.net/final_phase/baby_jesus.html You can help get the word out. Here's how: http://www.forthright.net/editorial/lend_a_hand.html