|
|
|
Last week we
saw the Old Testament prophecies foretelling the coming of the Messiah
Jesus Christ. Today as we approach nearer to the feast of the Nativity I
thought it would be appropriate to look at the fulfilment of these
prophecies. Although there is much to say on the subject, most things
have already been said before and it is not an easy task finding fresh
and new approaches that could remain within the traditional teaching of
the Church yet at the same time help us to understand the meaning of
Christmas from a different angle. I searched the internet to see if I
could borrow some ideas. I typed in the “meaning of Christmas” and I had
hundreds of different websites to choose from which claimed to give the
true meaning of Christmas. I was so disappointed and couldn’t believe
what the western world actually means by the true meaning of Christmas.
In general they all gave an explanation to the meanings of the Christmas
figures and décor like Santa, the tree, the star, the candle, the
wreath, the holly, the candy cane, the angel, the gift and the bell.
Granted these all symbolize something, but they are not the true meaning
of Christmas. It would seem that the commercial demon has done his task
by blinding people of the truth. The theological meaning has completely
been covered from people’s eyes and even the literal Nativity story as
found in the New Testament has been replaced by the symbolic meanings of
the Christmas decorations.
If we want to
give a synopsis of the true meaning of Christmas this can be said it
just a few words. Christmas is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus
our Saviour because on this day salvation is seen not only as a promise
that God made to Israel in the Old Testament prophecies but as a reality
in bodily form. Christ’s birth brings hope for our rebirth and our
return to paradise and our return to God. Man now has a reason for
living, he can rejoice because his salvation is no longer a promise, it
is no longer just a hope, but a reality. This is a short explanation of
what the feast of Christmas means for mankind but there is much more we
can add to this. There is first of all the historical and literal
meaning, then the theological meaning, the eschatological meaning and
the moral and spiritual meaning where the events and characters of the
Nativity story correspond to elements in our own lives. Today then we
will see the meaning of Christmas by combining the various ways we can
interpret the event and especially through the theological and spiritual
meanings we receive. The spiritual sense of Christmas is important for
Christians because as mentioned last week Christ is continually being
born every day in the Church, but he also comes to each of us separately
and is continually being born over and over again in our hearts. The
central figures in the Nativity story are the New-Born Baby Jesus, Mary
his Mother, Joseph the foster father, the shepherds, the angels, the
Wise Men and the Star. To the extended story can also be added Herod the
king and the innocent children.
Let’s then see what
each person represents and what symbolic teaches we can receive from
them that would be beneficial for our own lives. Let’s begin with the
central character the baby Jesus. We saw last week the prophecy
concerning the lowly birth which was a sign for the Jews to recognize
the Messiah. The lowly birth has much to teach us about God, but also of
how we can approach God. The angel told the shepherds the sign by which
they would be able to recognize the Saviour: he would be wrapped in
swaddling bands and lying in a manger. The manger is a trough or box in
stables where horses and cattle take their feed. The stable in this
Nativity story is according to tradition a cave. The very birth of
Christ in a cave, wrapped in strands of cloth and lying in a manger
immediately tell us that God is humble; he has no regard for earthly
riches and teaches us that we also should not regard earthly wealth.
This is God incarnate, the God that created the whole universe, the
earth and all living creatures. Even the fact that God condescended to
be born as one of his creatures is an act of extreme humility but to cap
this with being born in extremely humble conditions is beyond the
logical reasoning of anyone in the their right mind. We would expect God
to be born in the greatest of kings’ palaces wrapped in royal garments
and laying in a golden bed fit for the King of kings. In comparison to
the cave even a simple human dwelling place would seem like a great
luxury. As God he could have chosen to be born wherever he wanted, even
in a palace, but of his own free will he chose the humble conditions for
a reason: he wanted to show us that humility is a virtue that we should
strive for, it is not a weakness as Satan and the world have us believe,
but a God-like quality. From his very birth, Christ teaches us that
humility and poverty lead man to salvation, whereas pride and riches
lead man on the road to destruction.
