Encyclopedia of Feasts and Occasions

Preparation for the Nativity

Preparation for the Nativity 1

Some ask: Why did God delay in fulfilling His promise of salvation? He had promised, since the sin of Adam and Eve, that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). What was meant by the seed of the woman was the Lord Christ, who would crush the head of the serpent—that is, Satan. And yet thousands of years passed while the serpent lifted its head, challenged humanity, and cast millions into many evils, even the worship of idols. So why did God delay in fulfilling His promise throughout all that time?

The answer is that if God had carried out the act of redemption in the early generations of humanity, people would not have understood redemption nor comprehended it.

Therefore, it was necessary to prepare human beings to understand the Incarnation and to understand redemption, and also to establish this firmly in their minds, so that when salvation through redemption was accomplished, they would be able to grasp its meaning and theological purpose, and believe in it. How did this happen?!

The concept of redemption and sacrifices

Redemption is that one soul dies instead of another soul—an innocent soul not deserving death dies in place of a sinful soul deserving death.

The human being deserved death because of his disobedience to God, who said to him: “On the day you eat of that tree, you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). And out of His mercy, God wanted to redeem him; yet the idea had to be presented, and through a long progression fixed in his mind. So what were the steps God took for this purpose?

1. Scripture says that when man sinned, he began to feel his nakedness, so he covered himself with fig leaves. But God, instead of them, clothed him with garments of skin (Gen. 3:21). And from where came this skin except from a sacrifice? Here a truth became fixed in the mind of man:
   Sin brings nakedness and a sense of shame, while the sacrifice covers and conceals.

2. The offering of sacrifices continued. We hear that Abel offered to the Lord from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat (Gen. 4:4). There is no doubt that the idea of offering sacrifices was taken by Abel from his father Adam, who had learned it from God. And what is clear from Abel’s sacrifice is that it was the best he had, and that God accepted it.

3. We also notice that all sacrifices before the Law of Moses were burnt offerings—that is, the fire continued to burn them until they turned into ashes (Lev. 6:9–10). Neither the one offering them, nor any of his companions, nor the priest ate from them; rather, the entire offering was for the fire. And the fire symbolizes divine justice, meaning that divine justice takes its full due from it.
   Our father Noah offered burnt offerings on the altar from every clean animal (Gen. 8:20). Abraham also offered a burnt offering (Gen. 22:13), and Job likewise offered burnt offerings (Job 1:5).

4. The burnt offerings were to satisfy the heart of God, who had been angered by sins. Therefore, when Noah offered his burnt offerings, it was said: “The LORD smelled a soothing aroma… and the LORD said, ‘I will never again curse the ground because of man’” (Gen. 8:21).

5. We see other meanings in the Passover sacrifice (Ex. 12), which symbolized Christ (1 Cor. 5:7).
   God’s judgment of death was issued upon all the firstborn, and the destroying angel would pass through and strike every firstborn “from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who is in the dungeon” (Ex. 12:29). And God wanted to save the firstborn of the Israelites, so He commanded them to slaughter the Passover lamb and sprinkle its blood on their doors. He promised them, saying: “The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses… when I see the blood, I will pass over you” (Ex. 12:13).
   Thus, this important truth entered their minds:
   Salvation through blood—from death and destruction.
   And this truth became established through the generations, as the Passover became a feast celebrated every year, with the Lord saying to them: “This day shall be a memorial for you… an everlasting statute” (Ex. 12:14). It became a symbol of salvation through the blood of Christ. Therefore, it is not strange that St. Paul later said: “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast…” (1 Cor. 5:7). And the Passover became associated with blood.

