The Catalog of Good Deeds: The Nativity Infographic

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In all their affliction he was afflicted,

and the angel of his presence saved them:

in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;

and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

(Is. 63:9)

Did Baby Jesus cry when He was born into this world? Apparently yes, for He is a human being, too, and is like us in all respects, except sin. Being the eternal Wisdom of God, the Logos, the Lord knew about the road of the Cross that He had to go through since the beginning. He was born to drink the cup of suffering for all people and die so that we who believe in Him could die with Him in the waters of the Baptism and rise from the dead to live forever with Him. Perhaps, this is the reason why Orthodox icons of the Nativity depict Baby Jesus in a crib that resembles a coffin. Yet, I like to think that Baby Jesus smiled at our world, smiled at the human race as He lay in the lap of His most pure Mother.

God Smiled at the Shepherds

There were shepherds with their flock in the fields not far from Bethlehem on that glorious night. What did those men have in mind? They must have been busy thinking about their daily routines and small and big misfortunes of their harsh and difficult lives. Their problems only grew worse with that new census, which could mean more taxes and more burden on the Jewish people. Suddenly, they heard an Angel who brought them happy news from God, For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11). But first, the Angel said, “Fear not!” (Luke 2:10) We often read this message on the pages of the New Testament. It permeates the entire history of our salvation. People, fear not! For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder (Is. 9:6). God has come to this world so that we could have a great hope for life—and an abundant one—in spite of all troubles and sorrows that we have to face day-to-day.

God Smiled at Angels

It might sound strange but God’s incarnation was a source of great joy for the Angelic world, too. These first intelligent creatures give incessant praises to God and behold His glory. They are in the state of bliss but apparently, when the Lord united the uncreated Divine nature and the created human nature, it was a boon not only for the fallen human race, which it was intended for, but a benefaction for the countless heavenly hosts, too. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels… (cf. 1 Tim. 3:16). Truly, this mystery is great. The Angels rejoiced at the Incarnation of the Logos also because, as Jesus said, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth (Luke 15:10). Thanks to the incarnation of the Lord of Hosts, whole nations will repent and believe in the Messiah and great hosts of saints from all ends of the earth will sing eternal praises to God along with the Angelic choirs.

God Smiled at the Three Wise Men

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy (Matthew 2:10). God smiled at the Wise Men who kept staring at the night sky in intense anticipation of the signs that God had promised, for He once said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (Gen. 1:14). God smiled at them and sent them a star that led them to His beloved Son who is the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star (Rev. 22:16). When they observed stars and celestial bodies, did they expect to see the star that Balaam had prophesied about so boldly? There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth (Num. 24:17). As soon as they saw Baby Jesus lying in the crib, the Wise Men may have exclaimed the same words that the great John Chrysostom later did in his works, “What do I need heaven for when I can see the Lord of the Heaven?” The Lord calls upon the Wise Men, “I’ve brought you to Myself with help of a star. Now leave your stars behind and follow Me, carrying your crosses.”

God Smiled at the Calf and the Donkey

Yes, God loves animals, too. He created them to enjoy their lives, praising their Creator, the great Conductor of all living beings and all cosmos. Man fell, and the animal world fell with him, and the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now (Rom. 8:22). When the Savior comes into this world, He transforms it, and so the animals are also happy at seeing their Master come to liberate them. Look at the Orthodox icons of the Nativity: the donkey and the calf are looking at the Lord with so much love, tenderness, and devotion. They warm the Divine Baby up with their breath. O Lord, thou preservest man and beast (Ps. 36:6).

God Smiled at Virgin Mary and Joseph the Betrothed

Finally, God smiled at His parents: the Most Pure Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary and Holy Joseph the Betrothed. Saint Joseph had clearly gone through lots of temptations and doubts but, according to the Scripture, an Angel of the Lord instructed him in a dream and bolstered his faith in God’s Plan and in the innocence of Mary. Joseph had humbly accepted the God’s Plan and was happy to raise the young Jesus who became his good helper throughout the rest of Joseph’s life.

As far as the Virgin was concerned, She had a unique road in front of Her. A road of joy and pain and suffering; a road of great comfort and of great sorrow. The Mother of God carried the Cross that the Lord had given to Her with dignity. She was exalted by God to a height that is beyond reach even for the Cherubim: She stands to the right hand of the Lord, according to the Psalmist. She always intercedes for everyone who prays to Her.

