December: Day 24: Teaching 3: On the Eve of the Nativity of Christ

December: Day 24: Teaching 3:
On the Eve of the Nativity of Christ
 
(The Heavenly Shepherd's Love for Humanity)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On the eve of the feast in honor of the birth of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, let us, brethren, transport ourselves in our thoughts to Bethlehem. Imagine yourself standing in the manger above the manger where the Infant Lord Jesus lay swaddled. What feelings would fill your soul then? We will share with you a beautiful conversation that Blessed Jerome had in his soul with the Infant Jesus when he lived in Bethlehem and stood at the Lord's manger.

"Whenever I look," said Jerome, "at the place where my Savior was born, I always have a sweet conversation with Him in my soul. 'Lord Jesus!' I say, 'how hard it was for You to lie there in Your manger for my salvation! What must I repay You for this?' 

And it seemed to me as if the Child were answering me: 'I desire nothing, only sing: "Glory to God in the highest"... It will be even worse for me in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross.' 

And I said: 'Ah, beloved Child! What shall I give You? I would give You all that I have...'

But He answered, 'The heavens are mine, and the earth is mine; I need nothing; rather, give all this to the poor people, and I will accept it as if it were done for Me.'

I continued: 'I will do this willingly; but what would I give to "You" specifically?'

Then the Child answered me: 'If you are so generous, then I will tell you what you must give Me: give Me your sins, your corrupted conscience, and your condemnation.' 

'What do You want to do with them?' I asked. 

'I will take them upon My shoulders: this will be My inheritance and that great deed foretold by Isaiah: "He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows."' 

Then I began to weep and said: 'Divine Child! Take what is mine and give me what is Yours! Through You I am justified from sins and I believe in eternal life!'" 

II. My brethren! This touching story clearly demonstrates the immeasurable love for us of the heavenly shepherd Jesus Christ, who said in His Gospel: "I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

a) The entire human race was a lost sheep before the coming of the Savior, so much so that it seemed as if it were crying out to God through the lips of the Prophet David: "I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant" (Psalm 119:176). And so, when the Only Begotten Son and Word of God, descending from the heights of His divine glory, became man, then He, like the good shepherd, leaving the ninety-nine sheep — the nine ranks of angels in heaven — came to earth to seek this one lost sheep. And what did He not do, what did He not endure in order to find it? He hungered and thirsted, and labored until He sweated blood, and was crucified and died in order to find His lost sheep in the very womb of hades, where it had been driven by disobedience to God's commandment.

b) And look with what love He seeks her.

In the entire Gospel story, I don't see a single sinner whom Jesus Christ did not draw to Himself with all meekness, with all love, without any anger or coercion. To attract Matthew the publican, Zacchaeus the chief tax collector, and the Pharisees, He Himself invited Himself into their homes, deigned to share a meal with them, and to those who criticized Him for this, He usually said that the sick need a physician, that is, that sinners are in need of a Savior. To attract harlots and similar sinners to Himself, He did not reproach them or threaten them, but accepted them, forgave them, and protected them. When a woman caught in adultery was brought to Him, He alone did not condemn her and sent her away with forgiveness. Did Peter not deny Him? But He drew him to repentance with nothing less than His loving gaze: "Jesus looked upon Peter, and Peter went out and wept bitterly" (Luke 22:61, 62). Thomas did not believe in His resurrection? Yet He brought him to faith, not by reproach, not by anger, but by meekly commanding him to place his hand in His side. Did Judas betray Him? But what did the merciful Lord not do to bring him to his senses? He did not call him a traitor, an apostate, a money-lover, but said only that He knew his evil intent. And how did He say it? In such a way that no outsider could guess what was being said. He washed Judas's feet, called him his friend, and allowed this wicked man to kiss Him at the very moment when he was treacherously delivering Him over to death by His enemies. O, Your extreme mercy, sweetest Jesus! Truly, You have come to save sinners!