6. The Lord also introduced into their minds an important concept, that of atonement. In all the sacrifices that Moses arranged for them for the forgiveness of sins, the phrase “atonement” was repeated—whether in the burnt offering (Lev. 1:4), the sin offering (Lev. 4:24, 26), the trespass offering (Lev. 5:6–23), or in the great Day of Atonement (Lev. 16), for the atonement of all the people (Lev. 16:17, 19), for sanctification, purification, and forgiveness of sins and impurities.
   Therefore, it is not strange that St. John the Apostle later said: “If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. And He Himself is the atonement for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1–2; 1 John 4:10).
   And because of the connection between the blood of the sacrifice and forgiveness, St. Paul stated an important principle: “Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22).
   Thus, all those sacrifices were preparation for the people to understand the principles of atonement, redemption, and the forgiveness of sins through blood. For this reason, the one offering the sacrifice would lay his hand on the head of the sacrifice and confess his sins (Lev. 5:5), so the sacrifice would carry his sins, and it was called “the lamb”. Thus, John the Baptist later said of Christ: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

7. As generations passed, the Jews came to await this Savior. This meaning even appeared in the names of some of their prophets, such as Joshua (meaning “Savior”), Isaiah, and Hosea (meaning “God saves”). And this salvation became linked to their expectation of the Messiah, so much so that when the Samaritans encountered the Lord Christ, they said: “We believe… and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world” (John 4:42).

And the Lord did not suffice with presenting these symbols of sacrifices and others, but also gave them prophecies about this Christ the Savior, His work, and His nature.

He prepared them through prophecies

• Among them is what is written in the Book of Isaiah: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14). Also: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given… His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace… upon the throne of David” (Isa. 9:6–7).
  And concerning His sufferings, His redemption for us, and His bearing of our sins, it was said in Isaiah: “He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities… All we like sheep have gone astray… and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:5–6).
  And also: “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him… You make His soul an offering for sin… He was numbered with the transgressors” (Isa. 53:10, 12).

• And David the Prophet said of Him in the Psalms: “They pierced My hands and My feet… They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots” (Ps. 22:16, 18)—this he said about the Lord Christ. And about the betrayal of Judas: “He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me” (Ps. 41:9).
  And how many prophecies are in the Psalms, the prophetic books, and others—those of which He said to His disciples after the resurrection: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me…” (Luke 24:44, 27).

• Even His birth in Bethlehem—we see in the story of the Magi that when Herod asked the scribes where Christ was to be born, they told him: “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet…” (Matt. 2:4–6).

• Everything concerning Christ the Savior God prepared in the minds of the people through symbols and prophecies. You can read details about this in a well-known book such as Christ in All the Scriptures, by which people recognize that He is the Christ.

Preparation of persons

The Lord waited until He prepared people’s understanding of redemption, atonement, and sacrifice, and until He prepared them also through prophecies. He also waited until He prepared the persons who would witness the Nativity and take part in fulfilling the message.

• He waited until the holy Virgin was born, from whom the Christ the Savior would be born—the pure Virgin who could be mother to the Lord of Glory, conceive Him, nurse Him after birth, and in whose care He would live during His childhood. The humble Virgin who could bear such glory, with all its angels, visions, and miracles, and bear that all generations would call her blessed (Luke 1:48). The characteristic of humility was necessary for bearing such glory. Thus she said: “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has regarded the lowliness of His maidservant” (Luke 1:47–48).

• And the Lord waited until the Baptist was born—the angel who would prepare the way before Him (Mark 1:2), “who testifies, saying: ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose’” (Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:27). And who said: “I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him… He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all… He who comes from heaven is above all” (John 3:28–31).

• And the Lord waited until the company of the twelve apostles—and the rest of the apostles and disciples—was completed. Those who would carry the message to the entire world, whose voices would reach the ends of the earth. Who would preach Him, saying: “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). “But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16).

• And the Lord waited until the existence of these coincided with the existence of the scribes, Pharisees, and priests of the Jews, who would hand Him over to death out of envy, and the existence of Judas who would betray Him, as well as the existence of a cowardly Roman governor who would condemn Him to death out of fear of the Jews.

• And the Lord waited until there existed a universal language that would help in spreading the preaching—the Greek language, into which the Old Testament was translated (the Septuagint), which helped spread the prophecies and symbols. Also the Roman rule, which began in 30 B.C., and with it the Roman roads that facilitated the travels of the apostles… And when all this was fulfilled, the saying of the apostles applied:

“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive adoption” (Gal. 4:4–5).

Truly, God does everything in its proper time—at the fullness of time—when everything becomes prepared according to the richness of His wisdom. He neither delays nor hastens; rather, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” (Eccl. 3:1). And when the time came, God fulfilled His promise of salvation.

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1. An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, published in Watani Newspaper on January 11, 1998.

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