I can’t seem to get through an Advent season without
sneaking over to my set of Karl Barth’s Church
Dogmatics and letting the great Reformed theologian assist me in reflecting
upon the great thing God has done for us in Jesus Christ. In all that our world does to siphon away any
miracle and mystery this story has for us, Barth remains the voice of dialectical
sanity: “The man Jesus of Nazareth is not the true Son of God because He was
conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. On the contrary, because He is the true Son
of God and because this is an inconceivable mystery intended to be acknowledged
as such, therefore He is conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin
Mary. And because He is thus conceived
and born, He has to be recognized and acknowledged as the One He is and in the
mystery in which He is the One He is.
The mystery does not rest upon the miracle. The miracle rests upon the mystery. The miracle bears witness to the mystery, and
the mystery is attested by the miracle.”
Miracle and mystery.
“Behold!” was what the angel said to the shepherds. It’s King James’ language, and it says so
much. Behold the miracle and the
mystery. Don’t try to explain it. Don’t try to simplify it. Don’t try to reduce it to a pithy poem. Just “behold”. It is both miracle and mystery. It requires no additional commentary. Just
fall on your knees and behold. And in your beholding maybe the Holy Spirit will
have his way with you as he did with the Virgin. Maybe out if it you will conceive something,
or someone, too.
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