The Catalog of Good Deeds: The Nativity Infographic

Showing posts with label The Nativity Infographic. Show all posts

If the Christmas story has a villain, it would be King Herod. In the passion story, the main villain would be Judas Iscariot, with possibly the High Priest Caiaphas and his Sanhedrin running a close second. But there is no close second in the Christmas story when it comes to villains. Herod has the field all to himself.

Even children seem to recognize this. In the Christmas classic, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, the Herdman family first comes to hear the Christmas story when they force their way into the main roles at the local church Christmas pageant. To describe the Herdmans as “secular” would be an understatement. They were such barbarians that they made Attila the Hun look like a civilized Oxford don. But their sense of justice and fair play remained intact. And when they heard what Herod tried to do to the Baby Jesus and how nothing much ever happened to him by way of divine retribution, they were indignant. So indignant that they wanted to hang him or burn him alive. Even the Herdmans knew that Herod was a villain.

In fairness to Herod, he had more insight into the significance of Jesus than do most moderns. Most secular people today think that Jesus and Christianity are moderately important, and Jesus is often classed with other great religious teachers. Buddha and Gandhi are often named as being in the same class. But Jesus and Christianity cannot be moderately important. If Jesus’ claims are true, then His life is not moderately important but supremely important, and if they are not true then they are of no significance at all. We didn’t need Jesus to learn of the Golden Rule. We knew before Jesus was ever born that we should love our neighbour. Our problem is not ignorance of the Golden Rule but our utter incapacity to begin to fulfil it. We don’t need education so much as we need forgiveness and healing. The one thing therefore Jesus cannot be is moderately important. Either He is our Lord and should be worshipped, or a deceiver and should be rejected.

Or, Herod might have added, killed. Herod saw clearly that Jesus was a threat to the existing social and political order in general, and to his own royal authority in particular. Herod was king in Judea, and his regime and succession depended upon the political deal he had cooked up with the Romans. There was no room for another king in this cozy situation, especially if that king might begin to act as the readers of the Prophets said He would. Prince of Peace indeed.

One imagines that Herod had no precise theology in mind when he sent out his soldiers to kill all the toddlers in Bethlehem two years of age and under. Did he really believe that he was murdering the Messiah? Certainly he thought he was murdering someone who might claim to be Messiah, or whom people might later come to think was Messiah. Theological precision was not one of his gifts. Where he was gifted was in detecting threats to his rule. Maybe too gifted: it is recorded that in his paranoia he had members of his own family murdered, including his beloved wife Mariamne. For Herod, detecting any whiff of threat was enough to have you killed. If his own wife and family were not immune, a few toddlers in a small town like Bethlehem wouldn’t stand a chance. So many were Herod’s atrocities that the slaughter of few dozen children doesn’t even show up in the stats.

But after all, Herod did have a point: if you let Jesus live and if He becomes King, then everything is changed, and the status quo is gone forever. History has proven Herod right. Jesus did live, and did become King, sitting in power at the right hand of God, and the old status quo is indeed gone forever. And good riddance to it — the status quo before Christ involved all mankind sitting in darkness and the shadow of death. Now we can come out into the light, and live forever. It means, of course, surrendering our hearts and autonomy to the King, and becoming His servants, and giving up once and for all the mad Herodian dream to control our own lives. But that’s okay. Our own lives weren’t so great anyway, and were going to end in the dust of death. Now that Christmas has come and Jesus reigns, all will not end in death. It will end where the Christmas story began, with peace on earth and glory to God in the highest.

An article by Fr. Lawrence Farley

Source: https://oca.org/reflections/fr.-lawrence-farley/in-fairness-to-herod

Help support the ministry of St. Elisabeth Convent

Visit the Catalogue of St.Elisabeth Convent

The Nativity Journey Infographic

How did people meet their Savior? The stories about the shepherds, the wise men and king Herod shows a wide range of emotions – from the pure faith to fear to hatred. However, it is symbolic that first of all we encounter people’s ignorance and indifference in them. Or course, those who were resting in their homes at that late hour did not even realize that they all took part in the event of a universal scale, as well as that the Child born in the cave would become the “Light of People”. Although they all had to know the law of God ordering them to give a shelter to the travelers, no one did that.

And then the shepherds, who were herding the sheep on the neighboring field, came inside the cave. They were worried and began to tell about “the great joy which had been announced to them by God”.

It seemed as if their coming retuned them all back to the Old Testament. We often find mentions in The Holy Scripture of people who live with their herds as those who are closer to God. Sitting around the fire under the night sky, Abraham, Moses and Amos listened to God’s will. They put their doubts aside and went where God told them to go. The same was with the shepherds, who were the first people who saw the Savior.

As far as the day of the Nativity was correlated with the day of the solstice, which is December 25, often we associate the announcement to the shepherds and their coming with the winter scenery. Indeed, sometimes at this time of the year snow falls in Palestine. It is regrettable to part with the rooted tradition, but we should admit that it is not proven by the Holy Gospel. Apostle Luke wrote that “the shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night”. In December people kept their cattle inside. The cattle was herded from March till November. Consequently, that means that Christ was born in this time period.

