31 st December: 1 st Sunday after Christmas

If we only had the writings of St Paul to go on, our readings to celebrate the birth of Jesus would be very sparse indeed.

For Paul makes no reference to, and seems to be unaware of, virtually all of the details of the Nativity found in the opening chapters of Luke and Matthew. Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, Zechariah, Gabriel, Simeon, Anna, Nazareth, Bethlehem, the Annunciation, the virginal conception of Jesus, the Visitation, the census, the manger, the swaddling cloths, the lack of room at the inn, the shepherds, the angels, the Presentation, the star, the Magi, the gold, frankincense and myrrh, Herod, the flight to Egypt and the slaughter of the Innocents—all of these are conspicuous by their absence from Paul’s writings.

Indeed, about ten years ago, when I appeared as a witness before the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, on behalf of an Iranian Christian family who were seeking asylum in the UK on religious grounds, one of the things that I observed was that the Bible knowledge questions that the father of the family had got wrong in his interview with the Customs officials—which included: Where was Jesus born? What was the name of the mother of Jesus?—were all questions to which St Paul doesn’t seem to know the answer and that, therefore, the Home Office’s test of whether someone claiming to be a Christian really was one would have excluded from the UK one of the most significant figures of earliest Christianity!

My observation seems to have helped. In any event, the family were granted leave to remain in the UK, on the grounds that they were indeed genuine converts to Christianity who would therefore be in severe danger if they were to be returned to their own country. ¹

And it is totally true that Paul gives very little detail of the birth of Jesus. We had one of his longer statements in our Galatians passage today:

When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons (4:4–5).

The only other place where Paul speaks explicitly of the birth of Christ is in Philippians 2:5–11, the passage that speaks of Jesus, being in the form of God, but not clinging to equality with God, emptying himself, taking the form of a servant, and being born in human likeness. A couple of times, Paul mentions that Jesus was descended from David (Rom. 1.3; 2 Tim. 2.8), but that’s about it. Even the passages from a letter ascribed to Paul set for use on Christmas Day speak of the ‘appearing’ of the grace, goodness and loving kindness of God, and not unambiguously of the birth of Jesus (Titus 2.11; 3.4).

What Paul says about Jesus’ birth may be brief, yet theologically what he has to say is very significant indeed.

In Galatians 4:4–5, Paul’s first assertion is that ‘God sent forth his son.’ To me, the language Paul uses implies that he envisages the Son, pre-existing with God in heaven, being sent by God to the earth and that, therefore, Paul is arguing that Jesus is indeed God, fully divine.

Yet made human, too. For Paul goes on to say, ‘born of a woman,’ which suggests he is affirming the full humanity of the Son, as well as his full divinity. Similarly, in today’s Gospel passage, the account of the Presentation of the 40-day old Christ in the Temple, the full humanity of the child Jesus is clearly depicted—the baby is ‘brought in’ by Mary and Joseph, and Simeon takes him in his arms. This child, this Jesus, is not seemingly human. He is fully enfleshed. He is God incarnate.

Paul then says that God’s son was ‘born under the law’. Paul uses the word ‘law’ to mean various things, sometimes in the same passage, and I think that’s the case with our verses from Galatians 4. Here, I think he is affirming that God’s Son is not only fully divine and fully human, but is fully Jewish, too. ‘Born under the law’ means ‘born a Jew.’ And, again, the Presentation narrative repeatedly affirms that Mary and Joseph act in accordance with the stipulations of the Torah, that they and their child are devout, observant Jews.

And we need to remember that Jesus was born, lived, died, and was presumably raised again as a Jew, that it was part of God’s purposes that our Saviour was Jewish while on earth, that he was part of God’s ancient chosen people. That in itself challenges and rules out any Christian anti-Semitism or anti-Judaism. But it also reminds us that the Good News of Jesus is for Jews as well as for non-Jews, and that sensitive Christian prayer for and witness to Jewish people is both legitimate and necessary.

Coming back to Galatians 4:4–5, it seems to me that Paul now changes what he means by ‘the law.’ For he next says that God sent forth his son, to redeem those under the law. Yet, in the context of Galatians as a whole, it is clear that Paul believes that God’s redemption is for all, and that for non-Jews to seek to observe the precepts of the Torah is not right.

So I think that by ‘law’ he now means ‘everyone caught in a legalistic mindset,’ whoever they are, not just Jews. And that means everyone, for we all get caught in legalistic mindsets, believing that ‘obeying the rules’ is what saves us. And, again, the Presentation story also affirms that God’s Good News in Jesus is for all, for Simeon describes Jesus as ‘the light to lighten the nations and the glory of [God’s] people Israel.’

Paul has now moved to the purpose for which God sent forth his Son. He describes that purpose as ‘redemption.’ ‘Redemption’ is a rich word. It has financial origins, but for us it denotes the salvation achieved for us by God, in Christ. This means Paul moves us from considering the birth of Christ to considering his death, for Paul is always quite clear that it is not the birth of Jesus that redeems us, but his death. The cross is more important than and overshadows the crib.

And the result of that redemption? Our adoption as sons—and daughters—of God. By the life and then the death of Jesus, we are given—by God—membership of the family of God as beloved children, adopted into that family by the will and the action of God in Jesus. It is a gift to us, for this life, in part, and for the next life, in full. It is not something we can earn or deserve; we simply have to accept it. But it gives us a huge status and great privileges, which we must rejoice in and then use.

This Sunday after Christmas is a good occasion for us to move on in our heads from the stories to the significance of Christmas, a significance that can be summed up in just two words: incarnation and redemption. And today’s words from Paul can help us to do that, as they remind us that, in Jesus, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem we who were under the law, so that we may receive adoption as God’s beloved daughters and sons.