In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
All sorts of articles have been written by people who have a hard time accepting that the Word of God could take flesh and become a human being. They try to reduce Jesus Christ to a mere legend. They try to pretend that He never existed, or perhaps they try to make Him into a simple, nice-guy-philosopher. People do all sorts of other things in order to avoid facing Who is Jesus Christ, because they are likely afraid. They seem to be paralysed by fear, in fact, and therefore they are allowing themselves to try to escape from reality. It is a very sad thing to see such things written in public magazines and newspapers, because these escapist tactics that people are using for themselves lead many other people who are weak, away with them. That is why it is so important for us, who are Orthodox Christians, to celebrate this feast in particular, because the whole life of the Orthodox Church is rooted in making visible the love of the Lord.
The Word of God takes flesh today and dwells amongst us (see John 1:14). He is born today of the Virgin Mary in a cave in Bethlehem. For people who have doubts about that, there is a great deal of historical evidence that these things are true. There is a great deal of secondary historical evidence, too, that Jesus Christ did walk this earth, and that people understood at that time already that He was, indeed, the Son of God. They understood that He was not just like everyone else. He was like everyone except for sin (see Philippians 2:7 ; Hebrews 2:17 ; 4:15). However, besides being a human being, He is also the Son of God. The Word of God took flesh because of love, as the Apostle John says in a passage which so many children learn in their early years to say from memory : “‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life’” (John 3:16). These words are quoted in the Divine Liturgy in one way or another.
We know that the Lord loves us. He takes flesh today in order to bring us to salvation. That means that He is returning us to our true selves. He is bringing us to spiritual health. He is bringing us into the right focus and the right relationship with God, so that we should no longer have to be afraid, like the people who are writing these sad and sometimes crazy arguments. We do not have to be slaves of fear. We can be free in the love of Jesus Christ – free, healthy, full of joy, full of strength, full of love, as He created us to be. That is why He did this for us : to open again the door to Paradise, the door which we, in our rebellion, closed. Let us remember that it is we who closed that door. It is we, not He, who closed that door. He broke down all the barriers that we established between ourselves and God. Jesus Christ, in Himself, gives us access to God the Father. He sent the Holy Spirit to enable us to live in this love, and to maintain this personal relationship of love with Him.
That is why our Saviour gave us icons of Himself such as this one here. We have a Tradition, 2,000 years old, that says that we know more or less what Jesus looked like in the flesh. This icon is a good icon. It represents well, in the Tradition of the Orthodox Church, what is the likeness of Jesus Christ. If the shroud of Turin truly is the very burial cloth of Jesus Christ (as many people believe it to be), the Face on that shroud, also, is very like this Face. The Lord gave us these images so that, as Saint John of Damascus says, when we come and kiss this image of Christ, our love passes through the icon, which serves as a gateway or window to Heaven. Our veneration passes through this wood and this paint straight to Jesus Christ Himself.
We need to have these concrete ways to contact Jesus Christ. That is why we carry Crosses on our bodies after we are baptised. That is why we venerate these icons, because we need these concrete attachments to enable us to express our love. If Jesus Christ were completely invisible and inaccessible, it would be extremely difficult for us. However, He knows that as human beings, we have to have tangible things, things that we can touch and feel. He has given us these icons from the very beginning so that we can kiss them, and at the same time, kiss Him. It does not end there. When we kiss Him because of love, His love comes back to us. It is not as though He were not kissing us back. He loves us. How would He not kiss us, also, with His love, when we are kissing Him ? It is the same with the Mother of God and any other of the saints. This love is the foundation of our Orthodox Christian life.
Saint John Chrysostom says of us that we ourselves are living icons of Christ, because, as we sang today, we were baptised into Christ. When we were baptised into Christ, we put on Christ (see Galatians 3:27). We carry Christ with us, especially when we are receiving Holy Communion. Saint John Chrysostom says that when we receive Holy Communion, Jesus Christ is so present in each of us that we should be making a prostration in front of each other, because of love for the Lord, who is present in each of us. We, as Orthodox Christians, are carrying Jesus Christ everywhere that we go.
We are living icons and representations of Jesus Christ. It is our responsibility to be renewing this love, this relationship of love with Jesus Christ, everyday in our prayers. We should receive Him regularly and frequently in Holy Communion. Then, everyday when we are at our work, when we are in public places, when we are shopping or doing whatever we are doing, we will be able to carry Christ with us in such a way that people around us will see our love, our joy, our hope. They will see how we care about the people around us. They will see how we, like Jesus Christ, serve people, take care of people. By encountering Jesus Christ in us, they may find some hope in this very painful world, and find some encouragement to carry on living in this very difficult and broken world.
Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ is born today in Bethlehem in Judea because of love. Because of this same love, let us allow this love to be visible in us, too. Let us ask our Saviour to strengthen us, by the Grace of the Holy Spirit, so that our love may be strong enough that people may be able to see and have hope, and believe in our Saviour. May our lives glorify Jesus Christ, together with the unoriginate Father, and the all-holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages.