Christ is the true and perfect Anointed One of God, yet His sign is not adorned with crowns of gold or a royal robe. Instead of a majestic throne, there lies a manger, and although He is the Savior of humanity, men do not grant Him even the smallest space among them to safeguard His fragile life, casting Him aside into silence.
Do you wish to hear more of what the shepherds convey about Him, the reasoned shepherd guiding through teachings? He is an infant and yet eternal; a child, yet the Father of the age to come; the Son of man and also the true Son of the Virgin, now and for all time the genuine Son of God; recently among earthly beings, but the very One through whom all things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth. Today He is voiceless among the voiceless, yet daily He speaks and sustains all through the power of His word; He is the Word with God, the man Christ Jesus, alongside God who reigns over all, blessed forever! Yet, how futile would it be to multiply our words without end, attempting to encapsulate His singular Word; as words have spread about Him to the corners of the universe, they remain unspoken; as the glory of Him echoes from the heavens to the depths, it stays a mystery. Blessed is the mind that, having purified its perceptions and subdued its passions, transcends words to hear the Word, who reveals Himself in the silence of contemplation!
Not wanting to elaborate more elegantly with the learned on the essence of this Holy Child within Himself, I shall once again, for the sake of the simplest among us, emphasize what this Holy Child means for us. The angel proclaims a message of "great joy," while the shepherds affirm, “the Saviour is born to you today. He who,” as the angel clarifies, “will save His people from their sins” (Luke 2:10-11; Matthew 1:21). How joyous and marvelous is this news! What could be more distressing than sin, which is the root of all other misfortunes? Sin robs the soul of peace, the mind of clarity, the body of purity, the earth of blessings, and every being of goodness. It instills hell within man and ultimately consigns him to it. Therefore, it is indeed a profound joy that the One who “shall save His people from their sins” has finally come.
And how does He bring salvation to sinners? He is born! From the immortal, Divine realm, He enters into mortal existence. He relinquishes glory, forsakes the blessedness of heaven, conceals holiness, and takes upon Himself all the burdens of sin—yet without sinning. "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,” as it is written, “that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Because we chose not to remain blessed children of God in paradise, He becomes a humble infant on earth; because we misused our strengths and talents for wrongdoing, He is now utterly without strength. Just as our hands commit acts of injustice and our mouths utter vanity, the feet that tread the paths of the tempest and the hands of the Almighty are bound in swaddling cloth. For our mouths often articulate falsehoods and our tongues weave flattery, thus the speaking Word remains silent.
In our folly, “man, being in honour, hath no understanding,” as it is written, “being joined unto the cattle that have no understanding” and made like them through beastly passions and desires (Ps. 48:21). He who bears the image of God has not only diminished Himself but has also made Himself a dwelling with the voiceless. Furthermore, “that we may be the righteousness of God in Him,” He fulfills “all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15), abiding by the whole will of God; He does not even contravene human laws, yet “with the lawless He was counted as lawless” (Is. 53:12), so that we might be “redeemed ... from the curse of the law” which condemns our deeds to damnation. He who is blessed eternally becomes “a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13) to free us from destruction. Our Saviour descends into ruin; He is born on this earth not merely to live—He does not require an earthly birth for that—but to die, that He might bring eternal life from death, liberating the sons of heaven from hell and rescuing the lost from perdition. Thus, He will save “His people from their sins.”
Christians, how do you perceive and accept these declarations about the Christ Child? Is it not akin to how those who first heard the words of the Bethlehem shepherds reacted? “And all who heard marvelled at the words spoken by the shepherds” (Luke 2:18). It would indeed be alarming and unworthy if we listened with less attention to the profound teachings of the Apostles and Church leaders about our Saviour than the indifference with which others received the unclear messages of the Prophets; if we engaged with less fervor in our own salvation than in mere rumors of it. “Lord, I have heard Thy speech and was afraid; O Lord, I have seen Thy works and was terrified. Thou hast come for the salvation of Thy people” (Habakkuk 3:1-2, 13). “Let us confess to Thee how fearfully Thou hast marvelled: marvellous are Thy works; my soul knoweth well” (Ps. 138:14). “How shall we not marvel,” sings the Church, “at Thy God-bearing nativity, O Most Holy One?”
However, may we consider how deeply we marvel at the awesome mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God? All who learned from the shepherds were filled with wonder at the child lying in the manger. Once the shepherds returned, the miraculous child was concealed; amazement dissipated, and those who first heard of the infant Saviour but did not delve into this mystery soon faced the cruel hand of the oppressor, resulting in the destruction of their infants. Let us heed this caution, all you who hear, and “take heed ... how you hear” (Luke 8:18). I assure you that your shepherds will not abandon you; rather, they shall relentlessly pursue you with the glory of the Bethlehem child. Yet, the world may roar louder than ever to drown out their voice, diverting your attention from the awe of Christ’s miracles to distractions, indulgent pleasures, and deeds unpleasing to Him. Beware lest Christ, known not only through His teachings but also through the communal experience of His sacraments, withdraw from you in His unfathomable mystery, lest the adversary snatch away His Word sown in your hearts, eradicating the heavenly birth within you—not through cruelty as before, but with subtle yet dangerous tactics.
Strive not to be mere forgetful hearers of Christ's word but active participants in the work of salvation. Imitate the shepherds, who, upon hearing the angelic message, were not simply astonished but “came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger” (Luke 2:16). Follow the example of Mary herself, who “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). Internalize the voice of the child Jesus; just as a mother cherishes and protects the developing life within her, so too should you tread carefully in the world, ensuring that nothing erases from your heart the beautiful memory and loving spirit bestowed upon us by the child Jesus. From Him, the spirit of salvation is conceived within you, which He will accomplish in each of us through His grace, dwelling within our hearts by faith now and forevermore. Amen.
THEOSIS