As an adult he
continued by his word and action teaching us that humility and poverty
of this world lead to perfection. By his words - Turn the other cheek;
sell what thou has, give to the needy and come and follow me, and by his
actions when as Lord and Master he washed the disciple’s feet, and
suffered the Passion in silence. Throughout the Gospels we see that
Christ leads a life of poverty and humility and we are told to follow in
his footsteps. To follow Christ means to become like Christ and we
cannot do this if our main concern in life is our bank balance. Poverty
and humility as virtues that lead to Christ are also the reason why the
angel appeared to the simple shepherds with the message of salvation.
The shepherds are peasants: simple, unsophisticated, hard-working,
honest people whose only care is providing for their families. They have
no grand ideas of wealth, no desire for worldly knowledge, no desire for
fame and worldly recognition: they are content living their lives in the
outdoors under God’s heaven looking after their flock. It is their
simplicity that makes them worthy of the angel’s message; it is their
poor but honest way of life that makes them worthy to see and hear the
choir of angels glorifying God with their hymns. They went to Bethlehem
not to verify what the angel told them, not to gain knowledge, not to
give presents to the New-born king and Saviour, but to offer themselves,
to offer their heart and fall on their knees in wonder at this strange
mystery that God had become man.
Under our layers of
modern sophistication and education, we are told to search in our hearts
to find the simple peasant soul that we once were. This is what Christ
meant when he said: “Except ye be converted, and
become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
heaven.” (Matt. 18:2) Little children are simple without worldly
knowledge or understanding of wealth and power. This is what the
shepherds were and this is what we are told to become so that we too
will be worthy to hear the angels singing the glory of God. In the
silence of the night the shepherds kept watch over their flock of sheep
and we in the rush and noise of our busy lives are told to enter into
the silence and darkness of our souls and there keep watch over the
flock of our desires, the herd of our worldly passions and instincts, to
round them up as the straying sheep and enclosed them within the fold so
we will then be free to hear the message of the angel and allow Christ
to be born in our hearts. Then like the shepherds the glory of the Lord
will shine round about us. The angel told the shepherds
“unto you is born this day in the city of David a
Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” it was not in general to all
mankind but “unto you” and unto us if we become like the simple
shepherds. They didn’t need to travel a long way from their fields to
the stable to meet Christ; it is he who came an infinite distance from
heaven to earth to meet them and he will take that journey again for
each of us if we show even a little desire to meet him.
How do the
shepherds compare to the magi, the wise men from the east. The shepherds
as already seen are simple unsophisticated men in whom the angel brings
the glad tidings in direct communion. The wise men are cultivated and of
great worldly learning, which hinders them from direct communion and
instead have to make a long journey guided by the star [of which was the
object of their study and adoration], so as to learn of the same mystery
that was revealed to the shepherds. In this, we also see that the Church
accepts human science provided this science bring those who serve it to
the worship of the One True God, the Holy Trinity. When we compare the
simple shepherds to the wise men, we see that the poor and simple,
having no worldly learning or substance to hold them back, can more
freely accept Christ, whereas the rich and learned, having their minds
filled with worldly matters and loving great possessions which they
cannot bear to part with, have made for themselves obstacles on the road
leading to Christ. Christ Himself testifies to this when a young man
asked how he might find eternal Life. Jesus said unto him,
“If thou wilt be ‘perfect’, go sell that thou
hast, and give to the poor, and come and follow me. But when the young
man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had many
possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, verily I say unto you,
that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again
I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” [St
Matthew 19:21]. For those who are wealthy and would like to take some
comfort that they might have a chance of being saved, Christ did not say
that rich men cannot be saved, for when asked,
“Who then can be saved”? He replied that,
“With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible”
[St. Matthew 19:76]. So there is hope even for the wealthy.
