Homily VII for the Nativity of Christ
Saint Leo the Great (Pope 440-461)
I. The true participant and pious admirer of today's celebration, beloved, is the one who does not think unbecoming of the Incarnation of the Lord and unworthy of the Divinity, for it is equally dangerous to deny the truth of our nature [in Christ] and the equality of His paternal glory. Therefore, when we strive to comprehend the Mystery of the Nativity of Christ (whose birth we owe to the Virgin Mother), then let the darkness of earthly fabrications dissolve before the enlightened eyes of faith and the fog of worldly wisdom dissipate (Eph. 1:18), for how divine is the power by which We entrust ourselves, so is the Divine teaching that we follow.
Listening with our inner ears to the fulfillment of the law, the testimony of the prophets, the gospel trumpet, [we must always remember that] what is true for us is what blessed John, filled with the Holy Spirit, declared: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It was in the beginning with God. Everything came into being through Him, and without Him nothing came into being...(John 1:1-3).
So, in both natures there is one and the same Son of God - who accepts what is ours and does not lose His own; renewing man in man, and preserving inviolability in Himself. After all, the Divinity, which for Him is common with the Father, did not allow any damage to omnipotence and did not cloud the image of God with the image of a servant (Phil. 2: 6-7), for the highest and eternal Essence, which bowed Himself for the salvation of the human race, drawing us to His glory, did not destroy the Divine. And when the Only Begotten of God recognizes Himself as less than the Father (John 14:28), about equality with Whom He previously spoke (John 10:30), then by this He reveals in Himself the truth of both natures. Difference indicates human nature, and equality reveals Divine nature.
II. The physical birth did not add anything to the greatness of the Son, but also did not take anything away from Him, because the unshakable essence can neither decrease nor increase. And the fact that the Word became flesh does not mean at all that the nature of God turned into flesh, but that the flesh was accepted by the Word into the unity of the Person. In the seed of flesh the whole man was received, and when this flesh was fertilized by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Ever-Virgin, the Son was so inseparably united with the Father that, being born timeless from the essence of the Father, he was at the same time born temporal from the womb of the Virgin. And if He Who omnipotently abided in His own had not been in our humiliated [state], then we would not have been able to free ourselves from the shackles of eternal death.
So, our Lord Jesus Christ, being born as a true man and without ceasing to remain true God, laid in Himself the beginning of a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), and in the image of His birth He gave the human race a spiritual foundation, so that, eliminating participation in the carnal kind, the emergence of those reborn would occur without the seed of crime, for it is said about them: Who were born neither of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God(John 1:13). What mind is able to comprehend this Sacrament, what language can express such mercy? Injustice is transformed into honesty and dilapidation into newness; strangers join in, strangers inherit. The wicked beget the righteous, the stingy beget the wise, the intemperate beget the chaste, the earthly beget the heavenly (1 Cor. 15:49).
What is behind such transformations, if not the right hand of the Most High (Ps. 76:11)? After all, the Son of God came to upset the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) and thus contained Himself in us and us in Himself, so that the descent of God to the human turned into the ascent of the human to the Divine.
III. With the help, beloved, of the mercy of God (all the generosity of which we are not able to comprehend), Christians should beware with great care, so as not to again be captured by the devil’s machinations and not fall once again into those traps about which we have already been warned (2 Pet.2:20). For, having become like an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14), the ancient enemy did not stop placing snares of deception everywhere and threatening that he would shake our faith in any way. He found out in whom it is possible to arouse the heat of passion, in whom it is possible to instill the temptation of gluttony, in whom he can be pushed to acquire luxury, and in whom he can be imbued with the bile of envy. He knows who to confuse with sadness, who to confuse with joy, who to strike with fear, and who to seduce with admiration. He destroys the norms of community life, chills care, upsets affairs, and there he looks for a reason to cause harm, wherever he notices that someone should be even more entangled. He rules over many of those whom he has bewitched with his charms and subjugated unquestioningly, and uses their abilities and lips to seduce others. They promise [seduced by the devil] the healing of ailments, the prediction of the future, the propitiation of demons and the expulsion of ghosts. They also include those who try to explain any phenomenon in our lives by the influence of the stars, and attribute everything that is either in the Divine or in our power to inexorable fate. Finally, just to add insult to injury, they solemnly assure that this fate can be changed if prayers are offered to hostile stars. But the wicked plan is destroyed by its very essence, since if what was predicted may not come, then one should not be afraid of fate, and if it comes in any case, then there is no need to turn to the stars with prayer.
IV. Such fabrications also give rise to such wickedness that the completely unreasonable worship from an elevated place the sun rising in the rays of the morning dawn, and other Christians have already considered themselves so religious that before going to the church of the blessed Apostle Peter, which is dedicated to the only Living and True God , ascending the steps leading to the upper platform, and turning to the rising sun, they worship it and, bowing their necks, give praise to the shining disk.
We greatly mourn and grieve over what is generated partly by the vice of ignorance, partly by pagan superstition, for although it is possible that they all reverence the Creator of the wonderful light more than the created light itself, we should avoid even the very hint of this ritual. After all, when someone who has left idolatry comes to us, will he be able to abandon the ancient superstition (which is present in him along with acceptable [views]), seeing that it is characteristic of both the pagan and the Christian?
Therefore, let reprehensible behavior be excluded from the practice of the faithful, and let the rites of those who worship created things not affect the honor due to God alone. For the Divine Scripture says: Worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone(Matt. 4:10). And blessed Job, a man without reproach, as the Lord says, and moving away from evil(Job 1:8), said: Looking at the sun, how it shines, and the moon, how it moves majestically, was I deceived in the secret of my heart and did my lips kiss my hand? This would also be a crime subject to trial; because I would then renounce the Most High God?(Job 31:26–28). What is the sun and what is the moon, if not the manifestation of visible creation and tangible light, one of which is more radiant, the other less radiant? Daytime and nighttime are different, which is why the Creator created a distinction between the luminaries, but before this became so, there was a day without the usual sun and a night without the moon.
They were created for the benefit of man, so that a rational being would not be confused either in recognizing the months, or in the cycle of years, or in calculating time. For the sun sets the order of the different durations of the hours, the various constellations in the morning sky, as well as the years, and the moon at the same time controls the change of months. Indeed, on the fourth day, as we read ...God said: let there be lights in the expanse of the heaven [to illuminate the earth and] to separate the day from the night, and for signs, and seasons, and days, and years; and let them be lamps in the firmament of the heaven to shine on the earth(Gen.1:14-15).
V. Take heart, O man, and know the dignity of your nature. Remember that you were created in the image of God, which, although it was distorted in Adam, was then restored in Christ. And use it in the same way as you should use tangible things and as you find use for the earth, sea, sky, air, sources of water and fire. Whatever is beautiful and wonderful in them, attribute it to the glory of the Creator. And do not be a slave to that light, which also delights birds and reptiles, wild animals and livestock, flies and worms. Feel the bodily light with your organs of vision, but at the same time, with every movement of your mind, comprehend that true Light, Who enlightens every person who comes into the world(John 1:9) and about whom the prophet says: Those who turned their gaze to Him were enlightened, and their faces will not be ashamed(Ps. 33:6). If we are the temple of God, and the Holy Spirit dwells in us (1 Cor. 3:16), then what every believer holds in his heart is much greater than what attracts our attention in heaven.
But, beloved, we do not proclaim and advise you this so that you will be arrogant about what God has created or say something contrary to your faith about what the good God has made good (Gen. 1:18), but so that to use wisely and moderately all the beauty of creation and all the splendor of this world, as the Apostle says: ...for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal(2 Cor. 4:18). So, being born for the present, and reborn for the future, we must devote ourselves not to temporary, but to lasting good. And in order to better discern our hope, we recognize in the very Sacrament of the Nativity of the Lord what Divine grace has given to our nature. So let us listen to the Apostle who says: For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, your life, appears, then you will appear with Him in glory(Col.3:3–4) - with Him who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Nativity
Schema-Archimandrite John (Maslov)
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!
Christ is born, praise...
Our Lord Jesus Christ came to earth to save the human race. Only He, the Only Begotten Son of God, the Angel of the Eternal Covenant, the Peacemaker of the universe, the Destroyer of the kingdom of the devil, the Lord of heaven, earth and hell, the coming Judge, could perceive and bear all our sins in order to destroy them with His Cross. On Him, according to the prophet Isaiah, rested the Spirit of God, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and piety. And so, after the fulfillment of times, this Head of the world, the Mighty God, the Beginningless Word of God, the Almighty of the flesh, reclines in a beastly manger. A manger, swaddling clothes, a nativity scene... What vivid images of earthly misery and at the same time Divine humility! At the same time, what an incomprehensible height and richness of the Wisdom of God in this greatest event! The den in which the Virgin gives birth to the Creator becomes higher than paradise.
In such an earthly situation, the Son of God, the immutable Image of the Father, takes on the form of a slave. Thus the Beginningless One begins, the Ethereal One is embodied and the Invisible One is seen. From the virgin wombs, as from a cloud, the Unsetting Sun shone to enlighten the entire sunflower with the light of the knowledge of God and eternal truth. The earth has become the sky. The spring of grace came upon her, dispersing the winter of godlessness. Christ the Savior in His incarnation accepted poverty similar to ours. The rich became poor in order to enrich us with grace, who were made poor by sin and the malice of the devil.
While the mystery of the Nativity of Christ was taking place in the den, people slept both in natural sleep and in spiritual sleep. Only the humble shepherds of Bethlehem were honored to behold this Divine miracle and to hear from heavenly heights the wondrous singing of the countless angelic host: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
With the birth of Christ the Savior from the Virgin Mary, human nature in His Person was inseparably and inseparably united with the Divine nature. The Savior of the world, having accepted our nature, united us with Himself, sanctified, deified and exalted us above the heavens. And if hitherto man was in darkness and the shadow of death, now in Christ he is a new creation, an heir to eternal life.
