New Life
One
Sarah and the Barren Women of the Old Testament
In some way, we could say that the history of the chosen people begins with the story of a woman who is too old to have kids. The drama of Abraham’s call, his call to go to a promised land, and be the Father of the chosen people, the core drama of that call revolves around the fact that his wife, Sarah, is too old to have any children. So what can become of God’s call?
But God, despite Abraham and Sarah’s skepticism, shows that He can grant the gift of new life when and how He pleases. And throughout the Old Testament, over and over again, He grants the joyful miracle of new life to those who had stopped expecting it.
Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, the mother of Samson, the Shunnamite woman who was blessed by Elisha, and finally, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. God showed that He was more powerful than barrenness, that He could grant the gift of new life. And nothing is more joyful, more wondrous, than new life. Especially when it comes as a surprise.
Two
Mary and the Virgin Birth
It was a great surprise, in the Bible, when women who had passed the age of childbearing or who were simply suffering from infertility were granted the joy of motherhood by the Lord. But it was even more surprising when a young woman, at her prayers, a young woman who was a virgin and planned on remaining a virgin, was told that she would also become pregnant. This is a wonder of new life unlike the others.
Sometimes women who assume they’re past childbearing years get pregnant. And sometimes women who assume they’re infertile get pregnant. But never had it ever happened that a woman who had not received a man’s contribution became pregnant.
This is a major sign. It tells us something critical not only about what God is capable of, but what the Christ whom He is sending has come to do. He is coming from a virgin, a place from which no one expects new life to come. This child, this Christ, the Son of Mary and the Son of God is going to be a source of new life in radically unexpected ways.
Three
New Life from the Tomb
On Christmas, the infant Jesus was laid down to sleep in a cave. New life coming from a cave, coming from a Virgin, from which no one expects new life. On Good Friday, the crucified Jesus was again laid down in a cave. And then three days later, new life came from a cave again. And again, Christ’s life came from an unexpected place. No one expects new life from a virgin. And no one expects new life from death.
God shows again on Easter that He delights to bring new life, the most beautiful and joyous of all His gifts, in surprising ways.
This is who Jesus is, the supreme instance of God’s New and Surprising Life in the world, and this is the new and surprising life He has come to share with us.
Four
“I came that they might have life”
Christ is the fulness of God’s life. He is God’s life incarnate. Think of all the beauty of a new little kid. Think of the beauty of a family welcoming a new child, the proud father, the lovely, glowing mother, and the different older brothers and sisters each waiting to hold the baby. This family's joy at new life is a sign, a foreshadowing, of what Christ wants to give all of us at an infinitely larger scale.
When God healed barrenness in the Old Testament, when God made the Virgin Mary fruitful, when He rose again on the Third Day, those are all in anticipation of the Joy of New Life waiting for all of us. Jesus said that He came that we might have life, and have it in abundance.
Five
Those Awaiting New Life
The Biblical announcements of pregnancy are always sources of great joy. New life, including surprising new life, should always be a source of joy as it was at the first Christmas. So let’s pray that all those who are awaiting the gift of new life will realize that it is a gift, however surprising, and a source of joy.
But we said too that the history of the chosen people began with God’s promise of new life to an elderly man and woman, Abraham and Sarah, who were drawing close to death. Christ comes not only for those who are awaiting new life but for those who are awaiting death. Because the one who came forth new and alive from the Virgin also came forth new and alive from the Tomb. And our death day is our birthday – which is why we celebrate the feast of the saints not on the day they were born to earthly life, but born to heavenly life.
Waiting for Christ’s birth during Advent is also about waiting for our birth at death. It’s supposed to be a time of anticipation and hope and looking forward to joy. The joy when we will meet our proud Heavenly Father and lovely Heavenly Mother and when we shall meet our smiling older brothers and sisters, who are the saints. And then the surprising joy of our newness of life, our abundance of life, will never end.