Merry Christmas to all of you.
This evening we gather here to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Have we ever given time to pause on the meaning of this name which we so often utter with our lips? The name Jesus means "the Lord is salvation" while the word "Christ" comes from the Hebrew word for "Messiah" which thus means "anointed one."
Therefore what we celebrate today is the birth of Jesus Christ who is our "salvation" and is the "anointed one" who has not only been sent to us by God, but is God Himself in the second person of the Most Holy Trinity. Our celebration of Christmas would be quite meaningless if these two claims were not true.
Our Gospel was taken from Saint Matthew and in it we were given the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Saint Matthew gives us a lengthy genealogy; many of these names we probably don't even know who they were. Nevertheless, this genealogy is very important because it is revealing to us who Jesus Christ truly is. Jesus Christ is our "salvation" and is also the "anointed one." Saint Matthew wrote his Gospel for the audience of the Jews and therefore is trying to accomplish a few things in his inclusion of this genealogy.
He desires to show that Jesus is the "Messiah" and thus He is of the royal line of King David. He also desires to show that Jesus is the One to whom Moses and all the prophets were sent forth to bare witness to. This genealogy therefore connects Jesus to King David for Christ is of the Royal line of David. This genealogy begins with the Prophet Abraham for all the prophets have pointed their way towards the coming of the "Messiah."
This evening we have the opportunity to rejoice at the Good News of our Lord's birth. We are like many of the names who are found within this genealogy which has been given to us by Saint Matthew. Among these names are people who were good and yet they still fell into sin. King David was anointed king and yet he committed great sins which were contrary to his position as ruler. Despite the shortcomings of these names and us God takes on our human flesh and comes to dwell among us out of love in order that we may be redeemed.
"The Lord is our salvation" for what we celebrate today leads us towards the cross and thus towards our redemption from sin. Jesus is the "anointed one" for He is of royal lineage and thus His Kingdom is a Kingdom which will never pass away. We often attempt to build up for ourselves kingdoms which pass away, but this Christmas may we come to remember Christ and thus always foster our relationship with Him.
Christmas is an important day in the life of the Church for we celebrate not just another birthday. Rather, we come to celebrate a great light which shines forth in a world that has been touched by the reality of sin. Sin and hardship cannot win for what we celebrate today is the birth of Jesus Christ and thus we celebrate God made Flesh who comes to redeem us from sin and thus comes to truly set us free from it's grasp.
