Christmas message : Peace & reconciliation through humility

Kaikhohen Kipgen *

Incarnation, 'God became man' is the reason for Christmas. As the writer of the Fourth Gospel puts it: "The Word became flesh, and lived for a time among us (tabernacle). He was full of grace and truth. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of God (John 1:14). The Greek word eskeinosen meaning "to take up one's temporary dwelling place" is employed here. In other words, the flesh of Jesus Christ is the localisation of God's presence on earth. In a personal and intimate sense, it is the coming of Immanuel-God with us.

At the heart of this unique event is a person who is truly God and truly man. By way of the incarnation event there came into being a person in all points human, but in all essentials divine: This is not categorically stated in the New Testament but there are strong hints of it here and there: 'Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.' (John 14:9); 'The Father is in me and I am in the Father.' (John 10:38; 14:11); 'For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.' (Col. 1:19); 'For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" (Col. 2:9) and so on.

That is, embodied in Christ Jesus are not merely divine attributes but the very divine nature. How two distinct natures namely God and man, are combined in one personality is a mystery unparalleled in human history. Even the most sincere intellectual's attempt to explain it one way or another will only lead one to the brink of heresy.

It is in this area of the Christian doctrine that faith becomes operative and holds on its own against the odds. For the mystery uniting God and man in Christ Jesus, is the core of Christianity, and therefore the yardstick for determining orthodoxy throughout the history of the Church. Modern Christian deviations, mostly of American origin, such as the Mormons, Christadel-phians, Jehovah's Witness, just to mention a few, are so called 'cults' because they all have one thing in common: they reject the divine nature of Christ who is the Second Person of the Trinity; hence the doctrine of the Trinity.

The Hebrew term 'Messiah', meaning the 'anointed' is the title attributed to the Second Person of the Trinity in the Christian tradition. It was rendered into Greek by Christos, from which the title 'Christ' derives. Accordingly, Bible teachers tell us that the Hebrew 'Messiah' and the Greek 'Christ' mean one and the same thing. This is true to a point, but in the context of the two different cultures the terms differ essentially both in meaning and application. In the OT the term could be applied to anyone set apart by God for any special function, such as the priest in Leviticus 4:3. It was then extended to the Anointed One who was coming to rescue and redeem Israel.

The perception in the Hebrew culture of the Messiah is a superhuman political figure short of being endowed with the divine nature, who will usher in a new era for the Jewish nation. (John 4:25) This accounts for the difficulty that confronts the Jewish people of our time to accept Jesus Christ as the fulfilment of the promised Messiah in the OT.

The title 'Christ' is unique and applies only to the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Also by contrast the Greek 'Christ' carries with it a far wider scope of perception both in meaning and application. The concept of incarnation, which facilitates the whole fullness of deity dwelling bodily in Christ, is possible in the Hellenistic milieu, but not in the Jewish theology.

Because of this to Christian believers Alexander the Great's conquest of the then civilised world in the 4th century BC and the subsequent Hellenization of it was not mere historical coincidence but part of God's plan in preparation for the coming of Christ! That was how Greek became the language of literature and commerce of the Empire and why all the 27 books of the New Testament came to be written in Greek ranging in style from Semitic.

Greek of the Gospel of Matthew to near classical style of Luke and Acts, and not in Aramaic-the language of the Jews at the time. Something like this happened in the former British Empire so that English became the lingua franca of the Common Wealth countries of our time. To day if one goes to the cities of the Sub-continent one can communicate with the taxi drivers in broken English!

If the 'how' of the incarnation is an enigma, the 'why' of it is plain: "God was in Christ reconciling the world (all mankind) to himself." (2 Cor. 5:19) Since the work of reconciliation was only completed through the death of Christ, Incarnation prepared the way for Atonement. The process of God's reconciling mission continues, and Christian men and women are called upon to be faithful agents of this reconciliation. The underlying principle of being involved in the Church's Mission is also set forth.

Furthermore, incarnation was a dirty word in the Hellenistic worldview in the midst of which Christ was born. In a culture, which polarised the world of spirit and the world of matter so that matter was absolutely evil, incarnation was despised as the most humiliating form of existence. Because of his conviction in this manner the Greek philosopher, Plato, was ashamed of his body! Accordingly, to the Greeks the spirit was in chains in the body as it were in slavery.

Yet against this background the Son of God chose of his volition, and in complete obedience of his Heavenly Father, this lowliest path. (See Phil. 2:5-11) The Baptist NT scholar, Prof. Ralph Martin, wrote his Cambridge Ph.D dissertation on this passage entitled Carmen Christi, which in English is 'The Hymn of Christ'. Martin argued convincingly that the hymn was of Greek origin and used in worship amongst the early Gentile Christians.

The apostle Paul made use of the hymn in his letter to bring home the message of humility in the Christian Ministry. On the basis of this understanding the Greek term doulos in verse 7 is rendered as slave in most versions of the Bible. It must be in this spirit that the Lord says: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." (John 20:21)

With this message I would like to greet all the people of Manipur in the name of the Prince of Peace, whose birth we celebrate at this time of the year, and appeal to fellow Manipuris (inclusive) to desist from violence, mayhem, extortion and above all corruption in all the departments of the State Government. At the heart of every corrupt practice is greed for money from resources that do not lawfully accessible to the individuals concerned.

That there is rampant corruption is writ large on the deplorable state of the roads all over the State, most notably in the two National Highways that appropriately deserved to be called National Potholes! Further, iit is mind boggling to think how it is possible to have thousands of fake appointments and where else can one find except in Manipur that a retired government employee still drawing his pension sixteen years after his death!

This is the tip of the iceberg but is mentioned just to highlight the fact that, however it might seem ridiculous, corruption is fast becoming a way of life in all departments of the government. Because of this justice and fairness has been denied to the vast majority of the people in Manipur.

Today Manipur is virtually ruled by the various insurgent groups. Though in disguise of political objectives of one kind or another, what they appear to be saying is that what they could not get by fair means they would have it by force any way! Who is the loser in the bargain? It is certainly not the Indian Government but the helpless people of Manipur including innocent women and children! Then too, so many lives have been needlessly lost and the killings continue.

So the sooner sanity returns the better, otherwise Manipur is heading downhill to the path of self-destruction. And if the present trend continues unabated there will be not much future for the people of Manipur!

Also, Manipur has been plagued by sectarian divide in all walks of life-allocation of development funds, employment, opportunities in education and sports, social service and healthcare, just to mention a few. In all this the more powerful communities vie for grabbing the lion's share of benefits and opportunities if and when they become available at the expense of the smaller and helpless communities!

Even more deplorable is that the various Christian associations and churches are sectarian oriented, each trying to promote its own tribe or group instead of engaging themselves to the cause of the gospel and the common good of all the communities! I would appeal to all the church and community leaders to shelf their sectarian interest and work towards the greater good of all the people in Manipur. This will bring about justice and fairness, which in turn promote peace and harmony among the different communities of Manipur.

To put it right the wrongs, so many years may be required. For things do not get better by chance, especially those expected of a good Government including law and order-they have to be worked for. This will not happen by rude force from the higher authorities but by self-discipline motivated by a sense of personal integrity and patriotism for the good of all the people of Manipur.