Christ the Savior is the Founder of humanity renewed by grace, the New Adam and the Restorer of the original state of grace, the state inherent in human nature before the Fall.
In festive church hymns on this occasion it is said that the Nativity of Christ brought true knowledge of God to earth, opened the path for people to liberation from sin, the path to victory over death and the devil. It laid the foundation for the enlightenment and deification of man by grace, and opened up for people paradise and the bliss of eternal communion with God.
With the Nativity of Christ, the seduction of people by idols gradually ceased. The pagan peoples, drowned since ancient times by waves of passions, having believed in Christ, began to resist sin. The immeasurable wealth of Christ's grace received by man restored in him the image and likeness of God and freed him from slavery to passions.
From the Holy Scriptures we know that before the atoning sacrifice of Christ the Savior, all souls moved, at the end of people’s earthly lives, not to heavenly villages, but to hell. However, their hopelessness did not last forever. While in hell, they heard from the prophets that the Deliverer, the Savior of the world, was coming to them. And when the righteous Simeon the God-Receiver departed from this deplorable vale and announced “to those in hell” that he had already seen the Divine Infant and Savior and held Him in his arms, then, according to church hymns, all of hell was filled with blessed tears of repentance. From that moment on, everyone in hell began to wait for Christ’s imminent coming to them. The grace of the Holy Spirit, through the born Infant of God, has already penetrated all the boundaries of the universe. From that moment on, the devil lost his power over man.
Thus, with the birth of the Divine Infant Christ, the path to the tree of life was opened for people, to eating the food of heaven, which they were once deprived of for disobedience to God, and a conveniently passable path to heaven was laid out for everyone.
What does humanity bring to the Infant Christ? According to one of the church hymns, each of the creatures that came through Him brings thanks to Him: the angels bring singing, the heavens bring a star, the wise men bring gifts, the shepherds preach a miracle, the earth prepares a den, the desert a manger. We are the Mother of the Virgin... the animated city of the King and God, in which Christ, having lived, accomplished salvation.
When contemplating the Nativity of Christ, church hymns, filled with spiritual delight, call upon all creation to rejoice. Today let heaven and earth rejoice! Let the mountains, hills, valleys, rivers and seas play and rejoice! Let angels and men rejoice, for now Christ has come for the renewal and salvation of our souls. Sing and rejoice now, all the kingdoms of the earth, rejoice, you fatherland of nations! Leap, prophetic host, seeing today the fulfillment of your words!
Let us offer up, fathers, brothers and sisters, our fervent prayers to the Divine Infant Christ, that He would grant us all the abundant gifts of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which would help us complete our earthly journey in holiness and piety and achieve eternal rest in heaven. Amen.
Nativity
Priest Pavel Adelgeim
Sing to the Lord, all the earth
And sing with joy, people,
How famous you are! (Canon of Christmas)
The Church calls us to meet Christ the Savior, who is born on earth “for our sake as men and for our salvation.” Joy and wonder accompany the birth of every child. Birth is always a joy and a miracle. Usually a narrow circle of relatives and friends rejoices at the birth. But today the Church calls upon the whole Earth to rejoice. Let us obey her, let us connect with our hearts and direct our thoughts to the event of the Nativity of Christ.
The Gospel describes Christmas with touching artlessness. By order of Caesar, every inhabitant of the country went to his own city for a census. From distant Nazareth, Joseph came to Bethlehem with his betrothed Mary, who was expecting a child. It's time to give birth. But there was no room for them in the hotel. Mary gave birth to a son, swaddled him and placed him in a manger. The ox and the donkey stood by the manger and warmed the child with their breath.
Angels were the first to preach the Nativity of Christ. At night the shepherds guarded the flock. Suddenly an angel appeared to them. The shepherds were afraid. But the angel said: “Do not be afraid, I proclaim to you great joy that will be to all people. Nina was born to you in the city of David, the Savior of history is Christ the Lord. And here is a sign for you: you will find a baby lying in a manger.”
“And suddenly a large army of heaven appeared, praising God and crying: “Glory to God in the cherries, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
Another preacher of Christmas was the Christmas star. It caught fire in the sky on Christmas Day, and the wise men from the distant East equipped a caravan to worship the born King, and brought Him gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh.
The Nativity of Christ was not a random event. It was promised to Adam and Eve in paradise: "The seed of the woman will erase the head of the serpent", since then the ancient righteous lived and died with faith in the coming birth of Christ the Savior. From generation to generation, from mouth to mouth, they passed on mysterious prophecies about Christ. It was the most intimate and joyful secret of their lives. These prophecies are preserved in the Bible. Every year during the Christmas service these prophecies are read in church. The Lord Christ constantly refers to these prophecies, convincing the Jews: “Search the Scriptures, for in them you hope to have eternal life. They testify of Me.”
I will give here several prophecies about the time, place and circumstances of the Nativity of Christ. The prophet Isaiah speaks of the birth of Christ from the Virgin: “Behold, the virgin will be with child and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Emmanuel.” Here is the prophecy of the Book of Numbers about the time and place of the birth of Christ: "I see Him, but now not yet. I see Him, but not close. A star rises from Jacob and a rod rises from Israel." The prophet Micah prophesies about the birth of Christ in Bethlehem: “And you, Bethlehem, the land of Judah, are in no way less than the provinces of Judah, for from you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” The prophet Daniel surprisingly accurately determines the time of Christ’s birth: “Know and understand therefore: from the time the commandment goes out to restore Jerusalem until Christ the Master there are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. And the people will return and streets and walls will be built, but in difficult times. And after the sixty-two weeks they are betrayed Christ will be, and will not be, and the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed." And the covenant will be established for many in one week, and in the half of the week, sacrifice and offering will cease, and on the wing of the sanctuary will be the abomination that makes desolate." Psalm 71 speaks of the worship of the Magi: “The kings of Tarshish and the isles will bring Him tribute, the kings of Arabia and Sheba will bring gifts.” Isaiah says the same: “They will all come from Savi, bring gold and incense and proclaim the glory of the Lord.”
Today the festive joy of Christmas fills our hearts. We are glad that the prophecies about the birth of the Divine Infant Christ have been fulfilled. With the Nativity of Christ, a new era began - the Christian era. In modern science, all human history is divided by the event of Christmas into two eras: before the Nativity of Christ - and after the Nativity of Christ. Christmas has become the central point of reference, the beginning of time coordinates. Both in the future and in the past, the countdown of years increases in the direction - from Christmas to the beginning of time, and - from Christmas to the end of time. Ends and beginnings remain hidden for us in the depths of centuries, and the Nativity of Christ is our eternal present. This is the center of human history, the zero point in time, the eternal root of history, from which both historical branches grow - past and future. The incarnation of the Son of God, as it were, broke time, bent human history and folded it in half, making past and future symmetrical. One half of time was reflected in the other. As in a mirror, the events of modern times are reflected in the prophecies of ancient times. This reflection of the future in the past will persist until the end of history. God knows the passage of time. He does not hide it from us either, revealing it in living images of the ancient prophecies of the Apocalypse.
This is where the universal joy of Christmas becomes clear. The expected happened and filled human history with meaning. “Thy Nativity, Christ our God, the Rising of the World sows reason!”
Without Christ, human history seemed to go “from nowhere to nowhere.” It had no beginning, no end, no meaning. While history did not have a mystical center, it was perceived not as history, but as a concatenation of random events, phenomena, facts, i.e. like chaos, like nonsense. The Nativity of Christ tied together the beginnings and ends of times, and illuminated them with the light of Reason. Human history has revealed its roots in eternity. Now we know the story makes sense. Every human destiny has meaning. God became incarnate for each of us. For the sake of each of us, God bound Himself to a human fate. The Incarnation of the Son of God reveals the infinite value of every human destiny. Time intersected with eternity, human history intersected with the Kingdom of God through the birth of Christ. The Kingdom of God and human history are not alien to each other. We are not strangers to God. Through the incarnation of the Son of God, we became God’s own: “We are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens of the saints and members of God’s family,” says the apostle. Paul. And we boldly testify that God is with us!
Yes, God is with us! Not there in the azure tent,
Not beyond countless worlds.
Not in an evil fire, and not in a stormy breath,
And not in the fallen memory of centuries.
He is here, now amidst the random bustle,
In the muddy stream of life's anxieties.
You possess a joyful secret:
Powerlessly evil. We are eternal. God is with us!
Christ is born - praise,
Christ from heaven - hide it,
Christ on earth - ascend,
Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Let the light of the Christmas star enter your home. Then the tasks of our temporary life, our human desires and hopes will be illuminated with eternal meaning.
God came down to earth to raise man to heaven.
God became incarnate so that man could become deified.
God became like us, man, so that man could become like God.
May our earthly joys - so fragile and temporary - be filled with the hope of eternal stay with God.
Let our sorrows and sorrows - the most acute and painful - not lead us to cowardice and despondency.
They will pass. They will pass, as everything passes on earth when a person is capable of patience and fidelity. There is no place for despondency in the soul of a Christian, for we know that GOD IS WITH US!
Priest Pavel Adelgeim. Pskov diocese.
Every second four people are born on Earth (US Census Bureau International Program Center). Imagine: while you were reading these words, at least 20 people were born in the world. But none of those who have been born or will be born, as well as of the other seven billion people living on earth, can even remotely approach the significance of the birthday that the One and Only One to whom the Christmas holiday is dedicated.
Terrorist attacks, murders, refugees, war rumors...
Yet for clarity and understanding of the meaning of this event, the following must be repeated: The Born Savior is not just a Child, serving as an occasion for the entertainment of children, the celebration of adults, or the exchange of gifts; Christmas is the greatest event in the world, when God, the Lord and Creator of the Universe, taking the form of a man, came to earth in order to atone for our sins and give us joy!
Background of joy
“The glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were afraid with great fear” (Luke 2:9). This is a description of what happened to the shepherds on Christmas night. And this has a special meaning. This is not about some slight scare, a prank or something similar, this is about fear, and great fear. In other words, the shepherds were horrified. What caused such enormous fear? They saw a glimpse of another world. And he amazed them with his greatness, glory, scale, incomprehensibility.
