Yesterday and this morning we heard Matthew’s infancy narrative of Jesus. The themes were: Fear, danger, conflicts, conspiracies, political struggles and murder.
This evening we hear the account of Jesus’ birth from St. Luke. His themes are a contrast to St. Matthew’s: peace, joy, light, glory, praise of God, salvation and the Lordship of Jesus the Christ – the anointed one, the Messiah.
It is not by chance that Luke relates the birth of Jesus to the time of Caesar Augustus, who was regarded in the Roman Empire as savior and a god. The real savior and peace-bearer is the child born in Bethlehem. The great emperor is simply God’s agent who provides the occasion for God’s purposes to be accomplished. The political overtones of the title are played down in Luke and instead the Messiah of the Lord or the Lord’s anointed is the one who now brings salvation to all humanity, Jew and Gentile
While the main characters in St. Matthew’s account are mostly male, especially St. Joseph, and powerful people such as King Herod, those in St. Luke’s account are the elderly, the poor, such as the shepherds, and women, especially Mary, whom Luke makes more prominent than Joseph.
The angels sang “On earth peace to those on whom his favor rests”. The peace that results from the Christ event is for those whom God has favored with his grace. The peace of which Luke’s gospel speaks is more than the absence of war of the pax Augusta; it also includes the security and well-being characteristic of peace in the Old Testament.
This is our message on this holy night. We need not be powerful or rich to enjoy the peace and joy that Jesus brings into our lives. He is the true and only source of our security and well-being. Glory to him now and ever and forever.
St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Parish 