Homily One on the Sunday After the Nativity of Christ
By St. John of Kronstadt
By St. John of Kronstadt
Today we have two feasts: the feast of the Nativity of Christ is joined with the feast of the Resurrection of Christ; one is an annual feast, the other a weekly feast. In both feasts, beloved brethren, is hidden our own Christian triumph. Jesus Christ was born and resurrected for us: He was born in order to die for us and to rise again. Such is the love of God the Savior for us: He gave Himself entirely to us, if only to make us eternally blessed, if only to lead us into the abodes of the heavenly Father. The life of our Lord Jesus Christ – from His birth to His suffering, death, resurrection and ascension into heaven, is, so to speak, a mirror in which is reflected all that happens and will happen to His followers, or, in other words, His entire earthly life is a model of our life, as it should be. Therefore, His birth is, as it were, our birth – and it is, precisely, only for us – His resurrection is our resurrection.
Through the birth and resurrection of the Savior, we all, beloved, are called to eternal life, to an incorruptible inheritance reserved in heaven for our sake. Without the Savior, without His birth, our birth would only be a curse, so that our resurrection without Him would become a condemnation to eternal torment. By His birth, Jesus Christ sanctified our birth, exalted our horn; through His resurrection, He made us glad with the hope of our resurrection. "Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Cor. 15:20), that is, He laid the foundation for our resurrection. Here is our triumph in the birth and resurrection of Christ!
But why do we celebrate the feast of the Nativity of Christ once a year, and the feast of the Resurrection many times, and one of them - the annual one - so brightly, with such solemnity, that its light seems to eclipse all other feasts? In order to resolve this question, let us take another to explain it. Is it necessary to assure a person several times that he was born? It is not necessary, because everyone believes this without assurance. But is it necessary to assure a person many times that he will rise again? It is absolutely necessary, because since the resurrection will still happen and it is only in our hope, then it is necessary to resurrect more often, to revive our fading faith in the resurrection and hope for it; and even more so, there are fewer examples of resurrection we see before our eyes, while examples of birth are always before our eyes. To this reason we must add the fact that the year represents the human age, and since the Son of God, Jesus Christ, became the Son of man and, without time, was subjected to the measurement of earthly years, we remember once a year all the great events in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, as they once actually happened, and this single memory is enough to revive our faith in them, while the resurrection of Christ, in addition to its all-bright, annual celebration, is celebrated many more times a year in order to more often revive in people the faith in the general resurrection, which is the great triumph of our faith, because the resurrection of Christ is our resurrection: "You were raised with Christ" (Col. 3:1), says the Apostle, i.e. you were, as it were, resurrected together with Christ.
And so glory to the Lord who was born for our salvation, and glory to Him who rose from the grave and resurrected us with Himself.
What shall I say to you in conclusion? Remember, all of you, with each coming resurrection, that you will rise again and, having risen, will appear at the judgment; and therefore, each of you, take care to arrange your life so that at that terrible Judgment you will not be disgraced and not sent into outer darkness, and so that the feasts of the Nativity and Resurrection of Christ will not condemn us in that age for our inattention and disrespect for their words. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
