“The Word became Flesh”: We’re gods!
Isaiah 52:7–10 · Hebrews 1:1–6 · John 1:1–18
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we do not need to be persuaded that our world is troubled. The signs are everywhere—conflict and displacement, fear and loneliness, broken trust, economic uncertainty, and a quiet fatigue of the soul. It is into this world—not an ideal one—that Jesus comes. Christmas is God’s refusal to abandon humanity. It is God’s decision to enter history, to pitch His tent among us, to share our fragility, and to illumine our darkness from within. This is why Christmas is not sentimentality. It is courage. It is hope made flesh.
What if I told you that Christmas is no longer about Jesus but about what we have become – gods! Can you imagine what would happen when we live like the gods that we have become?
There is a simple story of a man sitting between two women in a taxi—one very beautiful, the other unpleasant to him. When the taxi leans toward the beautiful woman, he cries out, “Lord, do not lead us into temptation!” When it tilts the other way, he pleads, “Lord, deliver us from evil!”
This is the purpose of Christmas – our godly nature – to heal our distorted vision. The birth of Jesus announces a radical and liberating truth: every human being is beautiful because every human being bears God’s image. There are no ugly people. Human dignity does not come from appearance, success, or power but from God’s presence dwelling within us. By taking flesh, God forever divinised and dignified human life. From Christmas onward, we no longer see the world simply as saints versus sinners, insiders versus outsiders. We live among sons and daughters of God—wounded, yes, but cherished; imperfect, yet infinitely valuable.
This is why Isaiah speaks today of good news, of peace, of salvation, and of God’s reign. His proclamation was first heard by a people returning from exile, weary and uncertain. But the Church places it before us at Christmas to remind us that joy is not naïve optimism—it is the fruit of God’s faithfulness. Peace—shalom—does not mean the absence of conflict. It means wholeness: life held together by God’s grace. To proclaim peace is to count our blessings even in the midst of struggle—life, health, forgiveness, friendship, survival, and mercy.
Jesus’ birth reminds us that we live by grace, not merit. We are forgiven sinners, restored and upheld by God’s love. The proclamation that God reigns assures us that injustice, oppression, violence, and greed do not have the final word. They endure only for a time. God’s reign is lasting. This is why the Christian can be joyful—not because the world is perfect, but because God is present within it. The reason that the Christian is powerful is that God dwells in us!
The Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that God has spoken decisively—not through distant messages, but through a Son who enters our condition, bears our burdens, and transforms suffering from the inside. God does not save from afar. He saves by nearness. This nearness changes everything. It means no human situation is God-forsaken. No poverty is beneath His concern. No sorrow is outside His reach. Like ourselves, the world that received the Son of God was imperfect, resistant, and often indifferent. Yet God came anyway. And that is our hope: that we can change the world because we are gods!
The angels once filled the night sky with song. Now they are silent—so that our voices may be heard. John the Baptist bore witness, and his task is complete—so that we may bear witness now. Christmas entrusts the message to us.
We are sent to proclaim peace where there is division, dignity where there is contempt, hope where there is despair. We are called not to curse the darkness but to carry the light. Not to deny suffering, but to live in such a way that suffering does not have the final word.
Assignment for the Week
Treat yourself—and every person you encounter—with reverence and dignity. You are a child of God. God has identified Himself with you by taking flesh in Jesus Christ.