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PotOnWheel
Registered Member
Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 9890
| Posted 12/25/2001 4:01 AM (GMT -6) |   | Here are two days worth of Christmas devotionals (from a daily source) for Dec. 25 & 26.
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The Nativity in the Flesh of our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ
Epistle: Galatians 4:4-7
Gospel: St. Matthew 2:1-12
Reading: Numbers 24:2-3, 5-9, 17-18
Balaam's Prophesy: Numbers 24:2-3, 5-9, 17-18, especially vs. 17: "I see
Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not nigh: a star shall come forth out of
Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel...." Israel's years in the
wilderness drew to a conclusion when finally they "encamped in the plains of
Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho" (Nu. 22:1). Fearful at the presence of
such a great horde of people, the King and the elders of Moab and the elders
of Midian, the two nations east of the river Jordan, sent emissaries to the
famous Prophet Balaam inviting him to come from his home in Mesopotamia near
the river Euphrates and "curse this people...since they are too mighty" (Nu.
22:6). Balaam, after consulting God, refused, but King Balak of Moab
persisted, offering greater honors, after which God said to Balaam, "...rise
and go with them; but only what I bid you, that shall you do" (Nu. 22:20).
Balaam tried to oblige Balak in four different oracles, but under inspiration
of God he was not able to curse Israel. The present reading, from his last
oracle, in which "the Spirit of God came upon him" (Nu. 24:2), foretells the
coming of Christ.
Balaam foretells the Lord's humanity: "There shall come a Man out of his
[Israel's] seed" (vs. 7 LXX). From this oracle, the expectation was
established that the Messiah would be a man, and "when the time had fully
come, God sent forth His Son" (Gal. 4:4) Who was a man like us.
The Lord Jesus' future "rule over many nations" also was predicted by
Balaam (Nu. 24:7 LXX), who foresaw that "a Kingdom greater than Gog's [would]
be raised up" (vs. 7 LXX), and the Kingdom of God is greater than Gog's (one
of Scripture's names for Satan).
The Lord Jesus' Kingdom has been "enlarged" or "increased" and will
continue to expand until all nations shall come before Him and worship Him
(vs. 7 LXX).
Although the Prophet did not speak of the flight of Joseph, the Virgin
and the Christ child from Herod's realm, he did foresee that "God brings Him
out of Egypt" (vs. 8), a vision also given to the Prophet Hosea years later
(Hos. 11:1), and fulfilled when Joseph, in Egypt, obeyed the angel, "arose
and took the young Child and His mother and came into the land of Israel"
(Mt. 2:20).
Balaam likewise prophesied the Lord's power in overcoming nations and the
adversaries of the Gospel through history: "He shall eat up the nations His
adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces" (Nu. 24:8). This
striking prophesy of the advance of the Lord and His Church over the
centuries continues to be fulfilled.
The Holy Spirit revealed to the Prophet how men would respond to the
Messiah, and also how their responses to Him would affect them in turn:
"Blessed be every one who blesses You, and cursed be every one who curses
You" (vs. 9).
The Prophet foresaw all these things about the Christ Who would come, but
he knew it was "not now; I behold Him, but not nigh" (vs. 17), for it would
come in the age of Rome.
Most wonderfully, Balaam was even given a hint of the star of Bethlehem:
"a star shall come forth out of Jacob" (vs. 17), which, indeed, led the Magi
from the East to the cave!
In this prophecy also is disclosed that the true Messiah of Israel would
"crush" the enemies of the People of God, and all the traditional enemies of
ancient Israel were named - Moab, Edom and Seir (vss. 17,18). The Church,
as the true Israel which worships Christ, is the living witness to the truth
that He Who was born in the cave to the Virgin Mother has dispossessed His
enemies and wrought His People valiantly. How blessed we are, Beloved, for
we do not look ahead with Balaam. Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
Let us, therefore, praise and magnify Him, the God born in flesh from the
Virgin, the King born in a cave, the God worshiped by the Magi, Who hath
delivered us from the curse.