God smiles at us from the Bethlehem crib. He believes in us even when we don’t believe in Him. He is waiting for our repentance. He is waiting for our love, for it was love that led Him to be born in a carpenter’s family. It was love that led Him to endure cold and heat, thirst and hunger, mockery and indifference. He came to destroy our disbelief and our loneliness with His Cross and His ministry. He wants us to give Him just one thing, which rightfully belongs to Him alone and which only we can give Him: My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways (Proverbs 23:26). That’s the gift that our Savior wants from us this Christmas: our loving heart. Let’s give Him that gift and smile back at Him.

By John Nichiporuk,

a Bachelor of Theology,

specialized in Biblical Studies.

The Catalog Of Good Deeds, 2018

See full Nativity infographics here.

Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. (Matthew 2:2).

We meet the so called wise men, who came from the remote and mysterious Orient to worship the newborn King of Judah, on the very first pages of the Gospel. We feel warm and relaxed whenever we mention those wise men, or Magi. They bring about the memories of a happy and serene Christmas holiday. Those three old men wearing funny hats made a long way to honor Baby Jesus and bring him their gifts. We can't help thinking about gifts that will make our loved ones happy, about the coziness of a family reunion, and the twinkling lights on the Christmas Tree.

With that said, the Bible in general and the Gospel in particular has a strongly negative attitude towards wizards and pagan diviners. The book of Deuteronomy warns, There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). The attitude expressed in the New Testament is no less harsh. Suffice it to say that Apostle Paul strikes Elymas the Sorcerer blind for opposing his preaching of Christ on Cyprus (see Acts 13). Simon Magus receives a serious warning from Apostle Peter who scolds him in no unclear terms for his attempt to buy the apostolic power with money. Why, then, are the strict prohibitions of the Old Testament inapplicable to the Wise Men of Christmas ?

Who were those Magi? These wise old men came from afar to worship Baby Jesus. They have been venerated as saints in the West since ancient times to the point that they even have commemoration dates (January 1 for Casper, January 6 for Melchior, January 11 for Balthazar, and January 6—the Epiphany—for the three wise men together). Their relics initially rested in Constantinople, then they were transferred to Milan, and finally to the Cologne Cathedral, where they rest today.

Unfortunately, we don't know their exact origins and how many of them there really were. There are a number of guesses as to who those mysterious travelers from the Orient were.

According to Greek historian Herodotus, the Magi (μάγοι in Greek, meaning wizards or sorcerers) simply belonged to a Median tribe called the Magi, which carried out the functions not unlike those of the tribe of Levi. Others claim that the Magi is a caste of learned priests and prophets in the Persian Empire who studied medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and other sciences. Prophet Daniel is known to have been appointed the chief Magus, i.e., the chief sage in Babylon. Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. (Daniel 2:48).

The exact number of the wise men who arrived in Jerusalem and the point of their departure isn’t clear, either. Various medieval sources contain information about 2, 4, 6, 8 wise men, while Syriac tradition mentions 12 wise men who had a large retinue. Finally, Origen’s version about three wise men gained traction, primarily because they are said to have brought three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The country of the wise men’s origin is also unclear because the phrase we have seen his star in the east can be interpreted in multiple ways. When the Greeks and Romans spoke about the East, they didn’t always mean any exact geographical region. Hence, ancient Greeks would often mistake Ethiopia, which is located in the south, in the East Africa, for India, which is located in the east. The wise men are said to have arrived from the mysterious Tarshish or the legendary land of Ophir, or Arabia and the Kingdom of Sheba, based on the words of Psalm 72, The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. (Ps. 72:10). Some Holy Fathers, including Saint Maximus of Turin (5th century), conjectured that the wise men or at least one of them possibly hailed from Ethiopia or India. That is why one of the wise men is often traditionally portrayed as a black man. Bede the Venerable (+735) already provides us with the names of the three wise men, which were later incorporated into the church tradition of the Western Church: Casper, who is a beardless young man, Melchior, who is an old man with a long beard, and Balthazar, who is black. The same Bede the Venerable wrote that the wise men were the descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth and thus represented all human race and all human wisdom seeking the truth and finding it in Christ.

