Light From Light

He who was from the beginning, God from God, Light from Light, is born for us.

Liturgy of the Hours, Second Sunday after Christmas, Evening Prayer I, Antiphon 3

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Son of the Most High

On the night Mary gave birth to Jesus, an angel appeared to shepherds in the field with the announcement, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11, ESV). Then suddenly a multitude of the heavenly host proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14).

From the court of Herod in Jerusalem, magi from the east journeyed to Bethlehem in search of the newborn “king of the Jews,” that they might “worship him” (Matthew 2:2). Signs of priestly royalty surrounded the humble birth of the one revealed to Mary as the “Son of the Most High” and heir of “the throne of David his father” (Luke 1:32).

God From God, Light From Light

No one in the first century, however, uttered the phrase “God from God, Light from Light.” Such a crystal clear expression of the divinity of Christ took over three centuries to develop. At the Council of Nicea in 325, the Fathers addressed the burgeoning crisis of heresy in the Church. Arius, a fourth-century Alexandrian priest, had confused and divided the faithful by teaching that Jesus was a creature. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Council Fathers professed that the Son of God is co-eternal and consubstantial with the Father. The truths of the faith proceed from divine revelation.

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. 
He was in the beginning with God.

John 1:1-2

Jesus Christ, “the very imprint” (charakter) of the Father, is God from God, Light from Light (Hebrews 1:3). This simple yet elegant formula draws us aloft to the contemplation of God, who is beyond words. May faith open the portals of divine wisdom, transporting us to the eternal Word of the Father, Jesus Christ.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.

Nicene Creed