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It is already December 4, and gifts from a Christian senator for our employees arrived this morning.

This has been a practice as far as I remember since I became the school's business manager in March 2023. I think that the funds used in these gifts are not connected to the flood control corruption that went viral in recent months. Nevertheless, though I am happy for our employees, my feeling is mixed, for the source of the gifts remains political money. However, I am not in the position to decide on this matter. At the end of the day, gratitude is my appropriate response and surrender when it comes to situations beyond my control. As for me, this is a concrete way of choosing peace and my battles.

Christmas Season in the Philippines

As popularly accepted, the start of the "ber months" is considered the entry of the Christmas season in the country. December is the last "ber" month. I am not sure if I am becoming too subjective; I never felt the Christmas spirit during the first three "ber" months.

And so this morning, as part of my preparation for this afternoon's company's prayer meeting, I am required to deliver my first Christmas devotion. Both the theme and the text were prompted by the preparation for t-shirts as company gifts to regular employees and the BOT members. I was requested to come up with a theme for the t-shirts, and that's where I came up with this Christmas message related to chaos and peace.

Members of the Lower Socio-economic Strata

The text is based on Luke 2:13-14. I started my reading from verse 8, where the "shepherds" caught my attention. As far as my biblical studies are concerned, I am aware that shepherds were considered members of the lower socio-economic strata in 1st-century Judea. The absolute lowest were the beggars, slaves, and lepers.

Shepherds were poor and landless and had a type of work that was seasonal, low-paying, and physically demanding. They were considered unclean and thieves. There were also cases where their testimony in court was considered not credible and rejected.

And then my mind jumped to their modern-day counterpart. I asked AI, "Which type of people are considered members of the lowest socio-economic strata in developing countries?" The bot's response includes the street vendors, pedicab drivers, landless tenants and farmers, urban slum residents, underemployed laborers, indigenous and marginalized ethnic groups, single-parent households, elderly poor without pensions, PWDs, homeless, and victims of conflict or disaster-displaced communities like the Aetas.

This reminds me of one of my experiences during our immersion night as doctoral students in an Aeta community in Zambales. They asked us a question about the first inhabitants in the Philippine archipelago. We replied with a textbook answer, "The Aetas." And then they asked us a troubling follow-up question, "If we were the first inhabitants in the country, why are we so few now, and why are almost all of us living in the mountains?" They showed us afterwards black and white photos of Aetas who have been massacred in the past. That question made us reflect even after the immersion night.

When it comes to the favored social class in 1st-century Judea, they were the priests, scribes, and Roman elites. In modern times, these are the prestigious clergy, the business tycoons and the politically well-connected and well-positioned families that enjoy unfair advantages.

Protocol

If a high emissary of a sovereign country were to visit another political jurisdiction, what would be the protocol? Obviously, the answer is to visit first the gatekeepers. That would be the White House in the US and the Malacañang Palace in the Philippines.

This is where I find the reversal theme first introduced by Luke in 1:52-53 very interesting. Both the angel of the Lord and a great company of the heavenly host, instead of the centers of power, first appeared to the shepherds.

The angel announced to the shepherds that they brought good news of great joy in the birth of a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. The multitude of the heavenly host sang about the theme of God's glory and peace on earth.

An Overview of the Political and Military Context of 1st-Century Judea

First-century Judea, under Roman occupation, was a land under martial law, which was the primary source of chaos. Such a loss of independence fueled deep resentment among the Jews. There were revolutionary groups like the Zealots, whose goal was to overthrow Roman rule by force. Other radical groups execute political assassinations, targeting Roman sympathizers and members of the Jewish elite whom they considered collaborators. Riots and banditry were widespread and were crushed using violence as a form of social control. Any sign of dissent was met with brutal military force and mass executions. Moreover, heavy taxation resulted in widespread poverty and hostility. I think the foregoing serves as an accurate overview of the historical context of first-century Judea in terms of political and military chaos and violence.

Analytical Question

And yet here in the gospel of Luke we read that the multitude of the heavenly host proclaims peace with the birth of a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. In what way can the birth of a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger bring peace out of political and military chaos?

Root Cause of Violence and Chaos

My first response to the above central question is that the One who sent that baby in one holy night wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger knows that self-centeredness is the primary root cause of violence and chaos. This self-centeredness varies. It can even evolve into a collective ideology such as nationalism and socialism. "For the greater good," they say. However, as you closely scrutinize the outcome of using such a popular mantra, it is the majority that is being sacrificed for the sake of the few. Whatever "ism" there is, if man remains at the center, theologically speaking, it is basically self-centered, and it breeds nothing but violence and chaos.

To see self-centeredness as the root cause of violence and chaos, we need to contrast it to the message sung by a great company of the heavenly host. The message of their praise is that the glory of God is closely related to peace on earth. This implies that as man seeks the glory of self or of man, its inevitable consequence is one of violence and chaos.

Glory in Action

And so if we dream to see peace on earth, the end should be the glory of God. This is consistent with the answer of the classic shorter catechism about the chief end of man, which is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. "Forever" does not simply refer to life after death. Time here on earth is included. This tells us that the glory of God and enjoyment are interconnected.

Moreover, this glory, unlike the glory of those in power, is not detached from concrete reality. We are familiar with this plot in the movies we watch about kings who don't know anything about the misery of their subjects. Usually, there are close acquaintances in the palace that abuse the power of royalty without the knowledge of the king. The kind of glory described in our text is a glory in action, and this is demonstrated by the gracious intervention of God in human history through the birth of a child to bring peace here on earth.

Incomparably Superior Military Might

My third and last reply is based on the meaning of the phrase "a great company" (plethos stratias). This neither refers to a heavenly choir nor to an exact number but to a military formation of incalculable size. If we contrast this to the decree made by Caesar Augustus in Luke 2:1, we see here that the physician narrator contrasted the birth of Jesus to that of Caesar's decree. The power of Caesar lies in his Roman legion. The appearance of the heavenly host in our text is a counter-display of power. A Roman legion has 6,000 soldiers. Even if we just follow one of the two popular theories of the church fathers (the empty heaven theory and the legion contrast theory) to interpret this phrase, we still come up with a heavenly army that far exceeds the number of Roman legions. In Matthew 26:53, Jesus said that He can call His Father anytime and put at His disposal more than 12 legions of angels. If you multiply 6,000 by 12, you will come up with 72,000 angels. Nevertheless, the point is not the exact number of angels, but that the number was large enough to make the might of the Roman Empire look insignificant. This tells us that King Jesus had an army that greatly surpassed Caesar's army, and yet this army appeared not to wage war but to bring peace on earth. It was a military might capable of destroying the entire universe, yet it delivers a message of peace instead to the members of society considered low class.

Summary and Conclusion

In a time when nations trust politics and their military, aggravating geopolitical tension, we have an alternative message. Christmas reminds us about the birth of a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. This baby is the Savior of the world and the Christ. His birth can bring shalom to a world that is afflicted by political and military chaos for the One who sent Him knows the root cause of the problem, takes action with gracious intervention in human history, and possesses a military might incomparably superior than that of the most powerful empire on earth.

I wish all Hiveans grace and shalom as you celebrate this Christmas. Merry Christmas!