Of course, the feast itself is much more for us than just a calendar recollection of the events. It has a deep spiritual meaning. By the fact that the feast is celebrated on the day of the solstice, the Church proves the coming of the “Light of Mind” and the “Sun of Truth”.

The new day did not begin yet when everyone at home knew already that the miraculous event had happened. The apostle continues: “And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds” (Luke, 2:18). The prophecy about the King of the world did not make sence for those people. They could not believe that the Son of those poor parents, who had come from Galilee, could be the King . However, Mary’s assurance in Her divine destiny was strengthened even more, and She kept in Her heart the news brought by the shepherds from the field.

Eight days after birth, the Old Testament ritual of circumcision was performed on the Infant, and he got his name, Jesus. We can say that many mothers in Palestine would often chose the same name. But in case of Mary that name had a special meaning. Jesus, or Joshua, or Yehoshua means “God’s Salvation”. The name of Christ banded together all the prophecies and aspirations of the Old Testament world.

We do not know whether Joseph intended to leave Bethlehem or to stay there forever. Anyway, he could not be in a hurry. According to tradition, a mother was not allowed to leave the home for a month after the birth of a child. Then they also had to visit Jerusalem, where they had to go through additional rituals…

An excerpt from “History of the Religion, Book 6”

by Fr. Alexander Men

Help support the ministry of St. Elisabeth Convent

Visit the Catalogue of St.Elisabeth Convent

What of the star itself? Many attempts have been made by scholars to give some sort of scientific explanation for the Star of Bethlehem. Indeed, there is substantial historic and scientific evidence of an unusual celestial event at the approximate time of the birth of Christ, yet even this would not explain the behavior of the star as described by the Holy Scriptures. Of course, to the Church there is a more mystical approach.

The Holy Fathers tell us that this star can be compared to the miraculous pillar of fire, which stood in the camp by night during Israel’s exodus, or the light from heaven, which overwhelmed Saul on his way to Damascus. St. John Chrysostom, in his homily on the second chapter of Matthew, says God called the wise men by the things that are familiar to them, for being astrologers they were naturally astonished at such a large star. He says that God, for the salvation of those in error, allowed Himself to be served by astrologers, normally used to serve the devil, so that He might gently draw the Magi away from their customs and lead them toward a higher wisdom.

St. Maximos the Confessor says that when the intellect is illumined by the infinite Light of God it becomes insensible to everything made by Him, just as the eye becomes insensitive to the stars when the sun rises. The Magi did not just drop off their gifts and leave, for they left from the presence of Christ as men forever changed by their experience. Their superior intellect and knowledge was confounded by the presence of a little child born under the humblest circumstances.

In keeping this great Feast of the Nativity of our Lord, we must receive this Light with joy, not putting it away at the end of the season, but rather let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16).

Source: http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2009/12/magi-and-star-orthodox-understanding.html

Help support the ministry of St. Elisabeth Convent

Visit the Catalogue of St.Elisabeth Convent

The border between the two Testaments became the day that changed the whole life of Mary. However, the real line between the Old and the New would lie along the river of Jordan. Christ says: “Before John there is the Law of Moses and the Prophets”. He himself kept silent until the moment the voice of His Forerunner had sounded.

The rabbis were right saying that the messiah would not be recognized for a long time. Jesus Christ remained out of sight for 30 years. However, not everything was the same in that process of preparation. The knowledge we got from the first Christians tells almost nothing about the first years of the Messiah’s life in Nazareth. At the same time, the story of his birth abounds with dramatic events. This contrast can hardly be accidental.

The Kingdom of God grew on earth “imperceptibly”, but the very first moment of the appearance of God could not happen unnoticed at all. When the Heavenly Stone, which had been foreseen by Prophet Daniel, touched the top of our history, he caused rings on its surface. Someone must have responded, felt the mysterious sense of the event, happening in predawn darkness.

The Nativity story by Apostle Luke begins with an epic phrase: “It came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.” By the “entire world” the Romans referred to their empire, which they were proud to call the “Ecumene” – the Universe. The three censes held by Emperor Octavian were a sum up of his reign lasting for more than 25 years. Analyzing the results of the census he could observe all his lands and tribes with a single look.

It seems, the Evangelist was talking about the census held in 8 B.C. However, it concerned only those people, who were the citizens of the Roman Empire; but according to Tacitus, later Augustus began to keep record of the enrtire population in all the provinces and satellite states. The latter included Judea as well. As a vassal monarch, Herod had to take care about fulfilling the will of his patron.

Joseph Flavius did not mention the census during the Herod’s reign, but when he mentioned the Jews who refused to swear allegiance to Augustus, he stated that there were 6000 of them. Thus we can say that the king had to organize kind of a registration of the citizens, and it was held soon after the Ecumene census of Augustus.