There is another, no less ingenious hypothesis of some Holy Fathers who consider the three wise men to be the descendants of the diviner (another good wizard, mind you) and prophet Balaam who blessed Israelites instead of cursing them and who foresaw a certain star:

I shall see him, but not now:

I shall behold him, but not nigh:

there shall come a Star out of Jacob,

and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel,

and shall smite the corners of Moab,

and destroy all the children of Sheth. (Num. 24:17)

Blessed Jerome of Stridon and Saint Ambrose of Milan followed the tradition attributed to Origen and assumed that Balaam’s descendants passed from one generation to the next generation a legend about a certain star that would point at the newborn Messiah who would bring many children of Sheth to repentance. It is no surprise, then, that the wise men were so happy when they saw the star and embarked on the distant and dangerous journey to honor the Messiah: their ancestors had been waiting for that star for many centuries.

As far as the star itself is concerned, there are even more guesses with regard to its origin and nature. This question bothered the curious minds of ancient Christian exegetes and contemporary scholars alike. Thus, St. John Chrysostom suggested that the star was in fact an Angel of the Lord who took the image of the star for the sake of the Oriental stargazers who were interested in astronomy and astrology. Saint John stressed the superior knowledge of the ancient Jews who, having learned monotheism from God, were able to have apparitions of angels, whereas the Oriental sages who hadn’t been instructed by the light of true worship of God, were led to Christ by a star, as it is sung in the Orthodox Christmas hymns. It must be noted that the wise men, having worshipped Christ, didn’t return to King Herod as he had asked them to, willing to kill the newborn King. Instead, being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way (Matthew 2:12). We see that the three wise men, having recognized Baby Jesus as the Messiah, are immediately deemed worthy of having a revelation in a dream. Allegedly, the wise men, after they learned the Truth, did no longer need to study astrology. They returned to their homeland as Christians and were later baptized and even made bishops by Apostle Thomas.

Contemporary scholars generally assert that the appearance of the Bethlehem Star was nothing other than a conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation of Pisces, which took place in the year 7 BC. The Biblical science and Orthodox calendar also place the year of birth of the Savior into the same period.

Therefore, we don’t know for sure both the exact number and the origin of the mysterious wise stargazers and the origin and the nature of the Bethlehem Star but it doesn’t matter. What really matters is the fact that humans are looking for the truth, yearning to acquire it and serve it, for serving the truth is the genuine liberation of the human race. [Y]e shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32). Indeed, it’s exciting to read about several wise men from the East who undertook such a long journey to worship the Baby born in a miserable cave in a small town of Bethlehem, unknown to the rest of the world, and to bring Him gifts. Nowadays, the whole world remembers and loves those mysterious Magi, respects their humility before the Baby and his Most Pure Mother, and rejoices with them. They found the Messiah—the Anointed One anticipated by the patriarchs and prophets of old, the Mighty King whom Virgil had dreamed of in his Fourth Eclogue and the Peacemaker whom Moses prophesied:

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,

nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come;

and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. (Gen. 49:10).

By John Nichiporuk,

a Bachelor of Theology,

specialized in Biblical Studies.

The Catalog Of Good Deeds, 2018

See full Nativity infographics here.

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be

little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee

shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in

Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old,

from everlasting. (Micah 5:2)

There was something strange going on in Palestine 2,000 years ago. Did people realize that they happened to be alive in the greatest days of human history? Did the wind of change blow in the air? What kind of wind was it? Was it a great and strong wind that rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord (1 Kings 19:11) or a still small voice (Ibid.) that spoke to Prophet Elijah? God’s chosen people might have had less than perfect understanding of the universal significance of what was going on but they still felt that something was going to change in the godless world after the birth of John, the son of Zacharias.

Unpleasant and scary news was coming out of Rome, the capital city of all the Mediterranean. Emperor Augustus decided to perform a general census to learn how many people there were in the Empire and to be able to tax them properly. Did the Princeps, the emperor of the vast Pax Romana that spread from Gallia to Armenia and from Germany to the sands of the Sahara, know that he was merely a tool in the hands of the inscrutable Divine Providence and that the Lord would use that census to fulfil a prophecy of Prophet Micah who had lived 700 years prior to these events? Could he ever know that a carpenter from Nazareth would soon establish a New Eternal Kingdom, which is not of this world?