At the same time, the shepherds saw their insignificance, and therefore the difference between the two worlds. On the one hand, a brilliant angel who suddenly appeared. On the other - a flock of sheep, dirty, sweat-soaked clothes and the coals of a fire.
But that's not even the point. The shepherds felt a much greater difference in their spiritual position before God. This was the cause of their great fear. When the Lord lifts the veil of the Universe, human pride evaporates, and he falls to his knees before the Almighty. In great fear. There can be no other reaction.
By the way, such a reaction to a meeting with God appeared immediately as soon as a person sinned. Remember what Adam, who hid from God, said: “I heard Your voice in paradise, and... (so what? - author) I was afraid” (Gen. 3:10).
This is where this fear comes from, its nature. Having discovered his dirt, inconsistency, sinfulness against the background of the Holy Perfect God, who appears in the light of the spotlights of celestial bodies, a sinful person falls into fear and despair. Surprisingly it is precisely this state that is the greatest benefit for him. Because the fear of God becomes a prerequisite for finding joy; the first step on the path to happiness is awareness of one’s misfortune, the first step on the path to forgiveness is understanding one’s guilt, the beginning of purification invariably passes through the discovery of one’s own dirt.
The prophet Isaiah walked a similar path and saw the Lord sitting on the throne: “Woe is me! I'm dead! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people also of unclean lips, and mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5). After which I received cleansing.
Why do many people today have no joy? It is known that in the modern world the most common mental disorder is depression. Every tenth person over the age of 40 suffers from it.
Why is that? Because the prerequisite for joy is not the same fear. What we are afraid of today is not what we need to be afraid of. Humanity has generally gone into the wilds and gotten lost. Let's try to honestly admit what we fear most often today. What reasons cause fear in modern man?
– Financial instability, loss of job, income, and even comfort;
– Terrorist attacks, high-profile murders, refugees, war rumors;
– Diseases, fatal and non-fatal, loss of loved ones and relatives...
All these fears are not something illegal or unnatural. This is all quite normal. The only problem is that there is no fear of God. Who is God that we should fear Him? “Where is God when I suffer?” etc. Thus, the prerequisites for joy are completely confused, incorrect, false. Maybe that's why it doesn't exist?
The shepherds had the right conditions for joy. They were in awe of God and His glory. The basis for true joy is fear—the fear of God, and no other. It is also important to understand this because such understanding gives a correct idea of the causes of joy.
Reason for joy
The reason is simple and lies on the surface. The angel voiced it: “Do not be afraid; I bring you good tidings of great joy that will be to all people...” (Luke 2:10).
You don't need to be afraid. The fact that you were afraid of your sinfulness in the rays of God's holiness is good. This is the basis, the premise. I didn’t even bring you news that could cause joy, but I brought you joy itself! And it lies in the fact that God has come now not as the Almighty, before whom the angels cover their faces, not as a formidable Judge, but born to you. To you! For you! And this joy will be for all people: “For today a Savior has been born to you in the city of David, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).
A radical, unprecedented change in the relationship: man - God. The same God whom Adam feared, the same Lord from whose contemplation Isaiah fell into despair, the same Creator who, with a wave of his hand, plunged Sodom and Gomorrah into burning brimstone, the same one who punishes abomination and punishes for sins, but...
But now there is no need to fear Him, He came as a deliverer, He is with us, He became like us, to give us peace, to “reconcile all things to Himself” (Col. 1:20) and give true joy.
And again the question is: why? Why do many modern people have no joy? Because they have not only lost their settings in terms of the prerequisites for joy, but they have managed to lose the reason for it. I suggest checking again: what are people happy about?
– A Christmas gift – a computer game, a new blouse, suit or perfume;
– Purchases and successful sales;
– A new house or a beautiful car;
– A “cool” bag, a seventh iPhone and jeans torn at the factory...
Today, when people literally live on the Internet and iPhones, the greatest cause for joy can be a banal like. And this is by no means a joke.
That's the problem. People live in a state of fear and swallow antidepressants because they have lost the real reason for joy, replacing it with completely untenable objects that only pretend to be able to bring joy, but this is a mirage, a deception, a path to a dead end.
During the Christmas season, it’s time and reason to return to the real source of joy, to rediscover the truth, which is that “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” ( 2 Cor. 4:6). But the knowledge of the glory of God is not in order to be afraid, but in order to understand the favor of the Creator and hasten to take advantage of the granted right to forgiveness.
So, we discovered the connection between Christmas and joy in the prerequisites for joy and in the reasons for it. But it is also visible in fruits. Yes, I want to repeat this truth: the joy given by the Lord is not fruitless.
Fruits of Joy
Let's pay attention to verses 17 and 20 of the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke. Two points attract attention.
- They told about what was announced to them;
– They returned (to where they experienced fear) and began to glorify and praise God.
Look, you can claim to be a Christian as much as you want. And even vigorously feign joy about this. But without these two proofs, all of our Christianity is zilch.
The first fruit, the result of true joy, is to tell what was announced to you about the Child. Why did He come, how did He come, and why do you rejoice. The second is to glorify and praise God.
No, this does not mean that you came to church on Christmas and then calmed down for six months. Until Easter. Many, by the way, say this: “This is how it turns out, no matter how I come to church, it’s either Christmas or Easter.”
Glorifying and praising God is when He reigns in your life, He is on the throne, and you glorify Him. He fills your mind, your plans, your deepest dreams, when His will concerns you most. Then you become the bearer of eternal, enduring joy, which no force in the universe can deprive you of. It's not just saying, "I bring you great joy." This is the Truth that needs to be understood and accepted.
Do we want to have joy? Real, everlasting. The answer to this question lies within the feeling of who the born Savior is for you. In other words, I just really want to invite us all to experience a special joy: “Let us go to Bethlehem and see what has happened there, which the Lord has told us about” (Luke 2:15).
I found some interesting material on the Internet - a sermon by John Chrysostom dedicated to Christmas. He pronounced it on December 25, 386 in Antioch. Very interesting material and how the saint argues for the celebration of this event. By the way, it is clear from the text that there were disputes about this even then. I quote the text in full. At the end there is a link to the source where I found it on the Internet, and where it was first published in Russian. If something is wrong, correct it.
CHRISTMAS SERMON
SPEAKED BY JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
DECEMBER 25, 386 AD IN ANTIOCH
Today we celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ, our Savior. But strangely enough, only a few know about this day. And we only learned about it a few years ago from Western Christians.
What in ancient times the patriarchs wanted to see and what they languished about, what was foretold by the prophets and what the righteous were waiting for, came true on that day. God appeared on earth in the flesh and “spoke among people” (Bar. 3:38). Therefore, beloved, let us rejoice and be glad. Didn't John leap in the womb of his mother Elizabeth when Mary visited her? Today, however, we look not at Mary, but at the newborn Savior Himself. Therefore, we should rejoice much more and look with amazement at this great mystery that surpasses our understanding. How surprised we would be if we saw the sun descending from heaven, which, moving across the earth, would generously send out its blessed rays to all living things! Wouldn't what happened fill those who saw it with amazement? But the sun is just a giver of visible light. Now look and appreciate how much more important it is that the Sun of Truth sends its beneficial rays that penetrate our bodily nature and illuminate our souls.
For a long time I longed to see this day and to see him in the midst of a large congregation. I have always wanted many people to attend our prayer meetings, as we are seeing now. This wish truly came true. Less than ten years have passed since we were informed about this day, and this holiday has already become so solemn thanks to your zeal for piety, which reminds us of the zeal of the believers of ancient times. Therefore, we have every reason to call this holiday new, as well as old. It is new because we only recently became aware of it. It is old and popular because it quickly became one of the most important holidays of antiquity. Just like a tree planted in a garden, it grows quickly, becomes big, and, look, its branches are already bending from the fruit. Such is this holiday, which has been known to people in the West for a long time, but has been celebrated by us for only a few years. To the same extent, it has acquired significance and is already bearing abundant fruit. We see this in the overcrowded church, which has already become cramped for such a mass of people gathered here. Your zeal will be marked by Christ, who was born today in the flesh. Surely He will reward your pious motives. The love and interest you showed on this day is the best proof of your love for the One whose birth we celebrate. However, if you show attention to me, your co-servant, then, wanting to reward you to some extent, I will do everything I can, as far as God has given me His love, and I will say what will serve you for salvation.
So, what would you like to hear from me today? I am sure that you would like me to talk more about this holiday. I know very well that many even now still argue about it. Some are for, others are against it. Talk about this holiday can be heard from all sides. Picky people point out that it is too early to decide whether to celebrate it or not. Proponents say that this is a very ancient holiday: did not the prophets prophesy about the birth of the Lord, and was not this day well known and celebrated from ancient times from Tarsus to Cadiz? Let the Nativity of Christ be the theme of my sermon. And if you are so inclined towards this holiday, although disputes about the validity of its celebration are still ongoing, then you will decorate it even more with your jealousy, as soon as you tell more about it. And when your knowledge increases, for which this teaching is intended, then we will have even more disposition for this holiday.
I want to present three compelling arguments from which it will become clear that it was on this day that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Divine Word, was born, like every man. The first argument I see is that this holiday became widely known in a fairly short time and many people approved of its celebration. Gamaliel once said regarding the gospel: “...if this work... is of men, it will be destroyed, but if it is of God, then you cannot destroy it” (Acts 5:38-39). I dare to hold the same point of view regarding today's celebration, because it is from God. Instead of being consigned to oblivion, this day becomes more significant and solemn every year. Within a few years, the preaching of the Gospel spread throughout the entire inhabited world, although the preachers were tent makers, fishermen, completely simple and sometimes poorly educated people who carried the gospel everywhere. The simplicity and insignificance of the ministers of the Gospel played no part. It was the inner power of the Word of God, which they proclaimed with the authority inherent in this Word, that took possession of people and overcame all obstacles.
