Epistle to the Galatians
4:4-7
The Gospel According
to St. Matthew 2:1-12
Christ is
Born! Glorify Him!
The glorious feast of Christmas is
finally here, and what a wonderful and miraculous blessing it is. For the Eternal Word of God has become a
human being, a helpless babe laid in a manger.
Angels sing in His honor. The
lowly shepherds and the foreign wise men worship Him. A young virgin becomes a mother, not simply
of a Son, but of the Son of God. And kings tremble, for this baby brings to
earth a Kingdom not of this world.
The good news is that Jesus Christ
is born this day, not to judge or to destroy us, but to save and bless us. He is the Second Adam in Whom the corruption
of the first Adam is healed. By becoming
one of us, He brings us into the life of God.
We are made holy, we are fulfilled, we are raised to life eternal in
Him.
Our Lord brings His great joy to the
world humbly and peaceably. He does not arrive
in the earthly splendor of a king, with the military power of a conquering
general, or in the material comfort of the rich. Instead, He takes the lowest,
most vulnerable place for Himself: born
in a cave used as a barn to a family that lived under the oppression of the
Roman Empire and the cruelty of Herod.
Soon Joseph would take the Virgin Mary and the young Jesus to Egypt by
night, fleeing for their lives from a wicked, murderous king. What a difficult, lowly way to come into a
dark and dangerous world.
But when we pause to consider the
glory of our Lord’s Incarnation, we shouldn’t be surprised at all. For what does it mean for the Immortal One to
put on mortality? What does it mean for
the One Who spoke the world into existence to become part of that creation? What does it mean for the King of the
universe to become subject to the kings of the world? Let’s be clear: it means humility and
selfless, suffering love that are beyond what we can understand. For our Lord, God, and Savior is not a
rational concept to be defined, but a Person whose life we are to share. And so that we could share in His life, He
entered into ours, sanctifying every bit of the human experience, every bit of
our life, literally from the womb to the tomb that could not contain Him.
The wise men and the shepherds show
us how to respond to the unbelievably good news that God has become a human
being: they worship Him. Let us follow their example this Christmas
season by worshiping Him with our lives, by opening ourselves to the glorious
transformation that the Incarnate Son of God has brought to us. For Christ is born, and the peace and joy of
God’s kingdom are ours even as we live and breathe in this world. Christ is born, and we encounter Him in every
human being, especially the poor, needy, weak, and outcast. Christ is born, and we are made participants
in the eternal life for which we were created.
Yes, this wonderful news really is
true. And the only limits on the
blessing of Christmas are those that we place on ourselves. For the One Who comes as a humble, meek,
peaceable baby in a manger never forces us or anyone else. He is the Mystery of Love made flesh for our
salvation.
This Christmas, let us be like Mary
the Theotokos who received Him with joy, like the elder Joseph His steadfast
protector, and like the strange combination of shepherds and Persian
astrologers who first worshiped Him.
Let us welcome Him into our life, for He has already brought us into
His.
Christ is
Born! Glorify Him!
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