Questions about Jesus Christ didn’t end when Mary and Joseph brought him into the world and raised him in Nazareth. They continued. Questions about Jesus Christ are not settled in a day.

Who is he? He’s more than the Jewish Messiah, the Son of David. On Christmas we celebrate a belief already in the Christian scriptures and early Christian creeds: Jesus Christ is the Word of God who became flesh.

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. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

The feast of Christmas celebrates what the scriptures and early creeds say. The earliest date for this celebration appears in a Roman church calendar from 336, where Christmas begins the church year. A 3rd century Roman theologian, Hyppolytus, describes his time as a supermarket of revelations about God, a pantheon of divine beings, all acceptably true. The Roman empire tolerated many beliefs and systems, as long as they did not threaten the empire and its institutions.

Christmas originated as a doctrinal celebration, not a devotional one. The gospel read on this feast early on was from St. John, “In the beginning was the Word…”

Hippolytus called Jesus Christ the unique Word of God. “He is the Word who made the universe, the Savior you sent to redeem us.” The theologian’s words are found today in our 2nd Eucharistic Prayer.

Addressing the Jews, the Roman theologian claimed  the prophets spoke “dimly” about God’s Word. Now the Word made flesh speaks clearly through his humanity, and so we listen to Jesus Christ.

To the gentile world, a world awash in various philosophies, Hippolytus spoke about the unique Word, Creator and Redeemer. Christmas celebrates this Christian belief.

By your Word you created the world and you govern all things in harmony. You gave us the same Word made flesh as Mediator and he has spoken your words to us and called us to follow him. He is the way that leads us to you, the truth that sets us free, the life that fills us with gladness.

Let’s not forget this message of Christmas today by turning it into quaint story, with little meaning for our “real world.”  Speak out, Hippolytus and those like you, even if you’re not heard. Truth must be told, and told insistently.