In spite of
this comparison the wise men have certain similarities with the
shepherds. They too were keeping watch over their flock – the stars of
heaven. As they were watching they too were given a heavenly message –
the star that appeared in the sky which was so different from anything
they had seen before. As educated men, well learned in astrology, which
they probably used in their religious practices, their wisdom and
knowledge of the stars and planets immediately told them that this was
no ordinary physical star. For them it was a heavenly message just like
the angel’s message to the shepherds. For them the appearance of this
star meant that someone very special for mankind had been born, a very
special King of the Jews who was a divine person. Like the shepherds
they decide to seek out this divine person and set out on a long if not
dangerous journey. The purpose of the journey was not curiosity or to
gain more worldly knowledge. In their own land they were rich, powerful
and important people, and some say they were themselves Kings while
others say they were High Priests, but they did not set out on some
stately visit from one king to another, the sole purpose for their
journey was, like the shepherds, to come and worship. They were indeed
wise because they did not pride themselves in their knowledge or rank in
society, but recognized that someone more wise and powerful than
themselves had been born and they had the humility to seek him out and
bow their knees to a baby.
There is a lesson to
be learnt from the wise men. Many educated people believe they are wise
and that religion is only for the simple and uneducated and many people
in high standing would rather die than bend their knee in worship to
God. A truly wise man, like the three wise men recognizes that he is not
wise because only God is wise. Only fools think they are wise. The same
can be said for saints: they truly believe that they are sinners but
sinners actually think they are saints. The wise men set out on a
pilgrimage to find God and they found him. If we are wise then we also
should seek to find God. Christ said seek and you shall find. But how do
we know that the purpose of the wise men’s journey was to seek out and
find God to worship him? The very presents they took with them denote
that they were coming for this very purpose. Incense is what you offer
to God and Myrrh, a fragrant oil, was again used as incense or as a
perfume and was used to perfume the dead before their burial and gold is
the gift for Kings. Tradition says that Mary saved this myrrh for
Christ’s burial.
While
remaining on the subject of gifts I want to sidetrack a little to
explain the meaning of the Christmas gifts we give and receive. The wise
men brought gifts to Jesus as a sign of their respect and recognition
that he was God, but have you ever wondered why we give presents to each
other on Christmas day? The usual explanation is that associated with
St. Nicholas from whom the name Santa Claus derived. A certain man who
was once rich and whom Nicholas had saved from a great sin had three
daughters. Now in poverty and in desperation he planned to sell their
bodies so they would have money for food. The saint, learning of the
man’s poverty and of his wicked intention, secretly visited him one
night and threw a sack of gold through the window. With the money the
man arranged an honourable marriage for his eldest daughter. St Nicholas
also provided gold for the other daughters, thereby saving the family
from falling into spiritual destruction. St. Nicholas became famous for
his generous gifts to the poor and because his feast day is in December
his name became associated with giving presents at Christmas. An almost
identical story is found in the life story of St. Basil and that is why
in Greece and Cyprus gifts are given on his feast day of January 1st.
These are feasible accounts of how the custom of giving presents began
but I prefer a more spiritual and theological explanation. We give
presents to people when they celebrate their birthday and Christmas is
the day we celebrate Jesus’ birthday so according to the custom we
should be giving presents only to Jesus. Why then do we receive presents
as if it were our birthday? Well in reality it is our birthday as well.
When we were baptized we became partaker of Christ. One of the hymns we
sing during baptism which we also sing on Christmas day is “As many of
you as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ.” Thus in
everyone we see the image of Christ and give them presents at Christmas
as though it was their birthday. We give a present to a friend but in
reality we are giving the present to Christ because our friend is in the
image of Christ. I threw that in just to show that it’s not wrong to
give and receive presents on Christmas day as long as we understand why
we do it.
