There are many theories that seek to account for the situation of humankind today in terms of some external factor. Some say it’s because of social and economic conditions; some blame it on poor education; some see political oppression as the cause; some even say it is because of sexual repression. But to try to alter only external factors is tantamount to confusing cause and effect, disease and symptom, horse and cart, leaving the real source of human misery untouched. Is it not the reality that there is something inherently wrong within us as human beings that no amount of tampering with external matters will alter? The root problem of our human predicament lies within us. The heart of the problem is that of the human heart. In literature, this “heart condition” is called “tragic flaw”; Greeks called it hamartia; the Bible calls it sin — that twistedness within us that alienates us from one another, from ourselves, from God.
And the birth of Jesus marks the culmination of God’s work of reconciliation with sinful humanity through his gift of forgiveness because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and his gift of a new heart that is capable of responding to him and to one another in love and service. The birth of Jesus was announced thus: “[Mary] will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Some say, “Learn, education is the only way”, or “Earn, economic development is the only way”. But Jesus says, “Turn, I am the way.” Two lines from a Christmas poem puts it thus: “But our greatest need was forgiveness/ So God sent us a Saviour.”
Dr. Kethoser (Aniu) Kevichusa
Speaker for RZIM Life Focus Society, Chennai