Virgin Mary and her betrothed husband Joseph, who was of Davidic descent, lived in the town of Nazareth in Galilee. When the Caesar’s decree on census was announced, everyone was to return to their native towns and villages to submit their names to census lists according to their tribal affiliation. Joseph belonged to the tribe of Judah and the House of David, so he had to take the pregnant Virgin Mary with him on the difficult and dangerous journey from Nazareth through Samaria, which was hostile towards the Jews, the noisy Jerusalem, and get to Bethlehem where his ancestors had lived.

That righteous man had to face so many troubles and worries! He endured so much on their road to Bethlehem! Perhaps, he compared his trip to Bethlehem to the Exodus of Jews from Egypt. The Jews escaped slave labor in Egypt and went to the Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey—the land where they could finally find peace and freedom.

If we read the Holy Scripture with love and attention, we may find similarities between the great Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and the journey of the Holy Family from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the hometown of the great King David. Let’s appreciate the beauty, depth, and immense breadth of the Scripture.

Israel was an Old Testament family that left the pagan Egypt and went into the Promised Land, led by Prophet Moses. The Holy Family of the New Testament, which was the seed of the new Christian nation, led by the Righteous Joseph, leaves the pagan land of Galilee (at least, that was how Prophet Isaiah had called it) and went through an unfriendly land to Bethlehem, which was a sacred place for every Jew. The ancient Israelites entered the Promised Land with the Ark of the Covenant, and the cloud of God’s glory covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning (Cf. Numbers 9:15). This time, Virgin Mary was the living Ark of the Covenant carefully guarded by Saint Joseph, and they were protected and guided by the Eternal Word of God who had previously led the Jews out of Egypt and remained in the womb of the Most Holy Ever-Virgin for nine months. The Jews entered the land, which was flowing with milk and honey, but the local tribes didn’t want to receive the alien people in their lands; likewise, Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus could not find room for them in the inn (Luke 2:7), because people who had come for the census before them occupied all rooms in the local inns. Ancient Jews and the Most Pure Virgin with the Noble Joseph had to fulfil God’s will and go through all hardships that they’d meet on their way in order to make the Divine Plan of our salvation come true.

That was how God, willing to save every person who comes into this world, was guiding and teaching the Israeli people to be patient in spite of many sorrows that befell them so that they could finally be able to give God the greatest level of holiness that human race is capable of: that of the Most Pure Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. Her humility and obedience will be greater than that of all greatest prophets. She will become a Temple that is more magnificent than the Temple of Solomon.

What does the Lord want to tell us with this passage? The Lord calls us to get on the road leading towards holiness and salvation. We must get out of Egypt and stop being the devil’s slaves; we must leave the worldly sea of Nazareth and walk to Bethlehem, to the Promised Land, overcoming all external and internal hardships by humility and faith, and take our families along. Bethlehem means “House of Bread” in Hebrew (בית לחם). It was here in this House of Bread that the Bread of Life that descends from the Heaven was to be born, according to Micah’s prophecy. The Lord says, I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (John 6:48-51). Let us hearken to the Savior’s call and go to Bethlehem, to the Lord’s Church—that real House of Bread where all who thirst and hunger after righteousness can receive that Bread, which is always eaten but never consumed, the bread that sanctifies those who partake of it.

By John Nichiporuk,

a Bachelor of Theology,

specialized in Biblical Studies.

The Catalog Of Good Deeds, 2018

See full Nativity infographics here.

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. (Luke 1:30-31).

Finally, the event that prophets had predicted and ancient patriarchs had anticipated came true: God visited his people. All of those who expected the coming of Messiah died with the hope that He would come eventually. The righteous men of Old Testament hoped that their children or great-grandchildren will have the chance to live in Messianic era. Finally, that time came. The Messiah was born of the Most Holy Theotokos and brought peace and grace to the world, not just for the Jews but also for Gentiles.

The Most Pure Virgin spent her entire childhood in the Temple, praying, fasting, and getting ready for the great calling that she couldn’t even dream of. At last, the Angel of God announced the Good News to the Blessed Virgin, and She became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women (Luke 1:28).