If, however, anyone, wishing to argue, is not inclined to agree with what has been said, then I have another argument. What he really is? “In those days,” the evangelist narrates, “a command came from Caesar Augustus to make a census throughout the entire earth. This census was the first during the reign of Quirinius in Syria. And everyone went to sign up, each to his own city. Joseph also went from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, called Bethlehem, because he was from the house and family of David, to enroll with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for Her to give birth; and she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:1-7).
From this it follows that the Lord was born during the first census. Anyone who wishes to read about this census in the ancient manuscripts kept in Rome can find out exactly when it was taken. But you say: “What does this have to do with us, since we do not live in Rome and do not intend to go there?” However, listen carefully and don't be so disbelieving. We know about this holiday from people who lived in Rome and knew exactly about this event. It was the Romans, who had been celebrating Christmas for a long time, according to ancient legends, who now reported it to us.
The Evangelist not only points to the event itself, but first of all notes on what day our Lord was born, and only then reveals to us the plans of Divine Providence. The fact that Emperor Augustus issued a decree at that time was not the result of his personal motives or whims: the Lord Himself gave such an intention to the emperor, making him an obedient executor of His plans, so that he could promote the coming of the Son of God in the flesh of man. But how could this census contribute to the implementation of the Divine plan? Not a little, dear listeners, not a little, but a lot. In essence, it was very necessary and very important. Galilee is a region of Palestine, and Nazareth is a city in Galilee. Judea was also one of the regions, and Bethlehem was a city in Judea. However, as we know, all the prophets predicted that the Redeemer would come not from Nazareth, but from Bethlehem, where He would be born. For it is thus written: “And you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, are you small among the thousands of Judah? from you will come to me one who is to be ruler in Israel, and whose origin was from the beginning, from the days of eternity” (Mic. 5:2). Therefore, it was not in vain that the Jews, when Herod asked them about the place where the Savior was to be born, drew his attention to this prophecy. The words of Christ that He said to Nathanael are also consistent with this event: “This is truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile” (John 1:47). For when Philip said to Nathanael: “We have found the One about whom Moses in the law and the prophets wrote, Jesus... of Nazareth” (Savior), Nathanael immediately answered: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:45-46). The question is, why did Jesus praise Nathanael? But because Nathanael did not succumb to suggestion and did not immediately accept Philip’s assurance, being sure that the Savior could not be born either in Nazareth or in Galilee in general, but in Judea, as it happened. Philip did not know this, but Nathanael knew it well. He was well versed in the Scriptures and knew that the Messiah would not come from Nazareth, so his answer was in accordance with ancient prophecies. This was the reason why the Lord said: “This is truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile.” There is other evidence. The Jews said to Nicodemus: “Look and you will see that no prophet comes from Galilee” (John 7:52). Another text reads: “Does not the Scripture say that Christ will come from the seed of David and from Bethlehem, from the place from which David was?” (John 7:42). So, the general opinion was: the Savior will come precisely from Bethlehem, and not from Galilee.
It often happens that people leave the city in which they were born and move to another, far from their place of birth. This is what Joseph and Mary did. Although they were citizens of Bethlehem, they left that city and moved to Nazareth. But Christ was born in Bethlehem! This was the plan of Divine Providence. The decree of Emperor Augustus, according to which everyone had to register in their own city, forced Joseph and Mary to come to Bethlehem. It is to this event that the evangelist refers to in his description given above: “Joseph also went from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, called Bethlehem, because he was from the house and family of David, to enroll with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for Her to give birth; and she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:4-7).
So, beloved, you have seen the principles and power of Divine Providence, which carries out His intentions not only through believers, but also through unbelievers, so that those who neglect piety will recognize the power and omnipotence of God. The star brought the wise men from the East, and the imperial decree brought Mary to her hometown, which had long been indicated by the prophets. This journey also proves that the Virgin was from the house and family of David. For if she came from Bethlehem by birth, then it is clear that she was also from the house of David. The Evangelist has already told us about this in the text cited earlier. We read: “Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David.” It speaks of Joseph's ancestry and says nothing of Mary's ancestors. So, so that you do not doubt and are not tormented by the question whether she comes from the house of David, listen to what was said about this earlier: “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a husband, in the name of Joseph, of the house of David; the name of the Virgin is Mary” (Luke 1:26-27). It must be assumed that the attached phrase "from the house of David" refers to the Virgin. So, the origin of Mary is also spoken here.
It is now clear why the decree, or decree, that brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem was issued at that time. Immediately upon his arrival in the city, Jesus was born. Now we begin to understand why he was forced to be in a manger: because people at that time from all sides were rushing to Bethlehem for the census and, as a result, had great difficulty in finding housing. It was there that the wise men worshiped Jesus.
However, I will give one more proof, a third, clearer and more convincing. I will ask for special attention, as I must bring to your attention detailed research and extracts from ancient laws, so that my preaching will be in every respect understandable and easily understood. I will start from a more distant time. When God brought the Jewish people out of their miserable condition in Egypt, freeing them from the tyranny of a foreign king, they were still under the control of the remnants of pagan ideas and images and remembered with admiration the huge and magnificent temples. Considering their weakness in this regard, God allowed them to build a temple which, not only in its precious materials and skill in decoration, but also in its plan and construction, eclipsed all existing temples in the world. Here God deals with His people as a tender, loving father deals with his son, who after a long time has returned to his father, although he has lived dissolutely among wicked, dissolute and dissolute friends in noisy revels and drinking bouts. The loving father endowed his returning son with even greater wealth. The father did this so that his son, if he were tempted, would not remember the previous circumstances of his life and would not want to return. This is exactly what God did with the Israelites: He knew about their fascination with external beauty and provided them with something more magnificent and majestic, so that they would not even think about returning to Egypt - to all that they saw there. That is why He allowed the construction of a temple that reflected images of both the natural and supernatural worlds. The world consists of heaven and earth, and between them the visible heavens, which act as a partition. The Jerusalem Temple was built in a similar way. It was divided into two compartments, and between them hung a curtain. The room outside the veil was open to everyone, but the inner room was closed and could only be entered by the high priest. This is not my personal opinion, but a true fact. The temple represented a complete picture of the world. As evidence, listen to what Paul writes in connection with the ascension of Christ: “For Christ did not enter into the sanctuary made with hands, which is the image of the true, but into heaven itself...” (Heb. 9:24). From what has been said, it is clear that this sanctuary is a type of the true sanctuary, and that the veil also separates the Holy of Holies from the outer holy place, just as the heavens separate what is above from what is on earth. This arrangement also provides some explanation for why God calls the sky a covering. And in another place, where the apostle speaks of the hope that we have, he calls it “...an anchor safe and strong, (which) enters into the interior of the veil, into which Jesus entered as a forerunner for us” (Heb. 6:19-20 ). Is it clear now that he calls heaven a veil? Further, in front of the veil there was a lamp, a table and a brass altar for burnt offerings. But inside, that is, behind the veil, stood the ark of the covenant, overlaid on all sides with gold. The ark contained the tablets of the covenant, a golden vessel with manna, and Aaron's rod that blossomed. In addition, behind the veil there was a golden altar of incense, which was not used for offering burnt offerings with the blood of goats, bulls and oxen. It was an altar of incense. The outer part was accessible to everyone, but only the high priest was allowed to enter the inner part. And here's your proof. Paul says: “And the first covenant had a statute regarding worship and an earthly sanctuary.” (He calls the outer tabernacle the earthly sanctuary because all people had access there.) “For the first tabernacle was built, in which was the lamp, and the table, and the offering of bread, and which is called the holy place.” Behind the second veil was a tabernacle called the “Holy of Holies,” which had a golden censer and the ark of the covenant lined on all sides with gold, where there was a golden vessel with manna, Aaron’s rod that blossomed and the tablets of the covenant, and above it the cherubim of glory, overshadowing the atonement; which does not need to be discussed in detail now. With this arrangement, priests always enter the first tabernacle to perform Divine services; and in the second, once a year the high priest alone, not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of ignorance of the people” (Heb. 9:1-7). Now do you understand that only the high priest entered behind the veil once a year?
But you say, “What does all this have to do with the present time?” Why am I providing all this information? What is the reason here? When Mary conceived, six months had already passed since Elizabeth conceived John. If we knew what the sixth month was, then we would know when Mary conceived. Knowing this, we could quite easily calculate when she gave birth - simply by adding nine months from the time of conception. But we do not know the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy. First of all, we need to know when she conceived. How can we find out what month she conceived? We will know this if we know when Zechariah, her husband, received the revelation. What does the Holy Scripture say about this? The Gospel tells that an angel brought Zechariah the blessed news of the birth of John in the Holy of Holies. Further, we definitely know from Scripture that the high priest entered the Holy of Holies only once a year. Therefore, knowing what month it was in, we can know exactly the time when Zechariah received this blessed news, and thus we know when Elizabeth conceived. Paul has already told us that the high priest entered the Holy of Holies only once a year. Moses declares the same thing, describing the following: “And the Lord said to Moses: Tell Aaron your brother not to go into the sanctuary at all times through the veil before the mercy seat that is on the ark, lest he die” (Lev. 16:2 ). And further: “No man shall be in the tabernacle of meeting when he enters to cleanse the sanctuary, until he goes out. And thus he will cleanse himself, his house and the whole congregation of Israel. And he will go out to the altar, which is before the Lord, and will atone for it” (Lev. 16:17-18). From this it follows that the high priest did not enter the Holy of Holies whenever he pleased. When he was in the Holy of Holies, no one was allowed to enter or be with him. Everyone had to be outside, that is, behind the veil. Remember this well.