Let’s now
return to the wise men. We have all read or heard of the wise men’s
story many times, but many don’t look close enough to see what is
actually being said. The wise men started of on their journey to find a
God but how did they know where to go? In the Gospel of Matthew it says
that they came from the east to Jerusalem saying:
“where is he that is born the King of the Jews for we have seen his star
in the east and are come to worship him.” If they saw the star in
the east how did they know to come to Jerusalem? Well firstly the star
is not a like any other star known to man, that is why the wise men saw
in its appearance the confirmation that a divine person had come into
the world. Many astronomers will tell us that it was a comet, it was a
nova or some other astronomical event and will even tell us that
according to their astronomical charts the year of Christ birth must be
wrong because they can account for an astronomical event a few years
before and a few years after, but not for the year that Christ is said
to have been born. The truth is they will never be able to discover what
this star was because it was not a star in the usual sense as we will
see from its behaviour. The wise men came to Jerusalem because the star
guided them: it went before them showing them the road; it guided them
until they were outside of Jerusalem and then disappeared. We can deduct
that they didn’t see the star whilst in Jerusalem because it tells us
that after leaving Herod the star which they saw in the east appeared
again and went before them, till it came and stood over where the young
child was. Now this is a very strange star. It appears, it disappears,
it moves in various directions and can stop whenever it wants to and
shine down on what it wants. Its brightness can even be seen in the
daytime and is not dimmed by the brightness of the sun. This is
definitely not a comet or a nova as some suppose. It is telling the wise
men where to go and where to look for the God that has been born a human
being. The star is not only a cosmic phenomenon; it is a heavenly
messenger, an angel sent by God to proclaim the glad tidings of the
incarnation of the Son of God.
To finish with
the wise men you might like to know that tradition has given us their
names. They are known as Sts. Balthasar, Gasper and Melchior. Tradition
also says that they were of different age groups and this fact is
specified to show that God reveals himself to men without regard to
their age or worldly experience. The wise men also represent the church
among the heathen showing that Christ came to save all nations that will
accept Him and not only the chosen people of Israel just as the
shepherds represent the first men and women among the Jews who came to
believe in Christ.
Let’s now move
on to Joseph the Betrothed. In the Gospels Joseph comes across as being
the “strong silent type.” He doesn’t say much, but he does a lot by just
being there and by being himself, Joseph the righteous, the charitable,
the worker and provider, the foster father, the protector, the obedient,
the reliable, the available. Joseph represents the majority of us and
how we interpret events with human logic. He was confused and troubled
by the virginal conception; his logic told him that the innocent girl he
had betrothed was not so innocent after all. For her to be with child
meant that she had been unfaithful with another man because he certainly
hadn’t touched her. He jumped to the only conclusion his logic allowed.
But although his thoughts were rational and in line with most men, his
actions show that he was charitable. The normal reaction would have been
to accuse Mary and even give her a few slaps and then walk out in
disgust, but because he was a just person and charitable he didn’t say a
word to anyone, not even to Mary to accuse her of his suspected
infidelity; he didn’t rush to defend his wounded manhood: he gave
himself time to think of want he would do.
This is an important
lesson for each of us, because in our lives we often encounter difficult
situations involving people we love or know and we should not rush to
the first conclusion that comes to our head. Even in the most difficult
situations we should give ourselves time to cool down and think before
putting into action what our hot-tempered madness tells us to do. As
parents we worry for our children and one of the worst fears of parents
with teenage daughters is that one day they will come home saying that
they are pregnant. I have three daughters and although I hope I never
see such a day my logic tells me that they are growing up and in a few
years will start to date boys, so there is a real possibility of such a
thing happening. The possibility is even more real for me because as a
Priest I hear confessions at a senior school and often hear confessions
from teenage girls who have had abortions. What then would I do if one
of my girls came home with the news that she was pregnant? Naturally,
internally I would be mad and disappointed, but I hope I will also be
able to remain externally calm like Joseph. There would be no point in
abusing her either verbally of physically, the deed has been done: what
is needful is not to accuse and blame or to disown, but how to deal with
the situation in the best way possible.
Joseph’s
logical reasoning is also seen as a temptation and Satan would have done
his best by continually bombarding him with the thought that a virginal
conception is out of the question because it is opposed by the laws of
nature. Joseph was a pious man who trusted in God and he would certainly
have prayed to God to help him find a solution to the predicament he was
facing. God indeed helped Joseph by revealing to him the truth
surrounding the unexpected pregnancy and in that way helped Joseph not
only to overcome the temptation, but also to devote and offer himself as
the foster parent. Here again is another important lesson for us; we
should ask and trust God to help us overcome similar temptations, and to
always remember that nothing is impossible with God.