What do we see in this passage? An incorporeal angel talks with Virgin Mary and tells her something no-one had ever heard since the Fall of our forefathers—words that startled the Pure Virgin. There had been another ethereal being who had talked with a different woman, and we feel the consequences of their conversation even now. Eve heard strange words, too: ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:5). Our foremother fell out of unity with God and trusted the words of satan, God’s adversary, more than God’s words In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Genesis 2:17).

According to God’s plan, the Second Eve, the Most Holy Virgin Mary, was to correct the failure of the first Eve. She was to fulfil God’s will about her and thus restore the honor of all women. Mary’s noble action and her dialog with Archangel Gabriel is remarkably well described in worship books of the Orthodox Church.

Orthodox worship is a very profound, lively, and prayerful way of reading the Holy Scripture. This way of reading the Bible is so creative and so deeply rooted in the Word of God that the holy creators of church hymns even went so far as putting words you cannot find in the Holy Scripture into the mouths of the Theotokos and Archangel Gabriel.

Ode 3 of the Canon contains a very interesting and profound prayerful contemplation on this passage. The Most Holy Virgin replies to the Archangel, My foremother followed the serpent’s advice and lost the divine food of the Paradise, therefore I am afraid of your strange greeting, ashamed of the fall (cf. Ode 3 of Annunciation Matins Canon). If only Eve had reacted in the same manner. She had to be afraid to fall. She had to be afraid of that strange promise, ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:5). Eve failed that test, and the very beginning of human history is marked with the Foremother’s fall. However, at the dawn of the New Testament era at the time when the human race was about to be restored, Mary, the chosen Mother of all Christians—the best that human race could give God—says yes to God and submits herself to his will, saying, Behold the handmaid of the Lord (Luke 1:38).

St. Theophanes the Branded, the author of this canon, puts even more amazing words into Archangel Gabriel’s mouth, I stand in the presence of God and I was sent to announce God’s decision to you. Why are you afraid of me, O All-Immaculate, for I tremble in your presence? Why are you in awe, O Queen, when I revere you even more? (Ode 3 of the Annunciation Matins Canon). The words of the Archangel reveal an astonishing but delightful fact about the Christian faith: humans are more honorable than angels! Humans are the pinnacle of creation. We are those called to sanctify and transform the material world with our labor and prayer. It was human nature that the Word of God acquired. It was human nature that sits to the right hand of God the Father in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the honor bestowed on us humans. That mind-boggling aspect of our faith is illustrated by the iconostases of Orthodox churches where Theotokos and St. John the Baptist are always closer to Christ than Archangels Michael and Gabriel.

The Mother of God will accomplish her mission. Nine months after the Annunciation, the One who is incessantly praised by angels and archangels will be born as a human baby. The Theotokos will hold in her arms the One who cannot be contained by the entire Universe—the One at whose sight all creation trembles. She will give birth to the Son whom the Father loves; the Father’s Chosen One who is pleasing unto Him.

I have put my spirit upon him:

he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

He shall not cry, nor lift up,

nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

A bruised reed shall he not break,

and the smoking flax shall he not quench:

he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

He shall not fail nor be discouraged,

till he have set judgment in the earth:

and the isles shall wait for his law. (Isaiah 42:1-4)

By John Nichiporuk,

a Bachelor of Theology,

specialized in Biblical Studies.

The Catalog Of Good Deeds, 2018

See full Nativity infographics here.

By Bishop Theophilos of Campania

1. The Mystery of the Incarnation. God who is All-Powerful could have liberated the human race from the hands of the Devil by a single command. Had he done that, however, we would have known only his All-Powerfulness, which we already knew. We would not have known his Compassion and Love in spite of the fact that we are hostile to him.

The Incarnation (literally Ensarkosis = “En-flesh-ment”) of the Son of God is called such because of his extreme condescension and because it was out of love that He who is not separated from the Father came down to the lowest point, i.e. to the “flesh,” although when we speak about “flesh” here we understand the whole man who is denoted by the partial element of the “flesh.”

The Incarnation of the Son of God is the supreme dogma of the Christian Faith, because it was by these means that we were saved “by grace.” The whole Son of God became Man, personally (literally hypostatically = existentially). In other words, he was perfect God and perfect man, with two natures, Godhead and manhood, and one person (hypostasis), the divine.