With such love does this Good Shepherd seek His lost sheep — He seeks you, me, and every other sinner. That conscience that gnaws at your heart, that fear of death and the trembling of eternal torment that sometimes troubles your mind, that illness that troubles you, that misfortune that threatens you — that Divine Liturgy at which you are present, that word of God that you hear — what is all this if not the secret voice of Christ’s mercy, which seeks you, calling you to repentance: “Adam, where are you?” Lost sheep, where have you wandered? Sinner, whither have you departed from Me? Lost soul, where are you? “Adam, where are you?” Man, “do you not know that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Rom. 2:4). Do you hear? Do you understand? Christ's mercy seeks you and calls you, but you ignore it and continue to flee — see what your Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, is doing? Is He angry? No, He is patient and awaits you. And if, lost sheep, you truly repent and return to Him, then with what joy will this Good Shepherd receive you? He will lift you upon His shoulders, that is, He will help you with all the power of His divine grace. He will bring you to His flock — to His Holy Church; He will receive you into the embrace of His love. Only one lost sheep returned to the fold, and see how the Shepherd rejoices!

Holy angels! Rejoice with Me, He says, "for I have found My sheep which was lost!" (Luke 15:6). Only one sinner repents on earth, and all of heaven rejoices with joy! “There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.” Why such joy? What does this mean to God? Does it increase His infinite glory, His blessedness? No. So what motivates God to rejoice so much over the repentance of a single sinner? Nothing else but His mercy! O infinite mercy! O incomprehensible goodness! God most merciful! “What is man, that You are mindful of him? or the son of man, that You visit him?” (Ps. 8:5). What is man? Is he not a worm of the earth? Is he not dust, is he not earth? He is nothing, and yet do You show such love, such mercy to him? Do You care so much for him? For he, the ungrateful one, has transgressed Your commandment, he has trampled on Your law, he has dishonored Your name, he has despised Your Mysteries. He has lived so long at a distance from You and You do not remember how many times he has sinned before You! The merciful God answers this: "It is true that man is a sinner, but he is the creation of My hands: 'As I live, I do not desire the death of the wicked, but that he should turn and live' (Ezek. 33:11)." The Creator knows His creation and tolerates its weaknesses, forgives its sins. So, be comforted, repentant sinner, even though you have sinned greatly, there is no sin that overcomes God's mercy. You have sinned, but if you repent, all your sins will be forgotten, forgiven. "Comfort, comfort, my people," says God. "Priests, speak kindly to Jerusalem, her sin is forgiven" (Isaiah 40:1). As wax melts before the fire, so does human sin melt before the warmth of God's mercy.

c) It would seem that it is of no use to a sinner to hear of God's great mercy: it may happen that he will sin even more in the hope of this mercy. It would be more useful for him to hear of the greatness of God's justice: perhaps then he would be afraid of this justice and repent sooner. But a true Christian fears God's mercy more than His justice, trembles more before a merciful God than before a just God. When God is all righteousness, all wrath, and I do not repent, then I can say: how can I turn to God, before whose wrath heaven, earth, and hades tremble? "If You mark iniquity, O Lord, who can stand?" (Ps. 129:3). But when God is all mercy, all love, and I do not repent: what excuse will there be for me? For I know that God does not disdain me, a sinner, that He lovingly accepts the repentant and forgives — how can I justify my negligence? And so, looking at God's mercy and my own hardness, I tremble and am horrified. Great is God's mercy, but great is my stubbornness in sin! How can all this end? With God finally abandoning me, and as great as God's mercy was towards me, so great will be my eternal torment. Woe to us, sinners, when God's patience with us is exhausted! The water in the stream flows quietly and calmly... they hold it back today, they hold it back tomorrow, they hold it back the day after tomorrow, and meanwhile it keeps growing and growing. Finally, it washes away the dam; hitherto quiet and calm, it becomes a raging river that quickly overflows and floods the fields, carrying away trees and animals. So it is with God's longsuffering: it quietly and calmly awaits our repentance. It waits today, waits tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. Finally, it is exhausted, and as great as God's longsuffering was, so great will be God's wrath. And He punishes, mortifies, and executes sinners.

III. Repent and turn to your Good Shepherd, O lost sheep! Arise and come to the merciful Father, O prodigal son! I assure you that the Good Shepherd and loving Father will receive you too, will receive you with love, with joy, with outstretched arms. I assure you of this by the holy flesh which the Word of God took upon Himself when He became man; by those tears which the little Infant shed in the manger of the Bethlehem cave; by that milk with which He was nourished by His Virgin Mother; by that gracious name of Jesus, which is interpreted as the Savior: "For He will save His people from their sins!" Amen. 

 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.