Apostle Luke continues: “And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.” Such type of registration would make a lot of people flock to the biggest cities. On these grounds the critics hurried to call the Evangelist’s story a fictional one. First of all, they obviously exaggerated the difficulty of the affair. At that time Palestine was a small land with a small number of people, which allowed the Jews to come to Jerusalem each year on Easter. Secondly, it could be that King Herod did not dare to hold the registration by the Roman example, being afraid of uprisings. At that time people reacted aggressively on such measures, as they could lead to new taxes. It would be easier for the king to do it according to the style that people in the East were more accustomed to, which meant gathering reminaing donations collected during the fest of Easter. Another way was to check the books of genealogy, which meant that people had to come to their cities, where those books were kept.

There is a papyrus stating: “Gaius Vibius Maximus, the ruler of Egypt, orders: as far as we are going to register the population, all the people who live outside their homeland have to come back to their native districts to join the census in the usual manner.” It seems that something of that kind happened in Judea between the years 7 and 6 A.D.

There is only unresolved question remined: how is Roman Emperor Quirinius, mentioned by Apostle Luke, connected with these events? The Evangelist calls the census as the first, perhaps, to differ it from another one, organized in Palestine by Quirinius 12 years later, when King Herod was already dead. It is unclear what position Quirinius had in 7 A.D., but he certainly could be responsible for the affairs in the Herod’s kingdom. Anyway, according to the Romans’ point of view, those censes were insignificant. While preparing for a trip to Bethlehem, Joseph could hardly think about the affairs and plans of the great ones of the world. He had his own worries.

Thus we may see that the Holy History and the Roman politics did not come into contact. But we cannot imagine an event which could become a more suitable background for the Nativity, than the census, which reached all over the largest state of the world. The opposition and connection between two kingdoms – the kingdom of Ceasar and the kingdom of Messiah – is significant by itself. The One, Who was going to announce the brotherhood of people, was born at the time, when the dream of uniting the whole world seemed almost fulfilled. Both kingdoms have the same goal – humanity, which is born from different nations. However, this similarity is shallow. In fact, the “gospel” of Augustus will be an antagonist for the Gospel of Christ forever.

“And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth,

into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem;

(because he was of the house and lineage of David:),

To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.” (Luke, 2:4-5)

To expose a woman to have such a trip right before labor meant to take a huge risk. What is more, only men were registered in the lists, and Mary could have stayed in Nazareth. It seems, there were some other reasons which made Joseph come there with his wife. Anyway, Joseph left Nazareth and went on the road, “ascending” to Judea, as it was common to say there.

It was hard for Mary to endure the week-long trip. The years of Her challenges began with that self-exile, in which She shared the fate of all the rejected people. She was ready for this while remaining true to her vow: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word…”

The wayfarers were on their way. During their trip they would have to alternate between coming down the valley ascending the steep hills of the region. They had to get around hostile Samaria, called Sebaste at that time, to pass noisy Jerusalem, until they finally saw Bethlehem – the fatherland of King David - surrounded by gardens and fields.

It is said that Joseph asked the innkeeper for a place to stay. However, it could be that the word “kataluma” used by Apostle Luke meant a cenacle. Perhaps, the travelers could have stayed with Joseph’s relatives.

“And so it was, that, while they were there,

the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son,

and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger.” (Luke, 2:6-7)

A manger – a feeder for cattle covered with hay… It was in the cave carved in the rock near the house. It was usually used for keeping sheeps and goats or hitching baggage animals.

It was there, in the darkness of the cave, where a Child, “looking just like all the other children on earth”, saw the world.

Who could expect on that? Who could think that God would appear through His creation so quietly and imperceptible? The Messiah becomes the brother of the deprived people since the first minutes of His life. No Christmas lights and decorations can make us forget this picture: the Mother in exile, deprived of a normal house, is sitting in the crib with the Child on Her hands. There was no place for Him, for “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” That was how the life of the Son of Man began. That was the beginning of His fight, His sufferings and His victory.

The Divine Love came to the world torn by passions, to the kingdom of spiritual and physical slavery, a place of lies and demagogy, of lechery and inhumanity. The Bethlehem Star appeared in the sky at the time when the civilization was destroying itself again. And it was a real miracle that people did not lose their hope.

They asked: when would He come? They were waiting for a punishing sword of the Avenging God, but found an Infant in the cave. There were no disasters and no scorching fire when He came. Instead of that, Love came under cover of a Bethlehem night, like a shy guest and a homeless wanderer. Its magnificence turned out to be the defenselessness of a Child, and its majesty - simplified. The Theophany was not about violence caused by people, but it announced about the mystery of freedom and God’s patience…

An excerpt from “History of the Religion, Book 6”

by Fr. Alexander Men

Help support the ministry of St. Elisabeth Convent

Visit the Catalogue of St.Elisabeth Convent

Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )

Search This Blog

featured Slider

In Fairness to King Herod

The Announcement to the Shepherds

The Star of Bethlehem: An Orthodox Approach

How did the census of the Roman empire set the stage for the Nativity of Christ?

Partners

Search This Blog

featured Slider

In Fairness to King Herod

The Announcement to the Shepherds

The Star of Bethlehem: An Orthodox Approach

How did the census of the Roman empire set the stage for the Nativity of Christ?

About Our Blog

Most Popular Posts

Partners