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PotOnWheel
Registered Member
Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 9890
| Posted 12/25/2001 4:03 AM (GMT -6) | | Wednesday, December 26, 2001
Synaxis of the Theotokos
Epistle: Hebrews 2:11-18
Gospel: St. Matthew 2:13-23
Reading: Micah 4:6-7; 5:2-4
The Song of the Church: Micah 4:6-7; 5:2-4 LXX, especially vs. 4: "And the
Lord shall stand, and see, and feed His flock with power, and they shall
dwell in the glory of the Name of the Lord their God: for now shall they be
magnified to the ends of the earth." This is the day for the Church to
sing, for "now hath come the time for the aforesaid prophecy mystically
uttered to be fulfilled, namely, And thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah art
not the least among princes, having gone before and prepared the cave; for
out of thee shall come a Governor of nations, from the virgin Maiden
incarnate, by Whom I mean Christ God Who shall govern His People, the new
Israel. Let us therefore, raise unto Him magnification."
In the prophecy before us, Micah referred to a future time: "in that
day," he said (vs. 6). Ah, but this is the day, Christ is born today in
Bethlehem! Glorify Him all the earth! By the illuminating grace of the Holy
Spirit, the Prophet saw this day approaching and he reveled in its import for
the Church; but that future moment is upon us, for "her that is bruised" (vs.
6) now is "gathered" into the pasture of the Lord, "beside the water of rest"
to be nurtured (Ps. 22:2 LXX). She who was "cast out," seemingly "rejected"
by the Lord (Mic. 4:6), now is received at His table, filled from His cup,
anointed with oil, dwelling in His house (Ps. 22:5,6 LXX).
We began as a tiny remnant, very much "a brand plucked out of the fire"
(Amos 4:11 LXX) by the firm hand of the Lord. Today we are a torch that
burns, but is not consumed, that gives saving light to all the nations.
Today, we,"a mighty nation" (Mic. 4:7), live amidst every nation, desiring
to claim no land of our own, for the Lord reigns over us "from henceforth,
even for ever" in the Church, called "Mount Zion" (vs. 7). How tiny was that
remnant who began "with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women
and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers....the number of names
was about a hundred and twenty" (Acts. 1:14,15)! Yet, look upon us now,
spread over every continent and, if not received, at least known in every
land.
Indeed, the Faithful have a great song to lift up to God, for He is true
to His promise. Christ was born in Bethlehem simply because of a decree
issued by Caesar Augustus (Lk. 2:1-5). However, was it only from that birth
in Bethlehem that He went forth in time? By no means! "His goings forth
were from the beginning" (Mic. 5:2). "In the beginning," as we know, it was
He Who "created the heavens and the earth" (Gen 1:1), even creating "the
beginning" itself since He existed outside time, "from the days of the age"
without beginning or end (Mic. 5:2).
The Church that sings includes not only the Church of this age, but the
Church that shall be when "the remnant of their brethren shall return to the
children of Israel" (vs. 3). In that future day, as St. Paul teaches, when
all the nations have come in to share in the Holy Communion of the Body of
Christ, then "all Israel will be saved" (Rom. 11:25,26), and even the Jews
shall return to the true Israel and the true Messiah. When? At "the time of
her that travails" (Mic. 5:3), when the Church, that "woman clothed with the
sun cries out in labor and in pain to give birth" (Rev. 12:1,2), and He Who
created the beginning brings the end of all things.
On that Day, "the Lord shall stand, and see, and feed His flock with
power" (Mic. 5:4). No longer shall the Church live under the dominion of the
prince of this age, under his armies of hate and death. Instead, the
Faithful "shall dwell in the glory of the Name of the Lord their God" (vs.
4). Beloved of God: He Who was faithful to have the eternal Word born in
Bethlehem, will also magnify His glorious Bride "to the ends of the earth"
(vs. 4). Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
Let my mouth be filled with Thy praise, O Lord, that I may praise Thy
glory all the day long for the greatness of Thy splendor.
