On this glorious day on which we celebrate Christ’s holy Nativity, we do more than simply commemorate the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ. On this day, we call into the present all those glorious and life-saving events that surround the miraculous birth of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ. This is the day on which God has fashioned all things anew and given hope to all mankind to be renewed in the image and likeness of our Creator.
This is the day on which the whole universe is filled with light and all creation with joy. “The expectation of the nations has come” (Matins of the Feast). Through the Divine Services of the Feast we become witnesses of the communion between those in heaven and those on earth, who with one voice celebrate the greatest of God’s gifts: that of Himself, who in His great love and mercy willed to become one of His own creation to enter into our human nature and renew it.
Dwell for a moment on this awesome mystery here revealed: “Today, He who holds the whole creation in His hand is born of the Virgin.” (Royal Hours) The God whom the universe cannot contain has become a tiny babe to inaugurate the new race of Adam in Christ our God. On this day, we sing with the angels in heaven, rejoice with the shepherds, and worship with the magi. On this day, those in heaven and those on earth join in one chorus. In Vigil we sang, “today, heaven and earth are united.” On this day, all creation rejoices for Christ God is born of the Virgin! “Today, God has come to earth and man ascends to heaven” (Litya of the Feast). Or, as 4th-century St. Athanasius puts it, “God became man, that we may become divine.”
God has destined us for glory, for communion with Him for all eternity. We’re called to be co-heirs with Christ, the Father’s adopted children through new the new birth of baptism and Christ in the center of our lives. This is God’s loving desire for us—no matter who you are. Christ’s incarnation fills all of humanity with this potential: to find healing from sin-sickness through repentance, to conquer sin and death, to be made new, in the likeness of Christ, the new Adam for “as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive,” writes St. Paul (I Cor. 15:22). The Nativity of Christ is then an invitation to be made new. Christ has become incarnate to give us new identity and self-worth as adopted children, His peace, surpassing all comprehension—the fruit of communion with God the Father in Christ by the Holy Spirit’s indwelling. This is good news indeed for a world suffering under so much sin, disobedience, and violence.
The One who created all things is now one of His own creation: “He who defines all things and is limited by none is contained in a small, makeshift manger. He who holds the universe and grasps it in the hollow of His hand, is wrapped in narrow, swaddling bands and fastened into ordinary clothes” (St. Gregory Palamas, Homily Fifty-Eight, “On the Saving Nativity of Christ”).
He who is the King of Kings is worshiped by the Persian kings and receives their gifts in the stable. The Only-Begotten One has become incarnate for our sake and reversed and renewed that human nature fallen into sin, despair, and death. “The Word has become flesh without leaving His Father,” as we sing in the Vespers (Apostika) of the Feast. The one who anoints is now the anointed. The one who offers is now the one who is offered.
Frankincense is prophetically among the gifts offered by the Magi to the new-born King in preparation for His life-saving death and resurrection, whereby He defeats sin and death for all. The One who could, by His own words, call down a thousand angels to destroy the wicked, instead now submits Himself in His love and humility to the vulnerability of a new-born babe in order to call the wicked and all of us to new life, to a changed life. The One who loved us into being, now accepts love from his Virgin Mother and adopted father.
The uncircumscribable God has become circumscribed in His humanity while simultaneously remaining God. And so, for us, humility now has a face; humility and love become known. The Wisdom and Word of God, Logos, who originally brought all things into being, has enlightened the whole universe by virtue of His incarnation. Humility becomes the means of our renewal, in imitation of our Savior born this day in a manger, in a cave, among dumb beasts.
“He who rained manna on His people in the wilderness is fed on milk from His Mother’s breast” (Royal Hours). He whose throne the six-winged Seraphim surround in worship, Whose face they cannot bear to see, now appears to us in human flesh and the angels themselves are filled with awe. Because of this life-saving day, every eye may now gaze on that face even as we see Him now through the holy icons, faithfully and timelessly proclaiming the truth of His life-saving incarnation in-the-flesh and His calling to each of us to embrace the new life in Him.
This is our God! See His unsurpassed love for us. At Vespers for the Feast we sing, “The angels offer Thee a hymn; the heavens, a star; the Magi, gifts; the shepherds, their wonder; the earth, its cave; the wilderness, a manger; and we offer Thee a Virgin Mother.”
Now we ask the question of ourselves: What do you offer Christ this day?
The service of the Royal Hours suggests this: Let us offer Christ clean minds and a pure heart through repentance. “Let us offer Him a life of virtue instead of Myrrh.” Let us also consider offering our faith and love as we celebrate with joy His holy Nativity. Let us receive Him inside ourselves in the Eucharist as the cave did of old, preparing Him room. May our hearts prepare Him room as well! For as Christ God did not reject the humble cave for His birth, neither will He reject the room of a humble soul, though not a fitting place for the Lord of Hosts. For in this love and humility, Christ comes to us too, receives us, indwells and heals us, unites us with Him and all the faithful who have come before us or who will come after us. Then, like the angels, shepherds, and magi, we share this good news with all whom we meet because the world cannot contain our joy in this life-changing event. Thou, O Christ, has this day filled all things with joy!
Together, joining our voices with angels and archangels, and all the company of heaven, we proclaim this day: Christ is born! Glorify Him! Hristos se naste! Slaviti-L! Kristos rozhdaetsya! Slav’te ego! Christ is born! Glorify Him!
Fr. Robert Miclean
Holy Archangels Orthodox Church
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Feast of the Holy Nativity—Craciun
Epistle: Galatians 4:4-7
Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12
