29. christmas: healing

"mild he lays his glory by,
born that man no more may die,
born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give them second birth.
risen with healing in his wings,
life and light to all he brings,
hail, the sun of righteousness!
hail, the heaven-born prince of peace!" (charles wesley)

nothing said above about advent should be understood as acceptance of death as "normal."

"christianity is not reconciliation with death. it is the revelation of death, and it reveals death because it is the revelation of life. christ is this life. and only if christ is life is death what christianity proclaims it to be, namely the enemy to be destroyed and not a 'mystery' to be explained. religion and secularism, by explaining death, give it a 'status,' a rationale, make it 'normal.' only christianity proclaims it to be abnormal and, therefore, truly horrible."
(alexander schmemann)

in christ is fulfilled the prophecy that death will be swallowed up in victory. (isaiah 25:8; romans 15:54). often we think of that victory's being won only at calvary, by the crucifixion. but all of human life is transformed by the incarnation. everything that god the son assumes in his humanity is healed, which is the usual meaning of the greek word often translated "saved." eternal life is possible for human beings because the eternally begotten son of the father entered time as the son of mary.

"o that birth for ever blesssed,
when the virgin, full of grace,
by the holy ghost conceiving,
bare the saviour of our race;
and the babe, the world's redeemer,
first revealed his sacred face . . . ." (a.c. prudentius)

"what child is this . . .?
this, this is christ the king,
. . .
the babe, the son of mary." (w.c. dix)

"for he must be king until he has put all his enemies under his feet, and the last of the enemies to be destroyed is death." (1 corinthians 15:24-25)