Until now I have not yet said at what time he entered the Holy of Holies, although we have already learned that he entered there only once a year. How can you find out what month it was in? From the same book, for it is written: “...in the seventh month, on the tenth (day) of the month, afflict your souls and do no work, neither the native nor the stranger who sojourns among you, for on this day they purify you, to make you pure from all your sins, so that you may be clean before the face of the Lord; This is a Sabbath of rest for you; mortify your souls: this is an everlasting statute. The priest who is anointed and ordained to officiate in his father’s place shall do the atonement: and he shall put on linen garments, the sacred garments, and shall atone for the Holy of Holies and the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall atone for the altar, and shall atone for the priests and all the people of the congregation. And this shall be an everlasting statute for you: to cleanse the children of Israel from all their sins once a year” (Lev. 16:29-34). Moses is talking about the Day of Atonement here. It was then, and only then, that the high priest entered the Holy of Holies once a year. This is confirmed by the words: “...to cleanse the children of Israel from all their sins once a year.”
If the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, then it is clear that it was in the Holy of Holies that the angel appeared to Zechariah while he was burning incense there. Once a year the high priest entered the sanctuary. However, it does not hurt to listen to what the Holy Scripture says about this: “In the days of Herod, king of Judah, there was a priest from the order of Abia, named Zechariah, and his wife from the family of Aaron, her name was Elizabeth... One day, when he served in the order of his order before By God, by lot, as was usual with the priests, he was given to enter the temple of the Lord for incense, and the whole multitude of people prayed outside during the incense. (Here, beloved, remember what was said: “No man shall be in the tabernacle of meeting when he enters to cleanse the sanctuary, until he goes out” (Lev. 16-17). Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar incense" (Luke 1:5-11).
It is not said: “an altar for offering sacrifices or burnt offerings,” but “an altar of incense,” since the altar that was outside was intended for sacrifices and burnt offerings, and the inner altar was an altar of incense. From this, and also taking into account that the angel appeared to him when he was alone, and from what was said that the people stood outside waiting for him, we can conclude that he was in the Holy of Holies. “When Zechariah saw him, he was embarrassed and fear came over him. The angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John...” Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and were amazed that he was delaying in the temple. But he, having gone out, could not speak to them... and he communicated with them by signs and remained mute” (Luke 1:12-13, 21-22). It is now clear that he was inside, behind the veil. It was there that he received this blessed news. And this was on the Day of Atonement, during fasting, since the words: “humble your souls” speak of fasting. So, this holiday was celebrated by the Jews at the end of September. You can also verify this from my repeated sermons, in which I, on the basis of many references from Scripture, refuted the times of the Jewish fasts as inaccurate and therefore incorrect.
It was at this time that Elizabeth, the wife of Zechariah, conceived: “... and hid herself for five months, and said: “Thus the Lord has done for me in these days, in which he has looked upon me, to remove from me the reproach of men” (Luke 1:24 -25). Now notice that in the sixth month, while Elizabeth was carrying John, Mary was also told of the conception of her Son. Here is the proof: “And the Angel (Gabriel) said to her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God; and behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Jesus” (Luke 1:30-31). “Mary said to the angel: “How will this be when I don’t know my husband?” The angel answered her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Here is Elizabeth, your relative, who is called barren, and she conceived a son in her old age, and she is already in her sixth month; for with God no word fails" (Luke 1:34-37). Therefore, if Elizabeth, as I already said, conceived at the end of September, then from this month we must count the next six months. These months are: October, November, December, January, February, March. This was the sixth month, the month in which Mary conceived. Now, if we count nine more months, we come to the present month. The first month after Mary conceived was April, then May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December. It is in this month that we celebrate Christmas.
In order to make what has been said more understandable, I will briefly repeat it. Once a year the high priest entered the Holy of Holies. When did this happen? In the month of September. It was at this time that Zechariah entered the Holy of Holies and received a revelation concerning John. After these days, Elizabeth conceived. In the sixth month of her pregnancy, that is, in the sixth month after September, which means in March, Mary conceived. Now, counting nine months from April, we come to the present month (December), in which our Lord Jesus Christ was born.
So, I explained to you when the Lord was born, and therefore the birth of the Lord is celebrated on this day. I want to tell you something else: when the pagans hear about the birth of God in the flesh, they usually mock us and ridicule this fact. In this way they confuse and confuse many uninformed Christians. Therefore, I must say something to these pagans and thereby help Christians who are embarrassed by such talk. We must not succumb to the delusions of fools and suffer the ridicule of unbelievers. Small children can also laugh when we talk to them about serious things and do our best to explain to them what they need to know. However, their ridicule does not at all prove that what they laugh at is unimportant and insignificant. A person who mocks simply proves his lack of understanding. The same can be said about these pagans. Their ignorance is worse than that of children. They ridicule what is most sacred and worthy of respect, and at the same time honor and glorify what is truly ridiculous. Nevertheless, our sacred sacraments do not lose their holy nature, and their glory is in no way diminished by the ridicule of the pagans. On the other hand, what they call sacred and necessary represents ugliness and abomination, despite their best efforts to glorify this abomination in every imaginable way. The realest madness is to embody your gods in stones, trees and statues, imprisoning them as if in a dungeon, and then consider that nothing bad has been done or is being done. However, when we say that God, by the Holy Spirit, created a living temple to bring salvation to the world through Jesus Christ, we become the target of their insults. But does this doctrine need proof? If it seems incredible to someone that God dwells in man, then it is much more incredible in all respects for His dwelling in wood and stone, especially since wood and stone are something inferior in comparison with human nature. The heathen must then be of the opinion that men are inferior to these inanimate parts of creation. They even place their deities in dogs and cats! And many heretics assign even lower and even shameful habitats to their gods. And they do not feel any disgust at such statements. We in no way adhere to such ugliness and do not even want to listen to them. This is what we adhere to: from the womb of the Virgin came a pure, holy and immaculate body, free from all sin. God thus elevated His creation, restoring its honor and dignity. As for the pagans, do they not adhere to and even openly profess such ungodly doctrines that the deity becomes one with monkeys, dogs and all other animals? This is how they teach, because according to their dogma, as is well known, all these animals receive a soul from the deity. And they do not disdain such teachings and are not ashamed to proclaim such things! And we, to whom even the slightest thought of such a teaching is alien, they accuse us of adhering to an unworthy concept of God. And why? Because we confess a truth that is entirely worthy of God, namely, that He came into this world by birth and thus restored and exalted His creation. And we consider those who profess pagan religions to be participants in all wickedness. Therefore, how dare the heathen insult us on account of the doctrine that God, when he became Man, prepared a temple for Himself, and thus transplanted the life of the Dweller of heaven into our earthly conditions? They undoubtedly already deserve death, not only for the insults they heap upon us, but also for their incessant blasphemy. Because if it is truly unworthy of God, as they declare, to choose a pure, undefiled body for His dwelling, then how much more is it not becoming for Him who sits on the throne at the right hand of the Father to dwell in the bodies of all kinds of magicians and sorcerers, robbers, grave robbers , as well as monkeys and dogs. What harm did He do to His Father or how did He dishonor Him by becoming Man? Pay attention to the sun. It is a visible, short-lived and transitory creation. Such it is, although pagans and Manichaeans burst with anger when hearing such statements. However, not only the sun, but also the earth, as well as all visible creation, is subject to vanity. Listen to how Paul lays this truth out for us: “For the creation was subjected to futility, not voluntarily, but according to the will of him who subjected it” (Rom. 8:20). Next, he explains what the words “submitted to vanity” mean. He continues: “... in hope that the creation itself will be freed from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21). So, the creation is transitory and subject to corruption, since the words “slavery to corruption” mean nothing other than being subject to destruction. So, I want to say that this sun, material and subject to destruction, sends its rays in all directions. Its rays fall on dirt, feces and all kinds of impurities, but does the purity of the sun suffer from this? Wouldn't it be better for him to keep his beautiful rays absolutely pure, coming into contact only with what the rays would like to rest on, instead of paying any attention to what is stinking and dirty? If this is so, then the truth we profess, that the Son of Righteousness, the almighty Lord and Master of the spiritual realms, not only suffered no loss by His entering into a pure body, but He even thereby elevated human nature to the highest level of purity and holiness, more worthy of perception. Let us properly consider this, remembering what was said: “And I will walk among you” (Lev. 26:12), and also “For you are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell in them and walk in them” (2 Cor. 6:16 and 1 Corinthians 6:19). Let us rejoice in the grace shown to us and the advantages bestowed upon us, and let us praise God, Who became Man, for His great condescension. Let us exalt Him to the best of our ability and reward Him as He deserves. But we cannot reward Him with anything else as much as with our desire for the salvation and liberation of our souls and zeal in virtue.
Therefore, let us not be ungrateful, on the contrary, let us offer our Benefactor everything that we are able to offer: our faith, hope, love, abstinence, alms, hospitality. And to what I recently encouraged you to do, I encourage you again. Why? If you wish to participate in this truly reverent and divine meal, in this sacred sacrament, then approach with fear and trembling, with a clear conscience, with prayer and fasting, avoiding all noise, not stepping on each other's feet, and not jostling your neighbor. Otherwise, it will be pure madness and the greatest disrespect. Great punishment and punishment is prepared by God for those who act in this way. Think, man, what kind of sacrifice is this that you want to partake of, what kind of food is this that you intend to approach. Think that you, dust and ashes, accept the body and blood of Christ. If the emperor invited you to a feast, you would sit at his table in complete reverence and fear, silently and timidly accepting the food offered. But here the Lord God Himself invites you to the table, and on this table He offers His Only Begotten Son! The angels of heaven stand in fear and trembling; The cherubim cover their faces, exclaiming in awe: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord!” And you, trying to justify yourself, shout and make noise at this sacred feast! Don't you know that at this moment the soul should be filled with sacred silence? Complete silence and calm are required here. Any noise, anger and confusion should not appear here, because with all this the souls of the guests are desecrated. How can we count on God’s mercy if, after He has forgiven us so many and serious sins, we are not free from these reckless passions even at the moment when we are approaching the sacred meal?! Is there anything more important than our participation in these sacred sacraments? And what excites us so much that we rush in such a hurry to carnal and worldly concerns, forgetting about our soul and its needs? Please, I beg you, let us not invite God’s wrath! All that is offered to us here is complete healing from wounds, inexhaustible riches, the means to reach heaven. For this reason, let us approach with the greatest reverence, giving thanks to God, we will fall before Him, we will confess our sins, we will pay for our pitiful condition and we will pray earnestly. Let us first purify the inner man, and then we will approach the Lord calmly, with the greatest reverence and in a reverent manner. After all, we are approaching the Heavenly King! Then, when we receive the pure, holy sacrificial food, let us reverently kiss it, and let our hearts be inflamed with love, so that we do not condemn ourselves to judgment and eternal condemnation, but so that this action contributes to the sanctification of our souls and leads us to love and virtue, to reconciliation with God, to endless peace, to our participation in the endless manifestations of God's grace so that we can sanctify and strengthen our neighbors in the faith.
