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It's really strange to read about the death of Jesus in the Daily Texts during Advent. Most of the Sunday readings from the prophets speak of a glorious king to come: the Prince of Peace, who will beat swords into plowshares. the Carols we hear in this season speak of a newborn king, "sleeping in heavenly peace." Not even so much as a crying infant--the most natural thing in the world--disturbs our idealized image of the baby Jesus.
But one day, Jesus' life will end in tragedy: a trauma so etched into the minds of his followers that it is the most detailed and consistent memory re-told in all four Gospels.
Yet even in the midst of that pain, Jesus takes time to care for others. He speaks words to unite his Mother, who rocked him to sleep as a baby, and the Beloved disciple, the only one to stay at the cross, as family. "Here is your mother. Here is your son."
Advent is a good time to remember this declaration from Jesus: all who commit to grieving together are indeed family. This season, you will probably meet at least one person for whom the hopeful expectation of this season is more than just a nice idea: it's a lifeline. The only way they can bear the pain and grief of today. You may even recall a time when you were that person. Maybe you're even there now. If so, you are not alone. In parents grieving alongside you, you have a parent. In children grieving with you, you have a child. The community that gathers not around an idealized manger scene, but at the foot of the cross, will never lack for brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers. If your holiday season is shaping up to be a painful one, we invite you to join us there. Child, here is your family.
Jesus, thank you for taking on flesh, knowing that to live in flesh is to know pain. Emanuel, thank you for being so resolutely with us that even death could not separate us. Be our hope in this dark season. Make us family. Amen.
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