“And the Word became flesh and lived among us” (John 1.14)
The liturgical year begins with Advent. Then there are 12 days of Christmas, ending with the Epiphany of our Lord on January 6th. So, just as the rest of society is celebrating and settling in to a new year, the Church year is already well underway.
Our celebrations revolve around a theological concept called the incarnation, that is: God’s God-ness fully revealed in a particular human being, in a particular place, at a particular point of time. We see echoes of God’s image in all humanity, but only in Jesus of Nazareth do we see the full revelation of God in human form, and humanity fully revealed as a vessel of the divine.
In the weeks that follow the Epiphany the mystery of the incarnation continues to unravel. Advent has prepared us, Christmas announced the great event. But now we see what it means in the course of human life.
On the first Sunday after the Epiphany, we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. Jesus didn’t need baptism. He didn’t need to be accepted into the household of faith. As a circumcised Jewish man, he was already recognized as one of God’s people. He didn’t need John’s baptism of repentance either. Rather, Jesus’ baptism shows us how we too might recognize one another as children of God, redeemed and restored to wholeness and grace. Jesus goes before us on the way so we can follow.
In the Sundays that follow, Jesus calls and teaches, heals and frees people from the demons that occupy their lives. On the last Sunday after Epiphany, Jesus is transformed before his disciples’ eyes. They see this wonderful man they have been following in a divine light, although understanding seems to elude them as to what this really means.
We have creeds and articles of faith, even whole libraries of theology that speak about this mystery called the incarnation. But the point of all the theology and the liturgy is this: we have seen something that was previously unseen, and it is wonderful to behold.