Crosstalk: The deeper meaning of the Nativity
What follows is edited from Thyateira Midlands Ecclesiastical Seminary's Christmas Message, together with that from Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain.
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
In Orthodox Theology the Nativity of Christ discloses the wonder of The Word (see John 1. 1-4) who becomes truly human so that humanity may be restored to communion with God (ie, to re-inhabit our originally intended nature) fulfilling what St Athanasius said - "The Son of God became man so that we might become god". The child in the manger reveals not a diminished divinity, but Divine Love that humbles itself and enters our weakness in order to heal it from the inside. The nativity scene - in Eastern Christendom it's a cave - becomes a threshold between Heaven and Earth, where creation offers its frail substance and receives in return the promise of transfiguration - a transcendent change which goes to the very core of not only one's own being but to the whole of reality - and the first fruits of deification - becoming more like Christ in every way.
In this radiant feast (Christmas) the Church beholds the Light, who enters history quietly yet decisively, gathering every fragment of human life into the redeeming embrace of Grace and Resurrection, "laying aside the old human being", as St Gregory of Nazianzus said "that we may be clothed with the new" and that with the birth of the Saviour, a new dawn appeared.
At the end of the day it's one thing to have fine decorations, pretty lights, and lovely food, but altogether another to allow the simple joy, grace, and light from the Nativity of Christ to fill our hearts, minds and souls both now and forever unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Edited by Spyridon Benyon, Greek Orthodox Church, Shrewsbury
