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Christ, therefore, was born in Bethlehem at the time when Augustus
Caesar gave orders that
the first enrollment should be made. But what necessity was there, some
one
may perhaps say, for
the very wise Evangelist to make special mention of this? Yes, I answer:
it
was both useful and
necessary for him to mark the period when our Savior was born; for it was
said by the voice of the
Patriarch: The head shall not depart from Judah, nor a governor from
his
thighs until He
come, for Whom it is laid up: and He is the expectation of the
Gentiles.
[Gen. 49:10] That we
might learn that the Israelites then had no king of the tribe of David,
and
that their own native
governors had failed, with good reason he mentions the decrees of Caesar,
as
now having Judea and
the rest of the nations beneath his scepter, for it was as their ruler
that
he commanded the census to
be made.
Because he was of the house and lineage of David. [Luke 2:4]
The book of the sacred Gospels referring the genealogy to Joseph, who was
descended from
David's house, has proved through him that the Virgin also was of the same
tribe as David,
inasmuch as the Divine law commanded that marriages should be confined to
those of the same
tribe; and the interpreter of the heavenly doctrines, the great apostle
Paul, clearly declares the truth,
bearing witness that the Lord arose out of Juda. [Heb. 7:14] The natures,
however, which
combined unto this union were different, but from the two together is one
God the Son, without the
diversity of the natures being destroyed by the union. For a union of two
natures was made, and
therefore we confess One Christ, One Son, One Lord. And it is with
reference
to this notion of a
union without confusion that we proclaim the holy Virgin to be the mother
of
God, because God the
Word was made flesh and became man, and by the act of conception united to
Himself the temple
that He received from her. For we perceive that two natures, by an
inseparable union, met together
in Him without confusion, and indivisibly. For the flesh is flesh, and not
deity, even though it became
the flesh of God; and in like manner also the Word is God, and not flesh,
though for the
dispensation's sake He made the flesh His own. But although the natures
which concurred in forming
the union are both different and unequal to one another, yet He Who is
formed from them both is
only One; nor may we separate the One Lord Jesus Christ into man severally
and God severally,
but we affirm that Christ Jesus is One and the Same, acknowledging the
distinction of the natures,
and preserving them free from confusion with one another.
With Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child.[ Luke 2:5]
The sacred Evangelist says that Mary was betrothed to Joseph, to show
that the conception
had taken place upon her betrothal solely, and that the birth of the
Emmanuel was miraculous, and
not in accordance with the laws of nature. For the holy Virgin did not
bear
from the immission of
man's seed. And what, therefore, was the reason for this? Christ, Who is
the
first-fruits of all, the
second Adam according to the Scriptures, was born of the Spirit, that he
might transmit the grace
(of the spiritual birth) to us also; for we too were intended no longer to
bear the name of sons of
men, but of God rather, having obtained the new birth of the Spirit in
Christ first, that he might be
foremost among all [Col. 1:15], as the most wise Paul declares.
And the occasion of the census most opportunely caused the holy Virgin
to
go to Bethlehem,
that we might see another prophecy fulfilled. For it is written, as we
have
already mentioned, And
thou Bethlehem, house of Ephratah, art very small to be among the
thousands
of Judah:
from thee shall come forth for me to be Ruler in Israel! [Micah 5:2]
But in answer to those who argue that, if He were brought forth in the
flesh, the Virgin was
corrupted; and if she were not corrupted, that He was brought forth only
in
appearance, we say, the
prophet declares, the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in and gone
out,
and the gate
remaineth closed. [Ezekiel 44:2] If, moreover, the Word was made flesh
without sexual
intercourse, being conceived altogether without seed, then He was born
without injury to her
virginity.
(And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished
that
she should be
delivered.) And she brought forth her firstborn Son, (and wrapped him in
swaddling clothes.)