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PotOnWheel
Registered Member
Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 9890
| Posted 12/25/2001 7:17 PM (GMT -6) | |
Edited by - PotOnWheel on 12/26/2001 12:43:09 AM | | Back to Top | | |
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PotOnWheel
Registered Member
Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 9890
| Posted 12/26/2001 7:30 AM (GMT -6) | | Thursday, December 27, 2001
Proto-Martyr Stephen, The Archdeacon
Epistle: Acts 6:8-15; 7:1-5, 47-60
Gospel: St. Matthew 21:33-42
Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10
The Promise in Christ: Isaiah 11:1-10, specially vs. 10: "And in that day
there shall be a root of Jesse, and He that shall arise to rule over the
Gentiles; in Him shall the Gentiles trust, and His rest shall be glorious."
St. Cyril of Alexandria directs our attention to the newsworthy significance of the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ: "since, through the mercy of God it was necessary for us to be made worthy of the Spirit again by being restored to our earlier condition, then the Only-Begotten Word of God was made man. He was free from sin so that in His unique triumph of sinlessness the nature of mankind, now crowned once more, might be enriched with the Holy Spirit, and thus by sanctification it was refashioned for God....For He was constituted the first new-beginning of the race since, as God, He anointed all those who believe in Him."
A new beginning has been released into the stream of the human race, that we might be enriched with the Holy Spirit and refashioned for God. What a news bulletin! Mankind has real access to God! It is now possible to be restored to our earlier condition before sin and death wreaked universal havoc in creation, corrupted our hearts and souls and made human life wretched. Angels announced the birth of God as a man to shepherds tending their flocks near Bethlehem, a Divine bulletin of unimaginable, worldwide importance. Further statements concerning the significance of this great reversal in the human condition were released in Galilee and other regions of Palestine. Evidence of the operation of this refashioning were reported on a worldwide basis, via communiques from all continents and nations.
The Prophet Isaiah to whom God released advance information about the great upheaval, identified three major effects of this new beginning: that the Virgin-born, Only-Begotten Word of God was not functioning on the basis of limited knowledge, but with Divine perception and precision, that He was advancing the cause of the lowly worldwide, punishing the earthly minded and destroying "the ungodly one" by means of righteousness and truth, and that the impact of His rule internationally would have a transforming effect on the predatory, poisonous,and violent elements of society, turning people into gentle, caring and innocent persons.
The Holy Spirit rested upon the Lord Jesus as a man, "the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and godliness" filled Him, "the Spirit of the fear of God" (vss. 2,3). And while the Spirit accompanied the Lord Jesus as His Equal, Christ our God has made it possible for the same Spirit still to come into men "after Christ, that a Comforter should not be lacking unto us," as St. Gregory the Theologian put it. Thus as Christ did not "judge according to appearance, nor reprove according to report," but with Divine acuity, so also His holy ones, through the Spirit, are being enabled to see and speak with insight and accuracy that defies mere human perception.
As we know from the Gospel records, the Lord Jesus advanced the "cause of the lowly" (vs. 4) by healing, teaching truth and loving sinners and, at the same time, punished the earthly minded and began destroying "the ungodly one" (vs. 4). And He continues that work through His Church, so that we may share in this transformation until He completes it supremely at the end.
Finally, using the imagery of wild and domestic animals, the Prophet reveals what the Lord does as He restores human personality: builds up meekness, tenderness, simplicity and humility (vss. 6-9). As Theodoret of Cyrus notes: "we see the accomplishment of the prophecy in the churches: emperors...soldiers, artisans, servants and beggars partake together at the Holy Table."
Listen, O mountains and hills and the regions about Judah: for Christ
cometh to save man whom He did create; for He is the Lover of mankind.
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Edited by - PotOnWheel on 12/26/2001 12:33:15 PM | | Back to Top | | |
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