What Have You Done with Jesus?

She unpacked the box storing the family nativity and asked, “What have you done with Jesus?” Her big-eyed children shook their heads and shrugged shoulders, showing they had no idea. As we prepare for Christmas, we can allow her question past the door of our hearts. 

Let’s move through the wrappings of this season and focus on Jesus for a few minutes. Several years ago, I had an experience that awakened me to a reality I had missed. While visiting the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, my eyes wandered from one depiction of Mary and baby Jesus to another. Each grew out of an artist’s imagination as he tried to create holy portrayals for people in his native land. Skin tones, cheekbones, hairstyles, and clothing reflected the peoples of the world. So, I walked away, wondering how my heritage had shaped Jesus in my mind.

What Have We Done with Jesus?

Michael Metzger’s recent article “The Flesh Was Made Word” resurrected the images I saw in Nazareth. His thoughts grew out of John 1:14, “The Word became flesh…” Theorizing the Enlightenment has influenced the boundary between the mind and world, flesh and spirit, self and others, Metzger wrote:

The result is a disenchanted world where ‘the cardinal tenet of Christianity—the Word is made Flesh—becomes reversed, and the Flesh is made Word.’

Quoting Iain McGilchrist, The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World (Yale University Press, 2010)

God created human beings in his image, and we have returned the favor by recreating him in ours.

I once sat with a friend in the Crystal Cathedral production of the birth narrative of Jesus Christ. Hollywood came to church. The splendor of the story erased the grit of Palestine. Producers replaced grime with the grandeur of the film industry. Baby Jesus never had life so good because the flesh made the Word. And the flesh recasts the story to fit what we want to imagine.

But standing in dusty Bethlehem or on the hillside outside of the city, one sees reality. Life did not come easy. When God walked down the stairway of the stars to Bethlehem, he slept in a straw-filled manger. Flickering light revealed his first sight. Animals gave off their barnyard fragrance. And his mother’s hands felt of hard work rather than pampered life.

How Will You Find Jesus This Christmas?

My faith journey informs the way I see Jesus. Likewise, your spiritual sojourn forms your understanding. The Bible gives us no physical description of Jesus. Although we can make assumptions based on where and when he was born, the biblical story failed to reveal his physical attributes Why? Because just as we are more than how we look, Jesus is so much more than our limited understanding of him. 

Yet, one unforgettable night, the hopes and dreams of all the years submitted to the restraints of swaddling cloths. Together we long for the Word that became flesh to be more than anything our flesh can conceptualize. After all, we see through a glass darkly. Since the resurrected Jesus understands everything taking place in and beyond us, he stands ready to reconcile the irreconcilable. He will unite with us as he finds room in our hearts.

Make a Plan and Follow It

The wrappings of this Christmas season differ from previous seasons. Once again, frightening possibilities beyond our ability to control confront us. However, endless invitations to distraction are within our grasp. They entice us to celebrate Jesus’ birth without opening our lives to him. But if we want to find Jesus, we must make time to get quiet and still. Read the story of his birth in Luke 2:1-20. Then, we need to get quiet so we can look deep within our souls. Let each of us pause to meditate on the words: 

Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Luke 2:10-11

As we face this year’s fears, we want to focus the eyes of our hearts on the good news the angels proclaim. Great joy awaits our willingness to allow to humbly submit all of life to Jesus.

What have you done with Jesus?

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