Peter Espeut | The crib and the cross

As the song goes, there are twelve days of Christmas, and today is day seven; so I can still say “A Happy and Holy Christmas to you all!” But if you follow the secular media which carry the message of their commercial sponsors who have ‘captured’ this Christian celebration, Christmas was over from last week!

Following ancient tradition, Christmas ends on the feast of the Epiphany on January 6, when the “wise men from the east”, following the star, arrived in Bethlehem. The Greek words “epi-phaneo” literally mean “to show upon” or “to manifest”; and so December 25 is the Epiphany of Jesus to the Jews, while January 6 is the Epiphany of Jesus to the Gentiles, i.e., the people (loosely speaking) from the East (the Arabs, the Chinese, the Indians, and the Africans). The west celebrates Christmas on December 25, but the Eastern Orthodox churches (like the Ethiopian Orthodox) celebrate their Christmas on January 6; and for us who are mostly of Gentile origin, our Christmas should be next week Thursday.

Disconnected from traditions

Many of us Christians are so disconnected from our traditions, influenced as we are by consumerist secularism.

Interestingly, it is St Luke (the Gentile) who tells the story of the Epiphany of Jesus to the Jews, and St Matthew (the Jew) who tells the story of the Epiphany of Jesus to the Gentiles. This clues us in to the drive in the early Church to bring Jewish and Gentile Christians together into one body.

The first Jews to see their newborn king are smelly shepherds who sleep in the open pastures, appearing in the stable seeing the infant wrapped in too-big (swaddling) baby clothes, and lying in an animal feeding-trough (a manger).

The first Gentiles to see the baby Jesus are well-dressed wealthy “Magi” – astrologers – who bring expensive gifts.

And so Jesus was manifested to both rich and poor, the smelly and the well-groomed, locals and foreigners. He belongs to all.

And just to make the point, both Matthew and Luke are clear that at the time Jesus was conceived, his parents were not yet married. Luke states that “God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David” (Lk 1:27). Matthew says “His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit” (Mt 1:18).

So many of us here in Jamaica are conceived and born out of wedlock. Jesus is more like us than we would care to think, and can identify with us.

The angels who appear to the shepherds sing of peace on Earth (in Luke), but (in Matthew) King Herod – the consummate politician – thinks only of his power, and is prepared to do violence to keep it; he orders the murder of innocent boy-children to protect his throne. I am sure many of our politicians can identify with this story. Life is cheap in Jamaica.

We Jamaicans are comfortable with this story of a little baby, harmless, making no demands of us; but we know this is only the beginning of the story. Jesus the grown man dies a horrible death, and challenges us to take up our cross (daily) and follow him to our own Calvary. In this hedonistic, materialistic, me-first age, fewer and fewer people are attracted to this message. Pagan though they may be in values and outlook, they prefer the Christmas tree to the wood of the Cross, as if embracing the one can substitute for the other.

CONQUERS DARKNESS

But the spectre of the Cross hangs over the manger, and the beginning of the story moves swiftly to a climax. As the darkest and longest night (at the winter solstice) is dispelled by the strengthening sun – which eventually conquers the darkness (after the vernal equinox) – so does Jesus, the light of the world conquer sin and death. Christmas is just Chapter 1; the climax takes place at Easter – the holiest time of the year.

Those who celebrate Christmas but not Easter are like those who applaud at the overture, but are absent for the finale. They miss the plot and the point of the story, and its full meaning.

I encourage my readers to get deeper into the mysteries of the incarnation and of redemption embodied in the God-man Jesus. The story is so rich and so deep that not even the greatest theologian fully appreciates it (that is the nature of mystery).

Tomorrow we begin a new calendar year with its opportunities and its challenges. The story of Christmas and Easter gives life meaning and direction. Let us make the most of 2022.

Peter Espeut is a sociologist and is Dean of Studies at St Michael’s Theological College. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com