[Luke 2:7-8]
In what sense then her firstborn? By firstborn she here means, not the
first among several
brethren, but one who was both her first and only son; for some such sense
as this exists among the
significations of 'first-born.' For sometimes also the Scripture calls
that
the first which is the only one;
as I am God, the First, and with Me there is no others. [Isaiah
44:6] To
show then that the
Virgin did not bring forth a mere man, there is added the word firstborn;
for as she continued to be
a virgin, she had no other son but Him Who is of the Father; concerning
Whom
God the Father also
proclaims by the voice of David, And I will set Him Firstborn high
among the
kings of the
earth. [Psalm 88(89):27] Of Him also the all-wise Paul makes mention,
saying But
when He brought
the First-Begotten into the world, He saith, And let all the angels of God
worship Him. [Heb.
1:6] How then did He enter into the world? For He is separate from it, not
so much in respect of
place as of nature; for it is in nature that He differs from the
inhabitants
of the world; but He entered
into it by being made man, and becoming a portion of it by the
incarnation.
For though He is the
Only-begotten as regards His divinity, yet as having become our brother,
He
has also the name of
the Firstborn; that, being made the first-fruits as it were of the
adoption
of men, He might make us
also the sons of God.
Consider, therefore, that He is called the Firstborn in respect of
the
economy; for with
respect to His divinity He is the Only-begotten. Again, He is the
Only-begotten in respect of His
being the Word of the Father, having no brethren by nature, nor being
co-ordinate with any being;
for the Son of God, consubstantial with the Father, is One and Alone; but
He
becomes the
Firstborn by descending to the level of created things. When, therefore,
He
is called the
Only-begotten, He is so with no cause assigned by reason of which He is
the
Only-begotten, being
the Only-begotten God into the bosom of the Father [John 1:18]; but when
the
divine Scriptures
call Him Firstborn, they immediately also add of whom He is the
first-born,
and assign the cause of
His bearing this title; for they say, Firstborn among many brethren
[Rom.
8:29]; and Firstborn
from the dead [Col. 1:18]; the one, because He was made like unto us
in all
things except sin; and
the other, because He first raised up His own flesh unto incorruption.
Moreover, He has ever been
the Only-begotten by nature, as being the Sole begotten of the Father, God
of God, and Sole of
Sole, having shone forth God of God, and Light of Light; but He is the
Firstborn for our sakes, that
by His being called the Firstborn of things created, whatever resembles
Him
may be saved through
Him; for if He must of necessity be the Firstborn, assuredly those must
also
continue to exist of
whom He is the Firstborn. But if, as Ennamios argues, He is called God's
Firstborn, as born the first
of many; and He is also the Virgin's Firstborn; then as regards her also,
He
must be the first as
preceding another child; but if He is called Mary's Firstborn, as her only
child, and not as preceding
others, then is He also God's Firstborn, not as the first of many, but as
the Only One born.
Moreover, if the first are confessedly the cause of the second, but
God
and the Son of God
are first, then the Son is the cause of those who have the name of sons,
inasmuch as it is through
Him that they have obtained the appellation. He, therefore, who is the
cause
of the second sons may
justly be called the Firstborn, not as being the first of them, but as the
first cause of their receiving
the title of sonship. And just as the Father being called the first- for
I,
He saith, am the first, and I
am after these things [Isaiah 41:4] -assuredly will not compel us to
regard
Him as similar in nature
to those that are after Him; so also, though the Son be called the first
of
creation, or the Firstborn
before all creation, it by no means follows that He is one of the things
made; but just as the Father
said I am the first, to show that He is the origin of all things,
in the
same sense the Son also is called
the first of creation. For all things were made by Him [John 1:3]. As the
Creator and Maker of
the world, He is the beginning of all created things.
And she laid him in the manger [because there was no room for them in the
inn.] [Luke 2:7]
He found man reduced to the level of the beasts; therefore is He placed
like fodder in a
manger, that we, having left off our bestial life, might mount up to that
degree of intelligence which
befits man's nature; and whereas we were brutish in soul, by now
approaching
the manger, even His
own table, we find no longer fodder, but the bread from heaven, which is
the
body of life.
Donated to the St. Pachomius
Library by
Rev. T. Mayes.
Have mercy, O Lord, upon Thy servants the translator Robert and the
scribe Richard!