ACC ~ Matthew 2 v11

A CRADLE THE WORLD CANNOT HOLD

CHROMATIUS: Let us now observe how glorious was the dignity that attended the King after his birth, after the magi in their journey remained obedient to the star. For immediately the magi fell to their knees and adored the one born as Lord. There in his very cradle they venerated him with offerings of gifts, though Jesus was merely a whimpering infant. They perceived one thing with the eyes of their bodies but another with the eyes of the mind. The lowliness of the body he assumed was discerned, but the glory of his divinity is now made manifest. A boy he is, but it is God who is adored. How inexpressible is the mystery of his divine honor! The invisible and eternal nature did not hesitate to take on the weaknesses of the flesh on our behalf. The Son of God, who is God of the universe, is born a human being in the flesh. He permits himself to be placed in a manger, and the heavens are within the manger. He is kept in a cradle, a cradle that the world cannot hold. He is heard in the voice of a crying infant. This is the same one for whose voice the whole world would tremble in the hour of his passion. Thus he is the One, the God of glory and the Lord of majesty, whom as a tiny infant the magi recognize. It is he who while a child was truly God and King eternal. To him Isaiah pointed, saying, “For a boy has been born to you; a son has been given to you, a son whose empire has been forged on his shoulders.” [1] TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 5.1. [2]

[1] Is 9:6.

[2] CCL 9a:216.

WHAT THEY SAW

ANONYMOUS: “And upon entering the house they saw the boy and his mother.” Do we understand why, on seeing such a glorious sight, they delighted in the boy, the boy whom they sought as King and for whom they undertook the labor of so great a journey? Did they see a palace splendid in its marble? Did they see his mother crowned with a diadem or reclining on a gilded couch? Did they see a boy swaddled in purple and gold, a royal hallway thronged with various peoples? What did they see? A dark and lowly stable, more fit for animals than people, in which no one would be content to hide unless compelled by the necessity of the journey. They saw his mother with scarcely one tunic to her name, and that tunic was not dressy clothing for her body but a covering for her nakedness, such as a carpenter’s wife might have—the garb of an immigrant. The child was covered in the most lowly swaddling clothes and placed in an even lowlier manger. The place was so confining that they could find no room to set him down.

If then they had been seeking a king of this world and thus had found him, they would have been more perplexed than delighted, because they would have undertaken the effort of so great a journey for nothing. Yet because they were seeking the heavenly king, even if they saw nothing regal in him, they were nevertheless delighted, content in the testimony of the star. Their eyes could not see an unworthy boy, because the spirit in their hearts was revealing him to them as an awesome thing. If, moreover, they had sought him as a king of this world, they would have stayed with him, as is often the case when people abandon one king and transfer their allegiance to another. Instead they adored him and returned home that they might have Jesus as the just, heavenly king over their souls and the king of their home country as ruler over their bodies. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 2. [1]

[1] PG 56:641-42.

INTIMATIONS OF DIVINITY

ANONYMOUS: “And they adored him.” Do you think they would have adored a boy who did not understand the honor of their adoration unless they had believed that God was in him? Therefore they did not postpone their honoring of him, as to one childishly lacking understanding. They treated him as one whose divinity is aware of everything. Even the very nature of the gifts they offered gave witness that they had a certain intimation of the infant divinity. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 2. [1]

[1] PG 56:642.

GIFTS FIT FOR NATIONS

ANONYMOUS: “For they opened their treasure chests, and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” Thus they were fulfilling the acknowledgment of Christ on behalf of all nations. They were signifying the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy: “All those who are in Sheba shall come, offering gold and precious stones and spreading the good news of the Lord; all the sheep of Kedar shall be gathered together, and the rams of Nebaioth shall come, and they will offer pleasing incense on your altar.” [1] They recognized him at once. They opened their treasure chests. They displayed their offerings, gifts in themselves fit for nations to give. For, realizing that he was king, they offered him their elegant and costly first fruits, fit for the Holy One. They offered him gold they had stored up for themselves. Moreover, recognizing his divine and heavenly coming to them, they made an offering of frankincense, a beautiful gift like the soothing speech of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, understanding as they did that human life is but a sepulcher, they offered myrrh. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 2. [2]

[1] Is 60:6-7.

[2] PG 56:642.

OFFERING OF THE HALLOWED MIND, SPEECH AND WILL

GREGORY THE GREAT: There is something more that must be understood about the gold, incense and myrrh. Solomon testifies that gold symbolizes wisdom when he says, “A pleasing treasure lies in the mouth of the wise.” [1] The psalmist bears witness to that incense which prayer offers to God when he says, “Let my prayer ascend as incense in your sight.” [2] The myrrh indicates the mortification of our bodies, of which the holy church speaks of its workmen who strive even unto death on behalf of God, “My hands dripped with myrrh.” [3] And so do we too offer gold to the newborn king if we shine in his sight with the brightness of the wisdom from on high. We too offer him incense if we enkindle on the altar of our hearts the thoughts of our human minds by our holy pursuit of prayer, so as to give forth a sweet smell to God by our heavenly desire. And we offer him myrrh if we mortify the vices of our bodies by our self-denial. Myrrh brings it about, as I have said, that dead bodies do not decompose. For a dead body to decompose is the same as for the human body of ours to become a slave to the decay of dissoluteness, as is said by the prophet: “The pack animals have decomposed in their own dung.” [4] This indicates fleshly minded persons who end their lives in the stench of dissoluteness. Therefore we are offering myrrh to God when we employ the spice of self-restraint to keep this earthly body of ours from decomposing through decadence. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 10.6. [5]

[1] Prov 21:20 LXX.

[2] Ps 141:2 (140:2 LXX).

[3] Song 5:5.

[4] Joel 1:17.

[5] PL 76:1113; CS 123:58-59** (Homily 8). The gold of wisdom, the incense of prayer and the myrrh of self-denial are the gifts offered to the Christ child.

Mt