God Reveals: Jesus is Christ

WORD 2day: Thursday after Christmas Octave

January 2, 2025 - 1 John 2:22-28; John 1:19-28

We have just ended the Christmas Octave. Let us centre today's reflection on a question: what was the purpose of Incarnation, the mystery that we celebrated for over a week! The focal purpose of the incarnation was, or is, revelation! The self revelation of God to us human persons that we could understand who God is, what God's relationship with us is and how much we matter to God. In the following three days the Word shall be preparing us towards the great commemoration of the epiphany, the manifestation, the revelation in the Son of God, that we will be celebrating shortly. 

Today the revelation that is underscored for our comprehension is that Jesus is Christ. And we know that it is the grace of the Spirit that anyone can declare, "Jesus is Lord" (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:3). There could three modes of negating this fact of revelation. The first is a naivete  in our understanding. This can happen to even the good willed, because good will alone would not suffice for right knowledge. There are thousands in fact who hold Jesus to be a great, kind, wise and gifted person, a great hero in history - but that would amount to mere incomplete understanding, although in itself it isn't wrong. 

The second is a rejection, where although one knows who Christ is, prefers to give that identity to some one else, or something else. At times this could be because one has not had the possibility of knowing to the full or one is stubborn not to see what is being revealed. Whatever be the reason, there is a lack here which could make the person(s) distant from the Truth, the ultimate, liberating Truth.

The third is a more dangerous and preposterous attitude of imagining onself as the Christ, that is Messiah or the Saviour. Whoever it be, whether as persons or as communities or as even churches, if we consider ourselves as those who are the saviours of the world, we are replacing the Lord, with ourselves. This psuedo consciousness is the greatest danger that is affecting humanity today, against which we are warned. Let us ask the Lord for the grace to encounter Jesus and acknowledge him as the Christ.