While still
remaining on the Nativity story I want to refresh your minds about
something I have said before because it has to do with human logical
reasoning which jumps to conclusions by only evaluating what appears on
the surface, but not taking into account what actually is. When western
minds read the Nativity story and the part that says:
“When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph,
before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost”
they automatically assume that because it says “before they came
together” then it is logical that they must have come together
afterwards. There are three reasons for their assumption, one because
the translation they read is not 100% correct, two because they
interpret with modern or western thoughts and do not understand that
each language has its own ways of expressions that cannot be conveyed in
another language without loosing the true meaning and three because they
are ignorant of Jewish Law and the customs that prevailed 2000 years
ago.
Matthew
mentions Mary as espoused, in other words as a fiancé, and a little
further down as wife. According to the ancient Jewish Law, the betrothal
was the preparation period before the wedding similar to as it is today.
The wedding took place when the man received the woman into his house.
But the betrothal was a binding relationship with obligations between
the betrothed. If for example the man died before the wedding, the woman
was considered a widow. After the betrothal and before the wedding, the
man was the legal husband and the bond could only be loosed if the man
gave the woman a written release and monetary compensation.
The verse in
question have been grossly misunderstood and even mistranslated by
western minds. When it says “before they came together”: naturally one
would assume that it means that they came together afterwards, but this
is a total misunderstanding of what is said in the original Greek. In
the Greek it is “πρίν
ἤ συνελθεῖν αὐτούς”. It is not in the past tense as
translated in English, but rather in the infinitive case and should
therefore read “before they were to come
together”. But even this does not refer to the coming together of
the flesh, but to the fact that Mary had not yet moved into Joseph’s
house. So in fact it is saying “before Mary went
to live together with Joseph”. It cannot mean the marital
relationship because the wedding had not yet taken place and Joseph had
not received his fiancé into his own home. The verse continues with “she
was found with child”. Who found her with child? This can only mean that
it came to Joseph’s knowledge that Mary was pregnant. The verse also
tells us that Mary was not pregnant before she was betrothed to Joseph
and then cunningly took Joseph as her betrothed to cover up some
dishonourable action. She conceived by some miraculous way that
surpasses our understanding by the Holy Ghost.
The next line is also
misunderstood. “Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not
willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away
privily.” How can the previous line say that Mary was betrothed and now
Joseph is called her husband? Did a marriage take place from the one
line to the next? No, here it confirms that even though Joseph was
betrothed to Mary; in the sight of the law he was already considered her
husband as she was considered his wife. What does it mean when it says
Joseph was minded to put her away privily? Was he thinking of killing
her and burying her body in secret? Again the answer is no. Joseph was a
just and righteous man who observed the Law of Moses. How could he
continue to have Mary as his wife who had clearly violated the marital
trust? How could he not comply with the law which clearly states to
dismiss a woman found with child by another man? How could he make a
public example of her? He had two choices according to the law: the
first was to bring her up before the council who if they found her
guilty would officially have her dismissed from the bonds of the
betrothal or act according to the law found in Leviticus which says that
those found guilty of adultery should be put to death by stoning. Joseph
being a just man doesn’t only refer to his faith in the law, but also to
his kind, compassionate, merciful and meek character. Seeing that his
conscience didn’t allow him to shame Mary publicly or to put her to
death he decided that the best way to resolve the problem was to
secretly send her away. This would have been a completely private
arrangement between the two of them and Joseph would have given her a
written release from the betrothal without mentioning the reason for the
separation.
The angel
tells Joseph “fear not to take unto thee Mary thy
wife:” here “fear” means don’t doubt or hesitate or don’t come up
against God by thinking that Mary is an adulteress.
