{"id":4598,"date":"2018-12-16T08:00:42","date_gmt":"2018-12-16T00:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=4598"},"modified":"2021-10-15T16:52:37","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T08:52:37","slug":"190-the-birth-of-the-kenotic-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=4598","title":{"rendered":"214. The Birth of the Kenotic Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"

5\u00a0<\/sup>Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6\u00a0<\/sup>who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,\u00a07\u00a0<\/sup>but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.\u00a0And being found in human form, 8\u00a0<\/sup>he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.\u00a09\u00a0<\/sup>Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10\u00a0<\/sup>so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11\u00a0<\/sup>and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Fathe<\/span>r<\/strong>. [Philippians 2:5-11<\/span>, NRSV<\/em>]<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Tintoretto,\u00a0Adoration of the Shepherds<\/em>, 1581.<\/span><\/p>\n

We need at least a modicum of historical consciousness to read the Gospels in depth, that is, beyond the spiritual and devotional reading. To do that, two contextual realities must be borne in mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

First<\/em>, the New Testament writers were first century Jewish Christians who read what we now call the Old Testament as their Scriptures. They were intimately familiar with the fact that, for the Jewish people, the last thing they were still living in was the great Exodus. Their escape from slavery in Egypt was by no means finished, even in the first century A.D., for their status of existence in captivity continued under the Greeks, followed by the Romans. The last, and failed, major campaign mounted against the foreign power was the Maccabean revolt lasting from 167 to 160 BC, led by the\u00a0Maccabees<\/a>\u00a0against the\u00a0Seleucid Empire<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Hellenistic influence<\/a>\u00a0on Jewish life. By the first century A.D., the Jews were still waiting for liberation. They felt done for. As God\u2019s Chosen People, they suffered humiliation, for they were still living under foreign domination.<\/span><\/p>\n

Second<\/em>, the New Testament writings were post-resurrection writings. The writers\u2019 visions were informed and influenced, and thus driven and coloured, by their experiences and by the various oral traditions prevalent in different communities on Jesus\u2019 suffering, death and resurrection. In turn, their written narratives that over time became accepted as \u201cthe Four Gospels\u201d were richly coloured by the perspectives of the Paschal Mystery. This pervasive influence of the Paschal Mystery is seen not only in regards to the accounts of post-Easter events but, remarkably, also on all the pre-Easter events in Jesus\u2019 life, all the way back to the Nativity.<\/span><\/p>\n

Attentive viewers of Tintoretto\u2019s works know that Tintoretto understood the Gospels well. Jacopo Robusti, better known as Tintoretto the famous Venetian Renaissance painter, descended from a family of dyers (tintore<\/em>). Evident in most of his works are steps and stairways, suggesting a lesson in discipleship and an invitation to the viewers to enter into the scene together with the characters in those works. His Adoration of the Shepherds\u00a0<\/em>is no exception, and perhaps a more accentuated illustration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Canon Jeremy Davies,\u00a0<\/span>formerly of Salisbury Cathedral, E<\/span>ngland, throws light on this piece. In a brilliant analysis, his own words read:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n