Behold and Believe

Seeing with eyes of faith at Christmas

12/21/2020

Song of Songs 2:8-14 Hark! my lover–here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills. My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Here he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattices. My lover speaks; he says to me, “Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one, and come! “For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come, and the song of the dove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance. Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come! “O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the secret recesses of the cliff, Let me see you, let me hear your voice, For your voice is sweet, and you are lovely.”

One of the most curious words in the Bible is also one of the most common, and therefore easily overlooked, namely, “behold.” We hear it again and again in Luke’s infancy narratives: the angel says to Mary, “Behold,” and Mary replies to the angel, “Behold.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word “behold” as, “to perceive through sight or apprehension, to see.” But when the Bible uses “behold,” it means much more than merely to see with the eyes, it invites us to see with the heart. To behold in the biblical sense, therefore, requires an interior vision, to see with the eyes of faith. To behold is to believe.

When Mary said in Luke 1:38, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord,” she was inviting us to see her with the eyes of faith as more than a humble peasant girl from Palestine. It would require 400 years of polishing our faith lenses, until in 431 the Council of Ephesus declared Mary to be the “Theotokos,” literally, “God-bearer,” or “Mother of God.” In other words, the Council of Ephesus was saying, “Behold Mary, the Mother of God.” To behold not only helps us to see God better; it helps us to see each other more clearly, beginning with Mary. To behold is to believe.

In the first reading from the Song of Songs, two similar words are used that strike a strong resemblance to “behold,” that is, "Hark" and "For See." Remember that Song of Songs is the romantic, love poetry of the Old Testament, the hymn that the Beloved (humanity) sings to the Lover (God), and his response. In Songs 2:8, the Beloved says: “Hark! My lover – here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills.” Later the Lover answers in Songs 2:11, “For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone, The flowers appear on the earth.” Both the words, Hark,” and “For See” could be replaced by “Behold” because both the Beloved and the Lover want the other to see with the heart more than with the head. That is, to behold and to believe in their love.

At the risk of oversimplification, I am convinced the word “behold” holds the key to unlock the mystery of Christmas. How so? Well, many people saw the birth of Jesus that first Christmas: some saw only with the eyes in their head while others looked on with eyes of faith. The latter beheld and believed. People sometimes ask me: “Fr. John, how did the Jews miss Jesus as the Messiah?” Have you ever pondered that question? When you consider all the prophesies, the parallels, and the prefigurations in the Old Testament that all point to Jesus like a huge neon sign, how could anyone miss the Messiah? One answer to that question is they see but they do not behold, because to behold is to believe.

This same question could be asked of many Christians today. In only four days billions of Catholics all over the world will celebrate Christmas, but how many will merely see while others will truly behold? That is, how many will come to the crib of the Christ Child with the interior vision of faith and behold and believe? On the other hand, how many of us will be caught up by the commercialism of Christmas and miss the Messiah every bit as much as the Jews of the first century?

But we do not have to wait till Christmas to behold and believe. In just a few minutes, at every Mass the priest echoes the angel Gabriel and Mother Mary in the gospel of Luke, he repeats with the Beloved and the Lover in the Song of Songs, as he elevates the Sacred Host and says, “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those who are called to the supper of the Lamb.” In a sense, at every Mass we celebrate a little Christmas. Christ is born for us again in the manger of the priest's hands, where he becomes the Bread that feeds the world. We are told to “Behold” and to believe.

Praised be Jesus Christ!