Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
History and Religion
Christmas 1: God Desired a Harlot

Christmas 1: God Desired a Harlot

Last updated on: December 22, 2022 at 3:44 pm by Ted Peters

Christmas 1: God Desired a Harlot 2022-12-22T15:44:43-08:00 Ted Peters

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

John Chrysostom (347-407 AD). Mosaic at Hagia Sophia, Istanbul.

Christmas Meditation 1: What Wondrous Love is This!

God Desired a Harlot

Saint John Chrysostom

God desired a harlot? What! Really? Well, metaphorically. The incarnation of God in Jesus Christ is like the pure becoming impure, the clean becoming dirty, the eternal becoming subject to time and even death. Why might God do this? Because of God’s love for us. What wondrous love is this!

Here is St. John Chrysostom (347-407 AD) on the wondrous love of God. Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος was the bishop of Constantinople. Today we know it as Istanbul in Turkey. In one of his Christmas sermons, he likened God becoming incarnate within our world to a trick buying sex from a prostitute. This demonstrates how wondrous is God’s love for us.

“God desired a harlot, and how does He act? He does not send to her any of His servants. He does not send any angels or archangels, cherubim or seraphim. No, He Himself draws near to the one He loves, and He does not take her to Heaven, for He could not bring a harlot to Heaven, and therefore He Himself comes down to earth, to the harlot, and is not ashamed. He comes to her secret dwelling place and beholds her in her drunkenness. And how does He come? Not in the bare essence of His original nature, but in the guise of one whom the harlot is seeking, in order that she might not be afraid when she sees Him, and will not run away, and escape Him. He comes to the harlot as a man. And how does He become this? He is conceived in the womb, He grows little by little, as we do, and has intercourse with human nature. And He finds this harlot thick with sores and oppressed by devils. How does He act? He draws nigh to her. She sees Him and flees away. He calls the wise man, saying, ‘Why are you afraid? I am not a judge, but a physician. I come not to judge the world, but to save the world.’ Straightway He calls the wise men, for are not the wise man the immediate first fruits of His coming? They come and worship Him, and then the harlot herself comes and is transformed into a maiden. The Canaanite woman comes and partakes of His love. And how does He act? He takes the sinner and espouses her to Himself, and gives her the signet ring of the Holy Spirit as a seal between them.” (John Chrysostom)

What wondrous love is this!

See: Witnesses to Hope.

What wondrous love is this!

In a previous post, we took a close look at “O Come O Come Emmanuel.” Here we turn to “What wondrous love is this,” by the widely known composer, Anonymous. “What Wondrous Love is This” appears in 240 hymnals.

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
to bear the dreadful curse for my soul!

Christmas Meditations: What’s Next?

O Come Emmanuel

House to Home for Christmas

Christmas Blues

Christmas 1: God Desired a Harlot with St. John Chrysostom

Christmas 2: The Word Became Flesh with St. Augustine

Christmas 3: Truth at Christmas with St. Augustine

Christmas 4: Mean Estate with Martin Luther

▓

Ted Peters, “The Voice of Public Theology”

Ted Peters is a Lutheran pastor an emeritus professor at the Graduate Theological Union., He co-edits the journal, Theology and Science, with Robert John Russell on behalf of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, in Berkeley, California, USA. His single volume systematic theology, God—The World’s Future, is now in the 3rd edition. He has also authored Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society as well as Sin Boldly: Justifying Faith for Fragile and Broken Souls. See his website: TedsTimelyTake.com.

Watch for Ted’s new 2023 book, The Voice of Public Theology, published by ATF Press.

▓

General Christian

History and Religion

Education and Religion

progressive Christian

About Ted Peters

Ted Peters is a Lutheran pastor an emeritus professor at the Graduate Theological Union., He co-edits the journal, Theology and Science, with Robert John Russell on behalf of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, in Berkeley, California, USA. His single volume systematic theology, God—The World’s Future, is now in the 3rd edition. He has also authored Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society as well as Sin Boldly: Justifying Faith for Fragile and Broken Souls. See his website: TedsTimelyTake.com. Watch for Ted’s forthcoming book, The Voice of Public Theology, to be published by ATF Press. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

December 14, 2022

Christmas Blues

Next Post

December 18, 2022 Christmas 2: Word Became Flesh

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Afterlife America in Crisis Ancient Alien Apocalypse Art Artificial Intelligence Astrobiology Astrotheology Atheism Big History Buddhist Catholic Christian Nationalism Christmas Comparative Theology Death Ecology Ethics ETI Evangelical Evolution Existential Questions Free Will General Christian Hermeneutics Hindu https://www.patheos.com/blogs/allsetfree/2020/12/sins-we-need-to-talk-about/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Christians+For+a+Better+Christianity&utm_content=43&lct Interreligious Islam Jewish Justice Latter-Day Saints Literature Literature and Theology Lutheran Methodism Mormonism Nonreligious ontology Orthodox Pagam Prayer progressive Christian PT 6 Dignity Public Theology Race racial justice Religious Liberty Romance Satan Scapegoat Science & Religion Science and Religion social justice Spirituality SR 8 Transhumanism Systematic Theology Taoism Ted Peters UAP UFO Uncategorized War

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "I am the Alpha and the Omega"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

John Jesus Moses Paul