“Take her unto thee” which again does not mean to take her in the
marital sense, but to take her into his home with the sole purpose of
protecting her. The angel then tells Joseph that Mary shall bring forth
a son and that he is to name the child Jesus. He doesn’t say that she
shall bring forth a son for you, because Joseph is not the father, but
by taking Mary into his home, he has according to the law the rights of
a father. Therefore the angel, acknowledging this right, tells him to
call his name Jesus. According to Jewish Tradition the father is the
only one who chooses the name of the newborn child. By giving Joseph the
lawful rights of a father, the angel is also telling him not to think
that just because the child is not his that he has not the duty to
comply with the divine economy and raise the child as if it were his
own.
Another
passage in the Nativity story that people find hard to understand is the
prophecy of Isaiah mentioned by Matthew “Behold, a
virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall
call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”
Here again we have a language problem. Matthew wrote his Gospel for the
Christians of Jewish descent. Thus he often resorts to the Prophets to
show them that in the person of Jesus Christ the Prophesies concerning
the Messiah are being fulfilled. Now, if before we were told that the
child would be named Jesus, why are we now told that they shall call his
name Emmanuel? The name given to the child by God and his parents is
indeed Jesus. The “they” in “they shall call his name” does not refer to
his parents, but to us the people who will recognize him as Emmanuel,
which as St. Matthew tells us means “God with us”. Thus in a language
that we understand today Isaiah’s prophecy would read: “Behold,
a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and the people shall recognized
him as God among us.” Or simply “The child
that is to be born will be recognized as God in the flesh.”
Possible the
most misunderstood and controversial of all the Nativity passages is the
one that says: Joseph “took unto him his wife: And
knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called
his name JESUS.” The troublesome words are “until” and “firstborn
son” At first glance the passage seems to suggest that after the birth
of Jesus, Joseph knew Mary intimately and even had other children with
her. But what is it actually saying? “And knew her not” means that even
though Joseph took her into his house and was legally recognized as his
wife, they continued to live as betrothed and had no sexual contact. The
word “until” doesn’t necessarily mean that after the birth they came
together. Matthew’s attention is completely devoted to the birth of
Jesus and not on whether Mary remained a virgin or not. He is giving us
details up to the birth and not after. Probably he was only given
information up to the birth and thus he leaves the after for each
individual to come to his own conclusion. But in scripture we come
across the word “until” many times and in many cases it does not mean a
change in the circumstances after its insertion. For example we have the
account in Genesis where Noah sent out from the ark a raven.
“And he sent forth a raven, and it went forth and
returned not “until” the water was dried from the earth.”
(Septuagint, Gen. 8:7) The passage seems to be saying that the raven
returned when the earth dried up. And indeed the water eventually dried
up from the earth, but the raven didn’t return. Another example of the
use of “until” is the passage from the Psalms and from the Gospels
“The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right
hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?” Are we
supposed to interpret this as meaning that Christ is to sit on the right
hand of the Father only “until” the submission of his enemies? Will not
Christ sit on the right hand even after this and forever and ever? So,
as with these examples, the use of the word “until” in the passage “And
knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son:” does not
necessarily denote a change, but as Joseph did not know Mary in the
marital sense before the birth, he did not know her even afterwards.
Matthew was concerned with the miraculous birth and not whether after
this great event in the history of mankind, the Virgin had other
children.
The word
firstborn again does not denote that he was the first among other
brothers and sisters, but that he is the first and only. In Isaiah its
say of God “I the Lord the first” does this
mean that there are other Lords besides the One God? No, it means I the
one and only God. When the Lord struck down the firstborn of the
Egyptians, it says that it also struck Pharaoh’s firstborn. This didn’t
mean that Pharaoh had other children; he had only that one child.
