The baby of Bethlehem

Christian theology reckons that Jesus Christ, who was fully divine, took upon human nature to the extent that he became fully human. He represents the divine side, opening to us a window into the Infinite being. It is said in the scripture, 'no one has ever seen God except Jesus, and he has made the Infinite One known'. Christology, the study of Christ, is pivotal to theology, the study of God. As a perfect human being, he carries our requests interceding on our behalf - 'For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet did not sin.'

While Christ in history is the human face of God, we run the risk of domesticating him so much that we overlook his essential divinity. Paul, a first-century thinker, articulated it this way: 'He (Christ) is the image of invisible God... for by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible - all things were created through him and for him. And he was before all things, and in him all things held together.' In the words of Saint Augustine, 'Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.'

A quaint Christmas carol, 'Oh little town of Bethlehem', penned by Phillips Brooks, captures the crude ordinariness of the first Christmas in the modest town of Bethlehem.