This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
Today’s gospel could provide the basis for infinite meditation, because it eloquently lays out the entire context of the Incarnation of God, including His reception within the world. Little need be said; savoring this passage, line by line, is sufficient reflection in itself.
There is pathos contained in these lines. “He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.”
The Word of God, prior to taking flesh, knew full well that He was coming into a world that would reject Him. A world that would be full, to borrow from today’s first reading, of antichrists that shun the invitation of Jesus.
The attitude of the world in its rejection of Christ can scandalize us and make us feel lonely, maybe even occasionally test our faith. But it need not shock us. Christ knew that this would be the attitude that would fill the world at His coming.
And He came anyway.
The next line in the Gospel passage tells us why: “But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.” The Word of God took on flesh with a tragic desire to save every single person, since there is not a single person created with the God-given destiny of damnation. But He also knew, long before the Annunciation, that only a relatively few would accept His invitation to the transformed, exalted life that brings with it eternal happiness.
And He came anyway.
In the end, because He knew ahead of time the number of the “chosen,” of those who would accept His invitation, it is these in particular for whom He has come. All of the rest of the drama of rejection was worth it to Him as He contemplated saving, redeeming, transforming, and exalting you and me.
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Thank Jesus over and over for taking flesh, in spite of the foreseen enormous push-back of the world. Thank Him for contemplating rejection from the vantage point of eternity, and for embracing that rejection for you.
Follow the Author on Twitter:Follow @mvhaywilliams