Vigils Readings – 5th day in Christmas Octave

WHY CHRIST HAD TO BE BORN

From the missionary letters of St Nikolai Velimirovich

◊◊◊

You have asked why Christ had to be born, grow and be tormented? Why

did he not suddenly appear out of the Heavens in the form of a grown man, like

Apollo does in Hellenic fairy tales? A completely inappropriate comparison!

How can one compare a true man with a phantom and the true man with made-

up monsters?

As much as heaven is above the earth, so much is the wisdom of God

beyond the reason of man. According to the wisdom of the Most High, Christ

had to come into the world as a child and as a youth and as a mature man, so

that He could be accessible to everyone and gain everyone. Had He never been

a child, His words would have been pale and cold –

“Let the children come to

me and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” And also the

other saying,

“Indeed I say to you, if you do not return and become as children,

you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

…

Christ could have undoubtedly appeared to the world as you imagine. But

had He done that, He could not have been for the human race what He wanted

to be, that is, the Teacher and Savior of all, and an example to all generations.

A thought torments you. You think that the Lord has magnified the

mystery of His being for our reason by His unusual birth. But would His

mystery not be far greater and less comprehensible had He suddenly appeared

among men, outside of any kinship with them? Would the world then not talk

of Him as of an apparition? In that case, His person, and along with it His

teaching and sacrifice, would lose their true foundation and true meaning. For

if He had been an apparition, who would listen to and imitate an apparition?

The Lord also had to be born, exactly in the way in which He was, in order

to show us the possibility and point out the importance of our spiritual rebirth,

which is in the center of His teaching about man. According to His word, “If

one is not born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” As He was born of

the Holy Spirit from the body of Mary the Virgin, so can we be spiritually born

of the Holy Spirit in the purity of our soul. Great Orthodox elders have always

taught that the rebirth of a man is conditioned by a virginal purity of the soul.

In other words, souls which completely cleanse themselves, even from impure

thoughts, come to resemble the pure Virgin, and are deemed worthy by God’s

goodwill to become the habitation of Christ. If Christ’s birth from the Virgin

Mary is not easily comprehended by the human mind, it is fantastically

beneficial and inspiring for all those who desire a spiritual and mortal rebirth

of their being.

So, be at peace and thank the eternal Wisdom that the Savior of mankind

had appeared as He Himself thought it was best. And exclaim with Apostle

Paul, “O the depth of the riches and wisdom and understanding of God!

6 Saint Nikolai Velimirovich. Missionary Letters of Saint Nikolai Velimirovich. Trans. Hierdeacon Serafim. Grayslake, IL:

New Gracania Monastery, 2008. 177-179.13