Dr. John Mohan Razu
Right from the month of November Christians in particular keep receiving messages and reminders such as “Christmas Alert” or “Christmas Advent”. They simply mean ‘get awakened’ to receive or to get ready welcoming the ‘arrival of Christ’s event’. Both the terms does imply “to get prepared” and a subsequent question that follows is for what—and the answer is better get ready in order to be part of Christ’s event. To be alert or wait does mean anticipating Christ’s coming to us enjoins huge significance for the faith community. Christ’s event was much-awaited promise/expectations which eventually became a reality. This is where the core of faith and the depth of belief in Christ’s event assume its fuller meaning and authenticity.
The finality of the expectations of the faithful has been finally realized its historicity and divinity in and through Christ’s event. Christ’s event proclaims the arrival of Jesus, the Christ—the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Savior as foretold, promised and expected. As revealed in the Gospel of John 1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (Jn 1: 1-5).
Johnnie text starts candidly affirming that that Word (logos) was God and the Word was with God which underlines and reifies the pre-existence of God in the Word. The Word was God and the Word was with God—a dialectical synthesis. The Word has many attributes and did not hang in the air. “And the Word became flesh …” (Jn 1: 14a)—clearly endorsing the very fact that the Word was God and the Word was with God does not fulfill the wholeness of God unless and until the Word becoming flesh and blood.
The Word became incarnate in and through in the Person of Jesus, Christ, who is the Messiah as prophesized in the Old Testament. Incarnation thus is a pivotal theological category that grounds that God in Jesus Christ becoming a human Person with flesh and blood. Therefore, Christo+logos enjoins Christology meaning Jesus of Nazareth and Christ the Messiah that Jesus was God and that Jesus had come in flesh. Jesus of Nazareth, born in flesh and blood as the Human and Christ the Divine, the perfect fusion of Humanity and Divinity in the Person of Jesus the Christ is living amongst us.
For the last 2000 years Christians all over keep celebrating Jesus’ coming to the world by taking human form—lived, suffered, crucified, risen and thus living amongst us. This is the crux of the Person in whom faith affirmation is grounded that keeps billions of Christians to sustain their belief. As we commemorate His coming to us in the year 2019, we should recognize the fact that Jesus of Nazareth showed his emotions like any other human—wept, showed his anger, moved with people and communities and responded in accordance to the situations. This is why Jesus, the Christ, is fully the Human and fully the Divine, the perfect union—Human and Divine.
The incarnation of God in Jesus of Nazareth was historic, radical and momentous breakthrough ever happened to the entire humanity and in the human history that revealed—‘Unto Us A Savior is Born’—the Messiah, the Prince of Peace, the Moral Agency, the Savior, the Lord of lords and King of kings, Redeemer and Liberator. Christians all over—year after year celebrate with pomp and grandeur, gaiety and splendor the coming of Jesus, but the essence and significance of His coming to this world, the ways with which he engaged with the forces around him and how he lived and responded is gradually waning.
Christmas is increasingly becoming as an event or merely an occasion of celebration. The essence of incarnation of Jesus of Nazareth entering into this world seems to be ebbing out. The world in which we live is mortally human, engrained with all sorts of human instincts such as greed, self-interest, accumulation of wealth in dubious ways, consumerism, power abuse, exploitation of natural and human resources and many such issues. The church (global & local), Christian world and the Christians by and large seem to be numb by the things happening around them and seldom addressed or intervened or responded to the issues that the people confront in their day-to-day existence.
World is now infested with individualism, hatred, greed for power and money, acquisition of wealth. The credo that dominates currently is ‘whatever may be the means, ends matter’, and so one can enter into any dastardly act. The citizens right across the globe particularly those living on the margins, poor, hapless disempowered, women and disadvantaged have been groaning and yearning for justness, fairness, freedom, dignity, equity and equality. Year 2019, has been one of the worst that affected wherein people right across the countries within and between had to face the turbulent life situations due to climatic changes triggered by human avarice and arrogance and protectionist ideologies and politics of fundamentalism triggering human exodus leading to migration in search of security and quality of life.
Further, religious fundamentalism, widening inequality within and between countries and continents and ideological conservatism has started to choke the world. The politics of vengeance, culture of hatred and modes of silencing are employed by those in power and authority. For instance, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, Palestine, Hong Kong, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Poland, and some more in Europe, Africa, Middle-east, the United States and others have moved towards sectarian and partisan politics and regimes. Those who defy are silenced for ever; those who resist are put behind bars for sedition; those who express in writing in the print or social media will have to face defamation charges.
As Against the context-specificities—whether macro or micro, when I look around the terrains, I am reminded of “Blowin in the wind” a song written and sung by Bob Dylan in the year 1962 comes to my mind vividly that depicts volatile and dreadful settings:
How many roads must a man walk down
Before he's called a man?
How many seas must the white dove sail
Before he sleeps in the sand?
How many times must the cannon-balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
How many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed in the sea?
How many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
How many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
How many times can a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
How many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
And how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
Bob Dylan’s song is comprised of intensity, meaning and depth that portray the reality. How many times one should keep asking or witnessing or turn a blind eye or keep pretending when hundreds and thousands of people die in wars, conflicts, hunger and host of others. The response he offers is ‘blowin’ in the wind’. The song rips opens the insensitivity and bankruptcy of humanity the world in which we live. It sheds light to the current global as well as local scenarios as it is enmeshed with solid substance and rich meanings.
God in Jesus affirmed the world and in the process rejected the inhumanity of His times. Jesus witnessed de-humanization, marginalization, exploitation and oppression. In such a context, Jesus had to break the walls that separated individuals, communities and societies. The weak, powerless, ostracized and marginalized firmly believed that Jesus was their Messiah and offered ever-lasting life. He was their living water who offered peace, security, redemption and healing. Precisely because of these reasons multitudes followed Jesus wherever he went.
The WORD became true in the coming of Jesus Christ, is the Truth in the world of lies, fake news and false narratives. The WORD thus brought redemption to the whole humanity and the wholeness in a world of volatility, fragility and animosity. The truth which has been subverted concocted and buried and with the coming of Jesus Christ, the Truth has set the people free leading to Power. Christ’s advent shall bring forth hope, joy, peace, justice and love to all in a world of anarchy, hatred, prejudices and lynching. He shall be called Emmanuel meaning God Is With Us Because Of Jesus.
