Become Like Children
“Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” (Mark 10:15)
EVERY YEAR AS CHRISTMAS APPROACHES, we hear a great deal of speculation about the meaning of Christmas in a society that is persistently trying to shake off it Christian identity. During such a debate about the meaning of Christmas, one comment in particular struck me: “Christmas is a feast for children.”
Although the person who made this comment intended it to be taken in a negative sense, I was surprised to find myself agreeing with him. For Christ said, “Become as little children” (Matt. 18:3). What do children have that we adults are missing? First of all, they have a capacity for wonder and innocent joy, which in adults is tainted by cynicism and sinfulness. Secondly, they are capable of complete trust, which ends up being choked by the thorns of adulthood. And thirdly, they possess absolute humility.
These childlike characteristics-wonder, joy, faith, humility-should be our response to the Nativity.
Christ comes to be born not in a haughty palace decked with jewels and precious stones, but in a humble manger. So too will He not enter the hearts of the proud, but only those who are humble and “poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3):
I will make you all my kinsmen, if you keep My commandments, says Christ to mankind as He comes forth from a pure womb. Granting us peace, He commands us to have lowly thoughts, and to recognize Him as Lord and to sing: We highly exalt You forever! (Triode of Compline of the Forefeast; second hymn of the eighth Ode)
Looking upon Christ, who humbles Himself let us be lifted up from the passions that drag us down; having learned in faith and good zeal not to think lofty things, let us be humbled in spirit; that by exalted works we may exalt Him who is being born. (Triode of Compline of the Forefeast, third hymn of the ninth Ode)
Christmas is indeed a feast for children, and only when we become like children will we be able to truly rejoice in the wonder of Christmas: the eternal and Almighty God coming to us as a defenseless and vulnerable baby. This is the mystery by which we should be humbled; this is the strange wonder in which we are to rejoice as children do:
Today, the Virgin gives birth to Him who is above all being,
And the earth offers a cave to Him who cannot be approached.
Angels with shepherds give glory, and Magi travel with a Star.
For to us there has been born a little child:
God before the ages. (Kontakion of the Nativity)
~Vassilios Papavassiliou, Meditations for Advent: Preparing for Christ’s Birth