Lastly let’s
say a few words about Mary the Mother of God. The Mother of God holds a
special place in the Orthodox Church. She is exalted above all the
saints and the heavenly angels and praised with hymns like: ‘More
honourable than the cherubim and past compare more glorious than the
seraphim, who inviolate didst bear God the Word; Very Mother of God thee
we magnify’. In all the Church services, she is called by her full
title: Our Most Holy and undefiled, most blessed and glorious Lady,
Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary. The Church constantly reminds us of
her unique relationship with the Son of God, who didst deign to be
incarnate, taking of her flesh, thus becoming the Son of the Virgin. The
high degree of veneration should not be misunderstood in thinking that
the Church regards her as a substitute for Christ, who is our only
Saviour. The devotion given to the Mother of God has its root in her
unique position amongst men. The more we glorify the Mother of God, the
more we glorify the Son of God, for it is because of the Son that we
glorify the mother. Her holiness is seen in that she contained in her
womb, the divine glory of the Son of God and became a ladder reaching up
to heaven, thus uniting heaven and earth, the uncreated with the
created. Her womb became the throne of God and the temple of the
Godhead. It became more spacious and wider than the heavens, for whereas
the great expanse of the heavens cannot contain the Lord; yet he was
contained by the Virgin’s womb. She is as we say in Greek “Η Platytera
ton Ouranon” “She who is wider than the heavens.”
It was through the
Mother of God that the incarnation became possible. God became a man
voluntarily to save mankind, but to do this, He needed the free consent
of His mother; thus the incarnation was the work of the will of God and
the free will of man, a synergy [cooperation] of two wills: God’s and
the Virgin’s. Without the one or the other, the salvation of man could
not become possible and we would still live in the shadow of death. The
Mother of God became the doorway to heaven, which had been shut through
the sin of Adam.
It should be
noted that Mary was free to accept her election or to reject it, God
didn’t force it upon her against her will. Protestants wonder why we
give so much praise and veneration to the Mother of God and cannot
understand how we owe our salvation to her because she accepted this
heroic and greatest of callings to become the instrument through which
God would save mankind. We say heroic because she didn’t think of the
consequences to herself and how she was going to explain to her
betrothed that she was pregnant, who had every right to accuse her of
adultery and have her stoned to death. She put her complete trust in
God’s will and whatever the consequence of her obedience would surely be
also God’s will. “Behold the handmaid of the Lord;
be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1: 38) she said to the
Angel Gabriel.
In Mary we see a
person who had all the virtues we are striving to attain. She had
humility, chastity, prudence, obedience, faith and trust in God, heroic
unselfishness and love for mankind. For us Mary is not only the Mother
of Jesus Christ, but a mother to each of us. She is the archetype of
what a Christian should be. Whatever praise we give her it would never
be enough to thank her for what she did for us. Let us not think for a
moment that just any woman could have taken her place, if that was the
case then God could have selected any woman after the fall for the
purpose of his incarnation: he needn’t have waited more than 5000 years.
Of course Mary was born from a line of ancestors who were prepared by
God for this purpose, but only Mary was the right person because she was
the only person who managed to live without sin, choosing from her birth
to be guided by the Holy Spirit. It was her purity in both body and soul
that made her the perfect receptacle to receive the Creator and Saviour
of the world. If God was so selective in whom he considered worthy of
such an honour then this is telling us that we also must be pure to
receive him inside us.
We have seen
then what each person in the Christmas story represents and how they
identify with ourselves. They teach us that we should strive to be like
them, to acquire their virtues because it is these good qualities that
make us worthy and receptive vessels for Christ to be born in our
hearts. As we saw with the shepherds and the Wise men it doesn’t matter
what our standing in life is, God does not regard either earthly riches
or earthly knowledge, but only that we break down the barriers that keep
us from being with him by leading a virtuous life. Christmas then is not
just the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Nativity story with its
main characters teach and guide us like the star of Bethlehem the way
that leads to God. The Nativity story means change because it is not a
festival of creation but a festival of re-creation. It teaches us that
we must change; we must be re-born into Christ. The sole purpose of the
incarnation was to renew life, to transfigure the fallen state of
creation to the state that it will receive in the new age. This is the
true meaning of Christmas and if we were asked to define Christmas with
just one word it would be Salvation because everything God does that
concerns us and the whole world is for the salvation of mankind.
|
|
|