This mystery, says Dionysios (the Areopagite) remains ineffable, although we denote it with words. It is also unknowable, although we put it in our mind. God Himself said to Moses: “Go down and solemnly charge the people, lest at any time they draw nigh to God to gaze, and a multitude of them fall” (Ex. 19:21), i.e., those who try to investigate God’s nature and mysteries fall into perplexity. This is why Gregory the Theologian says, “Before you grasp Him run away, and before you put Him in your mind escape”. Indeed he goes on to call those who try to investigate the mysteries babblers, imprudent, uncontrollable and chatterers.

2. Why Did the Incarnation Take Place at That Time? No one should examine why the Incarnation took place then, and not earlier or later, because only he knows it. He was incarnated “from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary” because there was never before, nor will there appear again, such a Virgin in the human race as immaculate as the Virgin Mary, sanctified in the flesh and worthy to be united with the Godhead of the Son of God, the Son of God who assumed the entire man from her pure and immaculate blood.

As she conceived without a sperm, so Christ was born without corruption. In other words, the Holy Mary and Theotokos, who was a Virgin before the birth, remained a Virgin even after the birth. Thus Christ came out of her womb in an ineffable manner, just as he entered into her in a manner, which involved no passion and cannot be explained.

This is exactly what Ezekiel’s prophesy stresses: “Son of Man, this Gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened; and no one shall pass through it, for the Lord God of Israel shall enter by it and come out of it and the Gate shall remain shut” (Ezekiel 44:2).

3. This Mystery of the Incarnation is inconceivable according to the prophet Jeremiah who says: “And he is a man, and who shall know Him?” (Jer. 17:9). The great Paul also declares the same: “And without doubt the Mystery of our piety is Great: God appeared in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16). Through communion with the Godhead the entire man was deified “in Christ.” The humanity of Christ enjoyed all the charismas and benefits of the Godhead, since Christ is perfect God and perfect man after the union. This is similar to the initial light, which God created and which fell on the sun’s disk and the entire disk became full of dazzling light.

This Mystery of the Incarnation is inconceivable both to Angels and human beings. God Himself revealed it to Moses, when he showed him through an opening his back parts, namely His Incarnation. He did not show him his person, i.e. His Godhead, which no man can ever see, not even an angel. At the Incarnation, then, God did not change what he was, since he is unchangeable; rather he assumed what he was not because he is a lover of man.

One may ask, how did the humanity receive the Godhead without being burnt out? But is this not also the case with the burning Bush, which was not burnt out? Where God is at work whatever is impossible becomes possible. The burning iron receives the entire nature of fire, and yet the iron remains iron and the fire, fire. It burns like fire, and like iron it undergoes changes, which an iron undergoes and has a cutting edge when it is used.

4. The Godhead deified the Human Nature, which is now deified together with its soul, which is endowed with mind, reason, will and energy. As a man, Christ was exposed to the so-called natural but blameless passions. In others words, he felt pain, thirst, weariness, even faintheartedness in a natural way. He did not display, however, any blameworthy passions, i.e. those deriving from evil choice. This was the case because he was united with God, who was the leader of his rational soul and preserved Christ sinless.

Some of the Fathers say that the babe was perfect already inside the belly of his mother. Others, however, say that he grew gradually like all babes. This is a matter of opinion and not a heresy that has an effect on the Mystery. The point is that just as Adam was made from the soil, so Christ was made from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. The Holy Spirit gave birth to the soul of Christ while his flesh was made from the blood of the Virgin.

5. The Manner of the Incarnation. Saint Maximus says that the Angels knew the impending Incarnation of the Son of God for the salvation of human beings. What however, escaped their perception were the unthinkable Conception and the manner of the Incarnation. How he could be entirely in the Father and entirely inside all things which he fulfilled, and also entirely inside the belly of the Virgin!

Nevertheless, Christ’s becoming man differs from that of all other human beings. He is substantially a perfect man, yet he differs because he is seedless, and because he falls under a different law from that which pertains to the nature of composite beings. The Word of God was conjoined with the flesh by means of assuming it in an ineffable manner.

Thus, only when Christ was born was the message heard, “Peace on earth and good will among men” (Luke 2:14). God had granted his peace many times and had called many human beings his sons. There was only one Person, however, in whom he “was well-pleased” and only one Peace that was perfect and saving for all human beings along with his perfect good-pleasure.

