Sunday, December 15 Bulletin & Reflection

The Birth of Christ has always been celebrated and hymned by Christians for centuries. Its meaning is central to our faith. The Word of God in past times may have appeared as an angel of the Lord, or the divine fire of the burning bush, but now, from this time onwards, He has become one of us; and not just as a fully-grown man descended from Heaven, but in humility God is born of a woman, and comes to us as a tiny, speechless, infant.  In the child’s face we see the face of God at last! This is what is revealed in the Nativity Icon, and around this central historical event other stories surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ are depicted.

The common form of the Nativity Icon, with few variations, dates from around the 15th century, though it draws upon sources much older: the Old Testament Prophecies, the New Testament Gospel accounts, and ancient narratives on the life of the Virgin Mary.  The child-Christ and His mother are shown in a cave, surrounded by impossibly sharp, inhospitable, rocks which reflect the cruel world into which Jesus was born. The Gospels record that Joseph and Mary could not find a room at any inn when they came to take part in the census at Bethlehem, and so Jesus was laid in a manger, an animal’s feeding trough. Common to the time, animals were not sheltered in wooden barns, but in caves and recesses in the hills, and so this “stable” is shown in the Icon.

High in the skies is a star which sends down a single shaft towards the baby Jesus. This star is being followed by the Magi, the wise Persians from the East, who are bearing gifts to the Christ. But they are shown in the distance, still on their journey. They are not there. Thronged in the skies are a host of angels bringing the glad tidings of the birth of the world’s Saviour. On the right, the shepherds – people not regarded by anyone else – are the first to be given the Good News of Jesus’ birth. But they are also shown outside of the cave, still by their flocks. They too are not at Christ’s side yet. Besides His mother, the only company Jesus Christ has in the first few hours of His earthly life are a lowly ox and donkey. This is the humility of God’s incarnation on earth.

The humbleness of Christ’s origins should not surprise us, as the manner of His birth was prophesied many hundreds of years prior to the event. The presence of the Ox and the Donkey in the Nativity icon fulfills one of many prophecies in the Old Testament book of Isaiah: “The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib” (Isaiah, 1:3). Here the animals are also shown providing warmth to Jesus by their breath.
Also found somewhere in most icons of the Nativity is a “Jesse Tree.” Named after an Old Testament patriarch, the tree’s presence is to remind us of another fulfilled prophecy from Isaiah: “A shoot shall sprout from the stump (tree) of Jesse and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him” (Isaiah, 11:1-2). In the flesh, Jesus can trace his ancestry through both His mother and adoptive father Joseph, all the way back to Jesse. This lineage is also sometimes shown in Icons of the Jesse Tree.

Another important source for the story of Jesus’ birth is the Protoevangelium of James, a 2^nd century text which describes the life of the Virgin Mary. This naturally includes a description of Christ’s Nativity, and the account is more detailed than those found in the Gospels. According to the Evangelium, Joseph brought along two women – a midwife and a woman called Salome – to help with the birth of Jesus. Salome is identified with a woman who later became a disciple of Christ, was the mother of the Apostles James and John, and was one of the women who discovered the empty tomb after Christ’s resurrection.

But where is Joseph? Unlike the well-known Nativity scenes in the West, in Orthodox Icons Joseph is usually found in the bottom of the icon, away from his betrothed and her Son. Sometimes seen listening to an old man, Joseph looks troubled. He is beset with new doubts regarding this birth, and these doubts are delivered to him by Satan in the form of an old man, as recorded in the Protoevangelium. The devil suggests that if the infant were truly divine He would not have been born in the human way. These arguments, which ultimately did not cause Joseph to stumble, have constantly returned to trouble the Church, and are the basis of many heresies regarding Who Christ was and is. In the person of Joseph, the icon discloses not only his personal drama, but the drama of all mankind, the difficulty of accepting that which is beyond reason, the Incarnation of God.

As well as declaring the glorious and joyous news of the Birth of Christ, the icon also acknowledges, as do the hymns of the Church, the great mystery of this event. No description of the Nativity Icon would be complete without mention of Jesus’ appearance in the manger. It should be never forgotten that Jesus came to us in order to die – this was known by Him, at least, from the very beginning. Therefore, in Iconography, the manger in the Nativity Icon deliberately resembles a stone coffin, the swaddling clothes resemble a burial shroud, and the cave itself prefigures Christ’s tomb. All things proceed to the Resurrection, even the images in the birth cave of the Lord.

While we may spend significant amounts of money on Christmas decorations, have we invested in the purchase of a Nativity icon?  While our society tells us that the Christmas tree is the main decoration for our homes, the center of focus for the “holiday”, do we realize that for us Orthodox believers that the holy icon of the Nativity is the only authentic and truly revelatory image, the gateway into the “meaning of the season.”  It should have a central place, a prayerful place in our homes. This reflection explains the various images and segments in the icon so as to make clear the joining of Old Testament and New, the revelatory power of nature, and the humble response of Kings and shepherds to the advent of the God of Creation and Lord of Life in our midst. It is ultimately the story of our deliverance and our freedom.   Make every effort to get a Nativity icon for your family that will bless your home on the great feast of light – Christmas.  Unlike the Western churches, our celebration of the Nativity begins on Christmas day and extends for 12 days thereafter.  There is still time. Is there room in your home for the icon of wonder and hope?

Your servant in Christ the Lord,
Fr. Dimitrios

(Please find attached a copy of this coming Sunday’s Bulletin for your prayerful preparation for the Liturgy.)