Week 51 - God Is Here
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…” (John 1:14)
Christmas is here again, well almost!
Orchard Road is slowly being transformed into a magical fairyland. Shops are eagerly awaiting their customers and travel agents are busy connecting flights for their clients.
In the midst of the celebration, let us not lose sight of the reason for the season. Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. The Apostle John describes the coming of Christ in one sentence, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
The expression “made his dwelling” translates one Greek word, eskenosen, which literally means “pitched a tent” or “tabernacled.” The allusion is to the time when God’s presence was localised in the tabernacle in the midst of the camp of Israel (
I like the translation of this verse by Eugene Peterson in The Message. He paraphrases this verse, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood” (
“God is here.” That, my friends, is the message of Christmas. Jesus, God’s one and only Son, became a man. He was the visible expression of the invisible deity. “God is here” is more than a theological doctrine. It has practical implications. What does “God is here” mean to us?
In one act of becoming human, Jesus identified with our pain. The pain of loneliness — He felt it. The hurt of rejection — He felt it. The sadness of losing a loved one to death — He felt it. The betrayal of a friend — He felt it. The scars of mental or physical abuse — He felt it. He had experienced it all.
Recently, I heard Ravi Zachariah relating the story of Joseph Damien, a nineteenth-century missionary who ministered to people with leprosy on the island of Molokai, Hawaii. Those suffering this highly contagious and crippling disease of leprosy grew to love him and admired the sacrificial life he lived out before them.
One morning, Damien was pouring some hot water into a cup when the water spilled out and fell onto his bare foot. It took him a moment to realise that he had not felt any sensation. Gripped by the sudden fear of what this could mean, he poured more hot water onto the same spot. No feeling whatsoever. He immediately knew what had happened. As he walked tearfully to deliver his sermon, no one at first noticed the difference in his opening line. He normally began every sermon with, “My fellow believers.” But this morning, he began with, “My fellow lepers.”
In a greater measure, Jesus came into this world knowing what it would cost Him. He bore in His sinless being the weight of sin so that we could be forgiven. He bore in His human body the hurt and pain of injustice so that we might be understood.
God is here. He is here understanding our hurt and identifying with our pain. He feels. He hurts. He cries. Jesus became a man so that God becomes touchable, approachable and reachable.
I cannot think of a better illustration of Christ’s identification with the need of the human race than Carmel’s mission trippers who are going to Cambodia, Thailand and Philippines during this Christmas period. Teams of Carmelites are moving out to touch, approach and reach the needy. They are moving into their neighbourhoods with the love of Christ who Himself is a friend of the lepers, the outcast and the sinners.
What will this Christmas be like for you? If this Christmas is no different from the previous ones, I suspect that you will receive many gifts — some you probably do not need (you can recycle), most you could live without (and can give away). But there is one present you cannot live without. The one present you need is the presence of Jesus Christ. The One who shows us God. The One who feels our hurt. The One who is touchable, approachable and reachable. The God who is here.
Have a blessed Christmas!
This child is born to you and to me.