6. The Name “Jesus” and the Greek Alphabet. The Name Jesus, which is “the Name above every other name” (Phil. 2:9), means Savior for the Jews and healer (iomenos) for the Greeks. And indeed, Christ is the Healer of our souls and of the bodies of those who believe in him. The curious point here, however, is that this great and divine Name was indicated before hand through the Greek Alphabet, which consists of 24 letters!

As is known, the first eight letters of this Alphabet from A to Θ specify 8 monads. The following eight letters from I to Π specify 8 decades, and the following eight letters from P to Ω specify 8 hundreds. If we add them all up we form the number 888. The same applies, however, if we add the numbers which are specified by the letters of the Name JESUS: I(=10)+ Η(=8)+ Σ(=200)+ Ο(=70)+ Υ(=400)+ Σ(=200)=888. Τhis is exactly what the following verse stresses: “For if eight monads are to be added to eight decades and these to eight hundreds they will denote to the human unbelievers the Name of their Savior” (Oracula Sibyllina).

7. Witnesses of the Gentiles about the God-Man. Witnesses to Christ being God and Man are also found among many Gentiles:

a) Josephus. The Jewish historian Josephus says this about Christ: “Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works –a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and other wonderful mysteries concerning him; and the tribe of the Christians, so named from him are not extinct at this day” (Antiquitates Judaicae, Book 18,64.2). In other words, Josephus wonders whether Jesus was only a man, since he did so many incredible things and taught in such a way that he made many Jews and Greeks believe in him. Also, when the leaders of the Jews delivered him to Pilate to be crucified, his disciples did not reject him, for he was resurrected on the third day and appeared to them according to the predictions of the prophets who had spoken about this and many more mysteries concerning his person. Indeed his followers took his name and came to be called Christians and their race has not ceased to exist to this day.

B) The Roman Emperor Augustus. Eusebius of Pamphilos (Metropolitan of Caesarea in Palestine) reports that the Roman Caesar Augustus went to the Oracle of Delphi and offered sacrifice there as a Greek in order to ask Pythia who gave the oracles to tell him who would reign after him. Pythia gave him the following oracle: “A Hebrew child, who will reign over the blessed gods, orders me to leave this altar and return to Hades again. Depart, therefore, silent from my altars” (Oracula, or Suda, Lexicon alpha). When Caesar Augustus heard these things, he returned to Rome and erected an altar on which he inscribed: “An Altar to the firstborn God” (Johannes Malalas, Chronographia or Suda, Lexicon, alpha). It is truly amazing to think that the demon was forced by the divine power to witness to the Gentiles the divine birth of Christ the God-man!

C) Porphyry. The opponent of the Christians Porphyry says the following: “But now [the Gentiles] marvel how the disease has befallen the city for so many years and there has been no intervention either from Asclepius (the god of health) or from any other gods. Because the honor offered to Jesus did not leave room for any common help from the gods” (Porphyrius, Contra Christianos 80.3, or Eusebius, Preparatio Evangelica V.1.10).

Their oracles ceased and their divinations from their false gods, the demons. What else did the thoughtless and blind gentiles wish to see in order to understand that the mighty power of the Lord and God Jesus Christ? But the sages of the Greeks had proclaimed Christ even before his incarnation.

D) Orpheus. Orpheus says: “Voice, I attest you, of the Father, which he uttered first. When he established the world on his own will” (Justin Martyr, Cohortatio ad Gentiles, 16). And the next verse says: “and when you look at the divine word, attach yourself to him” (Ibid. De Monarchia, and Clement Alexandrinus Protrepticus and Stromata).

Just as the birth of Christ was seedless, so also the divine generation was without birth pangs. It is a mistake to speak of the birth pangs of the holy Virgin, i.e. that the feast on the day after Christmas is connected with greeting the mother that recovers from the birth pangs.

