Christmas is unique. Ancient gods appeared in human form, but no other religion, ancient or modern, teaches that the Creator of heaven and earth was born of a woman, grew as an infant and toddler, and reached manhood. No other religion teaches that because no other religion wants the eternal God of heaven to be so tightly bound to earth and time.
Christmas is unique; Lent is an offense. It’s vulgar enough to confess that the eternal God spent nine months in Mary’s uterus, wet his swaddling clothes, ate when He was hungry and slept when He was tired. It’s repulsive to believe that the untouchable Creator sweat blood, endured taunts and lashings, was nailed to a cross, died with a cry of agony. God made flesh is bad; God made corpse is unthinkable.
But this bizarre story is good news, because it declares that the only God of heaven has come to be among us. God is with us , wherever we are. And He doesn’t send a lackey to do the dirty work. God comes to be with us.
You’re in Gethsemane, and the Father has given you a bitter cup to drink. You’re being stretched out on your own cross, nailed, mocked, rejected and betrayed, dying. It’s nothing new to Jesus. He has been there; He has suffered that. This is the gospel of Lent: Into your every affliction, God speaks one word, His eternal Word, Immanuel.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
