Meditation: Why Did He Come?
Charlotte Adelsperger explained what the coming of Jesus meant to her:
Christmas came for me when I allowed Jesus to outgrow
swaddling clothes and wrap me in God’s love.
Christmas came for me when I discovered that I am part
of the flock God is watching over-even at night.
Christmas came for me when I rejoiced, knowing Christ’s
tidings of great joy were to all people-and I’m a messenger.
Christmas came for me when His love and wisdom filled
me to serve others as my gold, frankincense and myrrh.
From the Church Fathers:
Besides the offering at the Divine Liturgy we have another altar which is the altar of the poor. You can find this altar everywhere, even in alleys, and streets. To this altar we are called to bring our offering, a holy sacrifice to God. Herein lies our priestly office, as we, like the officiating priest in the liturgy, invoke the Spirit on the altar of the poor, not by words of mouth, but by deeds that speak louder than words. The Spirit hovers above the altar of the poor. The Lord’s Body is lied thereupon, as there is no wound in this world that He does not bear in His Body. There is no blood that is shed which He does not share. In this sense when we give to the poor we give unto Him who descends to us from heaven.
-St. John Chrysostom
Meditation: Why Did He Come?
We talk of major “breakthroughs” in science and space exploration. We hope for a breakthrough in the conquest of cancer. Yet the greatest of all major breakthroughs happened on Christmas Day. God “bowed the heavens and came down” (Ps. 18:9). “God has visited his people” (Luke 6:16). This is the miracle of miracles, the mystery of mysteries. We can never fully understand it; we can only kneel in awe before the manger and praise God for His infinite love.
A mother kept pointing to a picture of her husband, away at war for two years, and telling her little daughter that was her dear daddy and what a wonderful man he is. Many months later daddy came home. He gathered the child in his arms and hugged her. Through tears of joy the little girl said to her mother, “Look, father has stepped out of the frame.” So it was that Jesus—the Power of God and the Wisdom of God—stepped down out of the frame of the universe and “dwelt among us” to embrace us, to stretch His arms out on a cross and show us His infinite love.
Is this not the greatest of all “breakthroughs?”
From the Church Fathers:
“Christ hungered as man and fed the hungry as God. He was hungry as man and yet is the Bread of Life. He was athirst as man, and yet He said, ‘Let him that is athirst come to me and drink.’ He was weary and yet He is our rest. He paid tribute and yet He is a king. He was called a devil and cast out devils. He prayed and yet hears prayers. He wept and dries our tears. He was sold for thirty pieces of silver and He redeems the world. He is led as a lamb to the slaughter and is the Good Shepherd. He is mute like a sheep, and yet He is the Everlasting Word.” –St. Gregory of Nazianzus
~ Presbytera Emily Harakas & Fr. Anthony Coniaris, DAILY MEDITATIONS and Prayers for the CHRISTMAS ADVENT Fast and Epiphany: Living the Days of Advent and Epiphany according to the Orthodox Church Calendar