8. God Became Man in order to Conquer the Devil as Man. Since he was born in an ineffable manner, and received the homage of the Magi, and that unusual star appeared in the sky, and he was fed with human milk, and grew up, and went to the desert and fasted for forty days, the Devil thought that he was only a man and could fall if tempted with hunger and so he started tempting him hard. But Christ rebutted the enemy, putting forth the light of Scripture, not using the power and authority of his Godhead, but following the natural sequence of humanity. It was as a man, then, and not as God that Christ conquered the Devil, because the Devil had conquered the first man at the beginning not as God but as man. It was necessary, then, that the Devil should be conquered by man. This is why the divine Dionysius the Areopagite and Gregory the Theologian say, that “Christ conquered the Devil not by power but by right judgment and righteousness” (Dionysius, De ecclesiasticae Hierarchia). Luke the Evangelist says that Christ sustained all temptations, because he scored victories over the three capital ones, gluttony, vainglory and avarice, which give birth to all others. Thus He put the Devil to shame.

9. The Public Ministry of the God-Man and its Conclusion in the Resurrection. When Christ came down from the desert and gathered together his disciples, he preached to the world for three years and produced many miracles, having first completed the thirtieth year of his age. After all these things his disciple Judas sold him by treachery, and Christ accepted it, because he wanted to redeem us, human beings, who had been sold to the Devil through sin. He deliberately handed Himself over to those who pursued him, because he wanted to complete the divine economy and redeem the human race. He was crucified, died and buried, and the Third Day he rose and appeared to his disciples and to the women. Then, forty days later he blessed his disciples, and having taught them about peace, he ascended into heaven and sat at the right hand of the Father having fulfilled all things and having deified man.

Before the Resurrection of Christ took place, three human beings appear in the Old Testament to have been risen from the dead. The first one is the son of the widow from Zarephath or Sarepta (cf. Luke 4:26) who was raised by Elijah. The second was the son of the Somanite woman who was raised by Elisha (cf. 4 Kings 4:32ff). And the third is the case of the soldier who was buried near the tomb of Elisha and was raised from the dead (4 Kings 13:21). In the New Testament there are four cases of human beings who were raised from the dead by Christ: the daughter of the leader of the synagogue (Luke 8:49ff), the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11ff), Lazarus who had been buried for four days (John 11:43f) and those who arose at the resurrection of Christ (cf. Matth. 27:52f). All of these died again. Christ, however, who is the eighth case of a man that rose from the dead, is the only one who does not die again because death has no dominion over him. We too will rise again, on that Eighth Day, which has no end, without dying again.

10. Epilogue From the Words of Dionysius the Areopagite. We shall let Dionysius the Areopagite to close this chapter. And first of all we shall recall what he says about the darkness, which occurred when Christ was crucified. There is, he says, the witness of the Greek astronomer Phlegon who said: “In the second year of the 202nd Olympiad a major eclipse of the Sun occurred, the like of which had not been seen earlier,” so that the stars appeared in the sky” (Johannes Malalas, Chronographia). This is one additional witness of the Greeks, which is connected with the Crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is in this way, then, that we should believe in and worship Jesus Christ, as God who became man, because the Son and Word of God remains inseparable from his humanity. As God He is other than the Flesh, but also as Flesh He is other than the Word. Since, however, the Word of the Father, who is from God, Himself became man as well, this is not the case of “an other and an other” because of the indescribable union and summit. Thus, the Son is called: One and Only, both before the summit of the Incarnation and after His union with the Flesh. It is exactly for this reason that he said to the man who had been previously blind and was healed by Him: “Do you believe in the Son of man?” (John 9:35). And he answered, “And who is he Lord, that I might believe in Him” (John 9:36). And then, Christ said to Him, “And you have seen Him and He who is speaking with you, He is the one” (John 9:38). He speaks as man, He appears as man, and He is believed to be a God-Man, God’s Son Himself!

Truly, how incomprehensible and lofty is this Mystery of the Incarnation of Christ! Yet it is an absolute confirmation and revelation of God’s infinite love for us human beings.

Source: http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2009/12/on-incarnation-of-son-of-god.html

-------------------------- [1] Bishop Theophilos of Campania (1749-1795) was one of the brightest figures of the Church in the 18th century; distinguished for his theological and canonical expertise. He was born in Ioannina and became a Bishop in Campania, the area to the west of Thessaloniki and opposite Chalkidiki. He was probably a sytudent of the famous teacher Eugenios Voulgaris and is particularly known for his book Tameion Orthodoxias, which run through eight editions from 1780 to 1939. [2] References to the texts cited by the author were not included in the original edition and were provided by the translator. Translated and annotated[2] from the original Greek by Fr GEORGE DION DRAGAS PhD, DD Protopresbyter

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