I talk about it all the time and will never stop talking about it. For what good will it do you if you come here in a thoughtless, indifferent mood, unable to comprehend anything useful? Or what will it benefit you if I constantly preach according to your desires and lusts? The time of this life is short, dear friends. Let us fast, let us watch. Make peace with each other with love and sincere jealousy. Let us set ourselves up to practice piety. And if we have come to hear the Word of God, if we have come to pray, take part in the Lord’s Supper and perform other similar actions, then we must approach them in reverence and fear, so as not to incur curses through our negligence. For the Scripture says: “Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord carelessly” (Jer. 48:10). Noise and carelessness are desecration of the holy sacrifice. This behavior speaks of unheard of contempt and the fact that we are approaching the Lord God with a defiled heart. This is what the apostle says about such: “If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will punish him” (1 Cor. 3:17).
Pronounced by Archpriest Sergius Pravdolyubov at the Trinity Church on Christmas night, January 7, 2013.
On this night, the Holy Church celebrates Christmas, that is, the birth on earth of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ.
When the Lord was born, no one knew who it was - only a few people knew: the Most Pure Virgin Mary, Joseph and several shepherds who sang a song along with the Angels.
And others were completely calm. No one loudly announced any mass, stadium-like events to anyone, and the Lord did not want this at all. " Secretly was born if you V nativity scene, - is sung in the chant, - but the sky preaches Thee to everyone, like a mouth, offering a star,” that is, with words and heaven preached (Troparion of Prophecy, Chapter 6, Vespers of the Feast).
Who was born? Not just a kind and bright person, not a prophet or another of the leaders or founders of new religions - God came to earth, the Creator of the world came, incarnated on earth from the Most Pure Virgin. And He was in the simplest form of a slave, that is, as a slave. And when He lived on earth, no one thought or knew that this was the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, consubstantial with the Father. No one has ever spoken such words as He spoke. The disciples believed in this, and were convinced many times that this was not an ordinary person at all, and not just a person, but God-man. But He did not exalt himself over people: He came into the most ordinary life, in the simplest family of Joseph, which had many of its own children, and lived in the most difficult conditions until the age of thirty. Then He went out to preach and spoke words that none of the ordinary people can still say. I and the Father is one, - said the Lord Jesus Christ (John 10:30). He who has seen Me has seen My Father (John 14:9). He is God, the Son of God, the God-man on earth. And we believe in this not at all because we have reached this point with our own minds, we have the Gospel, that is, books written down by our closest disciples, the Holy Scriptures written by the evangelists under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We open it and read it with fear, horror, trembling. And the Word of God acts on us, It revives us, speaks the truth about God and about all people.
The Lord never exalted himself and never forced anyone to believe in Him. He told the disciples: Would you like to leave? - No - said the Apostle Peter, - You have the verbs of Eternal Life (John 6:68).
“How should we pray?” - the disciples asked the Lord, and He said terrible words to which we are accustomed and do not pay attention to them. He did not say: “My Father, who sent Me,” He said: “Father our" He did not single Himself out from all people, He made Himself equal with all people, took upon Himself our infirmities and bore our illnesses (see Mt 8:17). He called the Apostles His friends and said openly and clearly: You are my friends (see John 15:15). Why? Because everything that I heard from My Father, I told you . Nothing was hidden, everything is said in the Gospel. You will read, be inspired, rejoice and breathe in the grace of God that is coming to you. “Our Father”, and “you are My friends”... Moreover, He said: Whoever hears My word and does it is My brother and sister and even mother (Mt 12:50). How amazing, how scary! And all His words were confirmed when they crucified Him on the cross, He died and was buried in a cave, and on the third day He rose again. Everything was done in order to show and prove to people that this was a completely unusual phenomenon: the cave was closed with a large stone, a seal was applied and a guard was placed. Not like in a mausoleum, no one will resurrect there. And here the soldiers stood, guarding so that no one would break the seal and no one would steal the bodies. And the Lord rose again, passing through His shrouds, passing through a stone cave. He rose again and said: Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Mt 28:19). And people, shocked and horrified, sang and continue to chant from century to century, from each generation to each generation, His terrible Resurrection.
You stand here and are bored, and I feel with all my soul how hard it is for you, how difficult it is for you. And I think - if you knew even a little: here they sing on the choir the chants of such a brilliant poet and musician - John the Monk or Herman, or Andrei of Crete - they put together these chants like a mosaic, each in his own generation, in his own time, the clearest evidence about faith - love and a powerful creative takeoff, such as few poets and musicians on earth have. Why is this so difficult and difficult to listen to? Yes, because this cannot be translated into our everyday language! It doesn’t work out in any way: we tried, we tried, but it doesn’t work! We listen and think - “How wonderful!” - but it’s hard for you, very hard.
But I assure you that the fact that you came at night, violated your comfort, left your soft beds and all other comfortable conditions, are standing here and even suffering - all this is not in vain, for our Lord and God Jesus Christ was born on earth, and He welcomes each of us. He treats you much better than you treat yourself. He loves you and never boasts to anyone. He came to His own. He has joined us to Himself and is uniting us. He makes us participants, partakers of His Divine nature. We are no longer just people walking upright, but we partakers of His nature ... (2 Pet. 1, 4). It's scary to imagine! What He did is indescribable. You have to experience it, believe it, feel His words.
If people had thought about this, even without any purity of heart, just with their own heads, as some astronomers and physicists think through the structure of the universe, then it would be impossible to enter the temple, everything would be filled around, all the houses would be empty that night! Because it’s impossible, there’s no way this can happen, but it happened. God united with man! And we receive the sacrament of Eternal Life here, in our Russian churches, ancient and new. We join the Divine, we become eternal, we will not die and will not always lie in the ground. The earth and everything on it will burn (2 Pet 3:10) - and we will not burn, we will rise again, as He promised!
I’m surprised, I’ve been thinking all my life and can’t understand: why do people consider a small part of their life to be a complete whole, why do they say: “Death cut short his life and he left us”? Some strange words that “he left us.” Where did he go? People don’t want to think about what will happen after death, but the Lord says: this is what will happen. And if we understood this, at least with our minds, if we accepted it with our hearts, then we would not talk about earthly things, we would not yearn for the difficulties of life - we would talk only about eternity, for death is a consequence of human sin. The Lord came and saved us all from eternal death. Yes, you’ll have to lie in the ground, you can’t do anything, it’s our own fault, we’ve sinned so much. But the Lord returned eternity to us, returned it with His Resurrection. And it is written in the liturgical instructions for the holiday of Christmas - “three days of Easter”, we feel this connection between Christmas and the Resurrection, lying in the tomb and the victorious triumph of the Resurrection at this moment, when we remember the den and the Infant of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, lying there.
I do not have the opportunity to convey and express to you the full power of the Divine dispensation of all, all, all of us. You just need to remember that God does not force anyone to Himself. If you don’t believe it, don’t go; if you don’t want to, don’t go. And those who believe, who love God - join eternity, rejoice and give thanks: we are not just people who lived their lives quickly and quickly disappeared, but those who will be resurrected and will live forever.
Read the words of the Lord in the Gospel, study, reflect, think responsibly, do not be distracted by earthly trifles, go deeper inside, and you will understand how unsteady and temporary everything around you is. No earthly glory can compare with the Divine life given to us through communion by the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Christ is born, praise!”
Everyone who is going home now - there are many of them, and I still invoke God’s blessing on you for coming to church. And those who will endure the further service - now after the sixth psalm we will sing “Praise the name of the Lord” and stand with lighted candles, we will sing magnification, and then there will be such words, such prayers, which I just spoke about, that this is the highest achievement of poetry and the music of the ancient world throughout two thousand years. And we will participate, whoever can, further, until the very end of the service, in order to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ at the Liturgy, to join our Lord, who was born on earth on this day.
Please be more attentive to your life, read, experience, reflect, take responsibly the time that God has given us in order to get an answer in life to constant burning questions from which people turn away and leave, and do not want to think through the meaning of their lives to the end and communication with God.
I greet you all with a Merry Christmas and thank you for coming to church to pray with us. God bless you all on this Christmas night and on this luminous Christmas day!
“The blessing of the Lord is upon you, through His grace and love for mankind - always, now and ever, and unto ages of ages!”
Transcript of audio recording - Anastasia Trostnikova
Pastor Yu. Ilchenko
Plan:
I. Introduction.
Today, both Catholics and Orthodox worship Mary more, but Christmas without Jesus is not Christmas. With the birth of Jesus Christ, a new history of mankind begins, a new reckoning of time. The New Testament begins with the birth of Jesus Christ. The birth of Jesus is the victory of light over darkness, good over evil.
II. Bible about Christmas.
Luke 2:8-14. The angels understood what happened when Jesus was born and announced it to people. When we look not at earthly problems, but at Christ, joy comes, as the glory of the Lord comes. When we praise God, we unite with Heaven, with His army. God gladly gave His Son so that we would be saved and free.
Matthew 1:20-23 (Isaiah 7:14). Matthew reveals two names: Jesus - Savior, Emmanuel - God with us. Through Jesus Christ, God Himself came into our lives and He is with us, in us and among us.
