TUESDAY,
DECEMBER 25, 2007
The Dwelling of God is with Men
Today
the New Jerusalem descends to Earth from Heaven. Today the Lord, the Almighty God, is
seated upon the throne of His living temple not made with hands. See him upon His holy
Ark: the Ark of the New and Everlasting Covenant. See this holy Ark, not like the ark of
old: not made of wood and gold, but of flesh and blood. See this holy Ark: not containing
the tablets of the law made of stone, but the Lawgiver Himself come in the flesh. See this
holy Ark: not containing the rod of Aaron which bloomed in the wilderness, but the True
Vine whose branches form a living tether between God and man. See this holy Ark: not
containing the manna which came down from heaven which Moses and the children of Israel
ate and died, but the Bread of Heaven which those who partake of shall live forever.
For
today Christ our God is seated upon His throne, His holy Ark, His Ever-Virgin Mother.
He makes His dwelling in a cave, amidst dumb beasts. Unto this place he
gathers his own: shepherds and Magi, the lowly and the high, the children of the promise
God made to Abraham, and the children who bear the promise of God upon their hearts.
Christ
is born! Glorify Him! Christ deigns to enter the mean environs of human life and human
lives. His Most-pure Mother: both Ark and throne, temple and ecclesia. She is a
holy Temple: set-apart, the spotless Bride of God. She is the God-protected vessel of the
Only-begotten Son of God and the children He forms within her. Womb and font, breast and
chalice, she is both the image of the Mother of God and the Mother of the Church.
And
here He sits, seemingly helpless and yet almighty, wholly dependent upon His Mother and
wholly sustaining the universe. See the grand paradox of this High-Priestly
oblation: the Offerer and Offered, the Receiver and the Received--Christ our True God!
--From
OCA Feasts & Saints
