But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. John testified to him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’” From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.
- John 1:1-18
Christmas is an unusual feast day when it comes to the Gospel reading because the reading you hear depends on which Mass you attend. If you attend on Christmas Eve, you will hear the genealogy of Jesus and the story of Joseph’s dream as told in Matthew’s Gospel. At Midnight Mass, we hear the story told from Luke’s Gospel about the journey to Bethlehem and the angels visiting the shepherds. Mass at Dawn continues the story with the shepherds journeying to visit the newborn Jesus. Then on Christmas Day itself, we don’t get any of the traditional stories, but instead hear the beginning of John’s Gospel.
In some respects this may seem like an odd decision by the Church. When you come to Mass on Christmas, you would expect to hear the traditional story of Mary and Joseph journeying to Bethlehem, not finding anywhere to stay, Mary giving birth to Jesus in a stable and then the shepherds and Magi visiting. Instead, we get a somewhat difficult to understand discussion on the nature of God and Jesus and His role. It is probably one of the least straightforward Gospels we hear at Mass, and, unless you really focus and pay attention, it can come across as rather confusing.
However, if you take a little time to examine the reading itself, it becomes clear that it is actually the perfect reading for Christmas Day. The beginning of John’s Gospel is a beautiful expression of what we believe about the nature of God and Jesus and of what happens at Christmas. John describes to us how Jesus, even before becoming man, was with God from the beginning. He fully participated in the creation of everything, including mankind and each of us individually. He became a man so that through Him, we could all receive God’s grace and come to know the Father.
This is precisely what we celebrate at Christmas: that Jesus became one of us so that we might be saved and have eternal life with God in heaven. In reality, John tells the same story as Matthew and Luke, but, rather than telling it narratively, he tells it through the beauty of poetry, imagery and allusion. Interestingly, each of these accounts of the Incarnation tell the story in a little different manner. Luke focuses on Mary and the shepherds. Matthew focuses on Joseph and the Magi. And John ties it all together theologically. Each part is needed to present a complete picture of what happened and why. If one were missing, the story would be incomplete. It is only by looking at all the pieces, that we are able to complete the picture and understand the mystery of the Incarnation.