Matthew 2:1-10- Magi - astrologers, sages. They looked up to the heavens and saw His star. We often look only at our feet, at ourselves and our opportunities and problems, but God wants us to raise our eyes to heaven, to seek first the Kingdom of Heaven. God blessed us in Heaven ( Eph.1:3).
God called Abraham to come out of his tent and look at the stars, to see his star - the promised son.
« Tent» - earthly, carnal, limited life with problems. God brought him out of this life into a life of Spirit and faith.
Do not focus your attention on problems, vanity, on your affairs, on your strength. Don't hold on to earthly goods, set the right priorities. Keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2), following Him, you will never get lost, He is our guiding star. Enter into a state of faith, dreams, what God has prepared for you. God is looking for worshipers who worship Him in spirit and truth
Verse 3: The enemy begins to worry when you worship God and live a life of faith, because all things are possible to him who believes (Mark 9:23). A confrontation arises between the flesh, the old understanding and thinking. The flesh and fear keep people from worshiping God, but we need to strive for heavenly things, for the best (Hebrews 11:16).
9-10 verses. After meeting Jesus, no one remains the same, but great joy fills everyone. In this joy there is strength, inspiration, faith.
Verse 11 Jesus is the center of our worship - the wise men worshiped the Child and brought Him gifts that were symbols: gold - the Divinity and purity of Christ, incense - the fragrance of Christ's life, myrrh - the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross.
Gifts depend on the attitude towards the person. The wise men highly revered Christ; they worshiped Him as the King of kings. God values every person highly, He gave His Son for us. The good news of the birth of Christ is a great gift to humanity.
Verse 12 The sages went back a different way - this is a new path to a new life(John 14:6)
III. Purpose, mission of Jesus Christ.
Luke 19:10, Matthew 20:28– Jesus came to save, to redeem, to serve us, and to give His soul as a ransom.
In. 13:15 Jesus is an example for us to do the same. Just as Jesus gave his life for us, He calls us to give our lives to do His will, to serve others.
Mark 4:37 We must know in whom we have believed, He has the authority and power to stop the problems in your life. " Storm" - this is the wrath and judgment of God. Jesus took the punishment on Himself in our place, freed us from hell, and gave us the gift of eternal life. He gave us everything, He is the source of our life. We are in Him - in the safest place.
Sermon:
Today we will talk about the topic “Christmas”. This is a very important topic. There can be no Christmas without Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, now they show various films about Christmas, but there is no Christ in them. There is Santa Claus, gifts, children, different stories, but there is no culprit, the main character of this holiday - Jesus Christ. If we take Christ away, then there will be nothing left of Christmas, because Christmas began to be celebrated in order to glorify Him. The entire history of mankind is divided into two parts - before the Nativity of Christ, and after the Nativity of Christ, BC, and our era. It sounds great that our era is Christ. God marked this in history, and people of all faiths, when studying history, are inexorably faced with the fact that time is divided into two parts. Our era has begun - the era of Christ, God's era, a new time, which God marked with the birth of His Son Jesus. A new story has begun for all humanity.
Luke 2:7« and she gave birth to a Son, Her firstborn, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. In that country there were shepherds in the field, keeping night watch over their flock. Suddenly an Angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were afraid with great fear. And the Angel said to them: Do not be afraid; I bring you good news of great joy, which will be to all people: for today a Savior has been born to you in the city of David, who is Christ the Lord; and here is a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly a large heavenly army appeared with the Angel, glorifying God and crying: glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men" This is a holiday of great joy for all people. At this time, God sent His Son, who would be the Savior for all mankind. The birth of Jesus is the victory of light over darkness, good over evil. This is God's great victory, God's great way. Heaven, who knew and saw this, had great joy.
People who live on earth now don’t understand what kind of joy this is? Let us connect now with Heaven, look into the Word of God and be imbued with the joy that the angels of God had. Why were they happy? Many people still do not understand this; many people are not yet truly happy about this news. Indeed, this is the most joyful event that can ever happen. Of course, in our country the main holiday is New Year. But I want Christmas to be the main holiday. Christmas was removed after the revolution in the 20s. Stalin even banned celebrating the New Year. Because they were afraid even to mention Christmas. Since 1936, the emphasis has been shifted from Christmas to New Year. And we still, unfortunately, continue to celebrate the New Year more than Christmas.
It seems pointless, how can you celebrate Christmas after New Year? When Jesus was born, a new age, a new era, began from that moment. I want us to see and join in what happened 2000 years ago, so that we plunge into this atmosphere, feel and experience what the shepherds experienced. Who did they see, what did they hear? They saw an Angel and a numerous Heavenly Host praising God.
Verse 13 « And suddenly a large heavenly army appeared with the Angel, glorifying God and crying: glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men! When here on earth we praise God, we unite with the numerous heavenly army, we unite with the Lord and His Angels. This is an amazing time when Heaven connects with earth and we experience amazing heavenly joy. The shepherds experienced this amazing feeling; they were so happy that they were even scared. But the Angel said: “Do not be afraid, because it is the Lord who is sending you Great joy.” This is not just joy, this is Great Joy. Smile now to Heaven. Heaven is looking here, Jesus is invisibly present here. And we are gathered here to celebrate His Birthday. You are here because of Him, because He was born 2000 years ago to save you and me. There is great joy in this. Therefore, let's rejoice.
Matthew 1:20 « The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said: Joseph, son of David! Do not be afraid to accept Mary your wife, for what is born in her is of the Holy Spirit; 21 She will give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. And all this happened, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, who says: Behold, a virgin will conceive in her womb and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Emmanuel, which means: God is with us." Notice two things about the name Jesus. The name Jesus means " Savior" He will save you from sins. The next name is Emmanuel, which means “ God is with us" Not just "God" but " God is with us" This makes a huge difference. God not only exists by Himself, but we exist by ourselves. The great joy is that God is with us. Through Jesus Christ, God came into our lives, and now we are not alone on this earth. GOD IS WITH US! Give Him glory! The Word says, if God is for you, if God is with you, who can be against you. The great joy is that God is with us! In the midst of us!
Matthew 2:1-2 « When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and said, “Where is he who has been born King of the Jews?” for we saw His star in the east and came to worship Him" The Magi are otherwise called sages, or astrologers. They saw His star. They looked to Heaven. And we need to look to Heaven. Very often we look only at our feet, at ourselves, at our earthly affairs and problems. They burden us, depress us, but wise people look to heaven. " We saw a star- they said. If you don't look at Heaven, you won't see any star. Jesus told us, " seek first of all the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven" We need to lift our eyes to Heaven.
Remember what God said to Abraham, our spiritual father, who was waiting for his heir, a son, but could not get him. He did one thing or another, tried his best, as best he could. But it turned out something different, not what he wanted. And God told him, “Come out of your tent, out of your tent, and look at the stars.” A tent, a pavilion is our flesh, our earthly understanding, our earthly life. We limited ourselves and live in our tents. In the tent we will not surprise any star. All we see in the tent are our problems, misunderstandings, difficulties - what surrounds us. And Abraham was a man like us, but God brought him out. First, He brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, then He brought him out of the tent to show him life in the spirit, in faith. God said: “Come out, Abraham, and look at the stars!”
Even today God wants to take us out of our tents, in which we stubbornly sit, and think that God does not see us and does not help us. But God also says to us, the heirs of Abraham, “come out of your tent and lift your eyes from earth to heaven.” We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Heaven. God wants our eyes to be fixed on Him. For us to look up. Friends, lift your eyelids and look to Heaven! Look at this star that God has prepared for us, it is your star! He said follow that star! When Abraham saw the star, he believed the Lord. Our star is our salvation, this is our Jesus. This star contains our healing, provision, everything we need. The sages were smart people. They left everything and followed this star.
Matthew 2:2 « where is he who has been born King of the Jews? for we saw His star in the east and came to worship Him. Hearing this, King Herod was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him." The fact that you begin to follow God, especially the fact that you want to worship Him in spirit and in truth, the devil does not like this. In the flesh we cannot worship God. The Father is looking for worshipers in spirit and in truth, and therefore wants to lead us out of the carnal state - unbelief, murmuring, discontent. He brings us out so that we can worship Him. When you start worshiping Him, the spiritual world comes into action. Herod was alarmed. The devil gets nervous when you do God's will. Why is he nervous? Because he's starting to be afraid of you. When you move towards God, there will be resistance, there will be obstacles, there will be fears. The devil himself is afraid, and will scare you: “ Don't get so close to Him! Don’t cross this line, you are used to living in your tent with your little mind, relying on yourself. Where are you going? Take care of yourself. What is this life that you are being called to? What kind of life is this without limits? What is this life of faith, in the spirit? He is afraid that you will truly become a man of faith, because “all things are possible to him who believes.”
The sages, having listened to the king, left. They didn't stop. Don't stop halfway in following the Lord! Some people start out well, and then you see - they are no longer there. Wise people don't stop halfway. Wise people move and achieve their goals, as the Apostle Paul said “ shall I not also reach Him, as He reached me?».
Matthew 2:9 « ...the star they saw in the east walked ahead of them, when it finally came and stopped over the place where the Child was" It's so great when Jesus is your star and you follow Him. When He is your guiding star, then you will not be lost in this life, you will not get lost. The main thing is that you don’t stop halfway.
Matthew 2:10 « When they saw the star, they rejoiced with very great joy." When you meet Jesus, it is truly a very great joy. The light of God, peace and joy fill you. When they saw that they had achieved what they were striving for, they rejoiced with great joy!
Matthew 2:11“And entering the house, they saw the Child with Mary His Mother, and, falling down, they worshiped Him; and having opened their treasures, they brought Him gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh.” Not long ago we were in the Philippines. When we entered the Catholic church, the first thing I saw was a huge Mary with little Jesus. I want you to see that they did not fall before Mary. Thank God for Mary, it was not “just Mary.” It was God's chosen Mary who believed God and said, “It will be done to me according to the word of the Lord” (Luke 1:38). And the Lord performed a miracle.
But the wise men bowed to the Child. They not only bowed down, they fell on their faces, exclaiming: “ Lord! There is great meaning in worshiping while lying down. When we stand on our own two feet, this is our fulcrum, we stand firmly, confident in ourselves. When the wise men came to Jesus, they fell, thereby showing that He is their foundation, strength and strength. They showed how much they loved Him: “ We are not worthy to stand in the presence of the king! They saw not just a baby, but the Savior Jesus, the Great King. By worship they showed their dedication, abandoning their understandings, superstitions, doubts: “ You are our King, we have come to worship You. We were looking for You, we saw Your star, we strove for You and finally, we met You" Their hearts overflowed with joy and delight. Have you ever experienced such a meeting with God when you forget about everything?
The sages forgot that they were important people, that they had honorary degrees, they worshiped the Lord, thanked him for the fact that this meeting took place. Because they found this star and are here, in the presence of the King Himself. And they did not come there empty-handed. We sometimes come to God, stretch out our hands: “Give me, Lord, that they may be filled.” The wise men brought Him gifts, gifts. Gifts speak volumes. When you give a gift to a person, you think about what kind of person he is, what kind of gift you can give him. You cannot give to a king what can be given to a common man. Our gift speaks of how much we respect and appreciate this Person, and how worthy She is of the gift.
The sages gave gold, this speaks of Divinity and purity. Frankincense speaks of the fragrance of Christ, myrrh speaks of His sacrificial death on the cross. They brought these gifts and said: “ Yes, You are Lord, and we honor You, we worship You" The gifts themselves originate from Jesus. We give gifts for the New Year, but the gift is Jesus. The main gift that God gave us is Jesus. You can't buy yourself a gift. Someone else buys it. Someone else paid for this gift to give to you. All you have to do is accept it.
The Lord gave us the best, the most precious. How much the Lord loves, appreciates, respects a person! It would seem for whom, for sinners, people unworthy of God, He gave His Best. But when we look at this gift, we begin to understand how much He appreciates us! Is it possible to say after this, “God doesn’t love me, God doesn’t need me, I’m so unhappy.” You are silly! Because wise people saw what a gift God had given to humanity. They were so happy about this gift, it was a very great joy, a triumph. Receive today this joy that God has prepared in Jesus Christ. Can anyone compare with Jesus, can anything compare with Him? No one and nothing can compare.
Just as the wise men brought their gifts to Him, we need to bring our gifts when we come to God, which speak of how much we honor God, worship Him, how much we dedicate our lives to Him. When we give Him the most valuable thing we have - our life, then God can move in and through you, because you, too, have given yourself to Him. Thank God that we too can give something to our Lord. We can give ourselves to Him.
Matthew 2:12 « And having received a revelation in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their country by a different route." When you meet the Lord for real, no Herod interests you anymore. No old life interests you anymore. You can't go back to the old way" vomit" You will take a different, new path. The new way is Jesus, whom the Lord gives to you and to me. Jesus said: " I am the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Me.» ( John 14:6). Follow the new path that the Lord gives us through Jesus. We don’t need to go back to the old days, to this “Herod” who wants to steal, kill and destroy us. There is nothing good or good there. He is a murderer, a villain who thinks of only one thing, how to drag us into his chains, into darkness, and destroy us in hell forever. But this is why Jesus was born.
Luke 19:10 « for the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost" This is God's purpose. He came to find and save us who were lost.
Matthew 20:28 « The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give His soul as a ransom for many." Jesus came to give His soul for our redemption, our deliverance from the enemy's plan.
John 13:15 « I have given you an example, so that you also do what I have done to you." We must look beyond the birth of Jesus - that is just the beginning. We must look at His whole life, because His life, His path is an example for us. Many Christians appeared through the birth of Christ. We are followers, people of Christ. Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah says, “what I did, do you also. I gave my life for you, and now you give your lives for Me, My purposes and plans,” so that the people who surround you will meet with this star, so that you will point to the One who will give them life and eternal life.
Mark 4:36 - 41 «… Having sent the people away, they took Him with them, just as He was in the boat; There were other boats with Him. And a great storm arose; the waves were hitting the boat, so that it was already filling with water. And He slept on a pillow in the stern. They wake him up and say to him: Teacher! do you really not care that we are perishing? And, getting up, He rebuked the wind and said to the sea: be silent, stop. And the wind died down, and there was great silence. And he said to them: Why are you so fearful? How do you have no faith? And they were afraid with great fear and said among themselves: Who is this, that both the wind and the sea obey Him??».
As we read this story, we see that the disciples were afraid. We, too, are often afraid of visible problems, some kind of illness, misfortune, that we won’t have money. We are afraid of the dark, closed or open space, etc. When we look at the world and see different storms and storms, we also begin to be afraid. It seems to us that we are drowning among problems, and the Lord has fallen asleep in Heaven. We begin to reproach Him for not hearing us. The Lord says: " I do not hesitate, have faith, I have given you power, the power to attack everything. Why are you so fearful and lacking in faith??. God wants us to look not at visible problems, but at the invisible God, so that we can see the unseen and hold fast to His word, His promises. Many people are frightened by visible problems. Jesus said, “You are in me and I am in you, why should you be afraid? I exercise the same supernatural power today. I forbid storms and storms. I command and it calms down.” We are in the safest place in Christ Jesus is our Ark of Salvation.
Jesus took the punishment in our place on the cross. Storm, tempest, flood - this is punishment - the judgment of God. We know that the flood has already happened. The flood represented punishment. God said, “There will be no more flood in your life. You will no longer drown, because I am with you, I am in you, and you are in Me. On the cross I took the punishment, the judgment, the storm in your place.” But we sometimes forget about this. We forget a lot of what the Bible tells us. We forget not only about Heaven, but we also forget that there is eternal hell - a place of eternal torment. If we do not see, do not know, do not understand that there is hell, then we cannot truly rejoice in salvation. We don't understand what Jesus saved us from, and we don't really understand. John 3:16 « God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life».
If there is eternal life, then there is eternal death, eternal destruction, eternal torment. This is all in hell, so the angels rejoiced that God saved us. If you believe in Jesus, you won't end up in that terrible, scary place of hopelessness. There is no way out from there, there is no hope, only eternal suffering, torment, eternal death. But God gives us the Good News - this is Jesus Christ the Savior. Therefore, God calls: “Believe in Jesus, so that you will not perish but have eternal life.” God gives us eternal life instead of eternal death, torment, destruction, a terrible place that we cannot even imagine. The Bible talks about this place so that we can be grateful to God for saving us from this and freeing us.
Jesus gave all He had. Jesus said that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). We prefer to receive. God says it is more blessed to give. He gave everything he had, His peace, His joy, the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, His life. Everything that the Father gave Him, He gave it all to us. What a great gift we have received. Jesus also said: “What I did, you will also do. I gave it to you, you accepted it. Now you give back what you received, share with others, talk about it.”
Jesus says that He is water, the source of life. Can we live without water? When we are dehydrated, when we are thirsty, we don't need anything else. When you're thirsty, you don't need barbecue or money, because you're dying of thirst. Without Jesus we all dry up and life is like a desert for us. The desert is a type.
When Jesus is not there, we are like in the desert, no one and nothing can replace Him. The devil comes up with various substitutes - alcohol, drugs, pleasures - to distract people and lead them away from the main source. Jesus Christ is the unique Person who was given to us by the Father - he is the source of living water. The Bible says that if we move away from God, move away from this source, we dry up and die. We must always be like a tree planted by streams of water. God sees us as a garden that blossomed in the desert, bringing fragrance and fruit - that’s us, the church.
Life with Jesus reveals your potential, your gifts and abilities, reveals you as a Person, already here on earth. I see many people who, when they came to church, knew nothing and didn’t know how to do anything, but when they began to serve God, He began to reveal talents and gifts in them. Let's not forget about this.
The birth of Jesus is a transition from curse to blessing, from death to life, from old to new.. The Lord is your refuge, your source, your peace and joy - this amazing gift is so multifaceted and valuable! We sometimes dream of being given something as a gift. But God has prepared such a gift for us, which contains everything! Sometimes we accept gifts and put them on the chest of drawers. And this gift lies there. But Jesus is such a gift that we cannot live a day without it. We need him constantly, always, every day. This is the great gift God has prepared for each of us, and He wants us to share this gift.
Let's get up and pray, look at the stars, at Heaven. God wants you to see your star if you haven't already. This star has everything - your healing, provision, peace, consolation. This is such a multifaceted star that has everything you need. The Lord said, seek first of all the Kingdom of Heaven, and everything else will be added. When you find this star, meet it, everything else will follow, because He is the center of the Universe, the center of everything. For the builders who rejected this cornerstone, everything fell apart and fell apart. He said - you cannot do anything without Me, but with Him everything is possible.
Prayer.
Lord, we thank You. You are our star. We want to look to You, our Author and Finisher of our faith. We want to look at You, Lord, and be filled with Your Divine joy, peace, faith, love. Everything that is in You, You gave to us. You gave us all of Yourself so that we could reflect Your light here in the darkness. Abraham, when he saw many stars, he saw us in them. We are the heirs of Abraham. When he looked at the stars, he saw you and me. When we meet Jesus, we light up like a new star. This is the prophetic vision that God spoke to Abraham, " look how many children, heirs you will have" Abraham saw this and believed the Lord. All we have to do is trust Him and that light will shine in you in this dark world. Stars burn brightest at night when it is dark, when there are no external sources. When we leave the city, we see how beautiful the sky is, how the stars are shining. This is how we should burn in this world. Jesus is a star that lit up in us, and it began to illuminate our lives, and we became these stars to shine in this world.
Lord, we thank You for this gift, this calling that You have given us. You said that we are the light of this world. No darkness can defeat this light. We are conquerors in You. No darkness can overcome your light within us. We will not hide this light, but we will reveal this light to this world. We will shine, Lord, in this world, so that other people, seeing Your star, will follow it and meet You. Always shine, Lord, in our lives. You are our guiding star, our light, our salvation.
