John Seleden’s
FOR THE FEAST OF THE NATIVITY
Sermon 187
[1]My
mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, of that Lord by whom
all things were made and who was made [flesh] amid all the works
of His hands; who is the Manifestor of His Father, the Creator
of His Mother; Son of God born of the Father without a mother,
Son of Man born of a mother without a father; the great Day of
the angels, small in the day of men; the Word as God existing
before all time, the Word as flesh existing only for an allotted
time; the Creator of the sun created under the light of the sun;
ordering all ages from the bosom of His Father, from the womb of
His Mother consecrating this day; remaining there, yet
proceeding hither; Maker of heaven and earth brought forth on
this earth overshadowed by the heavens; unspeakably wise, wisely
speechless; filling the whole world, lying in a manger; guiding
the stars, a nursling at the breast; though insignificant in the
form of man, so great in the form of God that His greatness was
not lessened by His insignificance nor was His smallness crushed
by - His might. When He assumed human form He did not abandon
His divine operations, nor did He cease to reach 'from end to
end mightily and to order all things sweetly. When clothed in
the weakness of our flesh He was received, not imprisoned, in
the Virgin's womb so that without the Food of Wisdom being
withdrawn from the angels we might taste how sweet is the Lord.
(2) Why do we marvel at these conflicting powers of the Word of
God when the discourse which I utter is apprehended so freely by
the senses that the hearer receives it, yet does not confine it?
If it were not received, it would give no instruction; if it
were confined, it would not reach others. In spite of the fact
that this discourse is divided into words and syllables, you do
not take individual particles of it as you do of food for your
stomach, but you all hear the whole discourse and each
individual takes in the whole. While speaking, I do not fear
that one listener may, by hearing me, grasp the whole discourse
so that his neighbor can get nothing of it. On the contrary, I
wish you to be so attentive that, depriving the ear and mind of
no other person, you as individuals may hear the entire
discourse and, at the same time, may permit others to hear it,
also. Nor is this hearing accomplished at successive periods of
time so that, after the discourse which is being delivered has
come to you first, it leaves you so that it may go to another
person. No, it comes to all at the same time and the whole
discourse is apprehended by each individual. And if the entire
sermon could be retained in memory, then, just as you all came
to hear the whole discourse so you individually would go away
bearing the whole discourse with you. How much more readily,
then, would the Word of God, through whom all things were made
and who, remaining in Himself, renews all things, who is neither
confined by places nor restrained by time, neither changed by
long or short intervals of time, neither adorned by speech nor
terminated by silence, be able to make fertile the womb of His
Mother when He assumed human flesh, yet not leave the bosom of
His Father; to make His way hither for human eyes to gaze upon
Him, and still to enlighten angelic minds; to come down to this
earth while ruling the heavens; to become Man here while
creating men there?
(3) Let no one believe, then, that the Son of God was changed
into the Son of Man; rather, let us believe that, with the
perfect preservation of His divine nature and the perfect
assumption of human nature, He, remaining the Son of God, became
also the Son of Man. For the fact that the Scriptures say The
Word was God' and The Word was made flesh'[2]
does not mean that the Word became flesh in such a way as to
cease to be God since, because the Word was made flesh, in that
same flesh 'Emmanuel . . . God with us' was born.[3]
In like manner, the word which we form within us becomes an
utterance when we bring it forth from our mouth; the word is not
changed into the utterance, but the voice by which it comes
forth is taken on while the inner word remains unchanged; what
is thought remains within, what is heard sounds forth.
Nevertheless, the same thing is expressed in sound which had
previously been expressed in silence; thus, when the word
becomes an utterance, it is not changed into this utterance, but
remains in the light of the mind; having taken on the voice of
the flesh, it reaches the listener without leaving the thinker.
Not when the utterance, whether it be in Greek, Latin, or any
other language, is being thought out in silence, but when,
before all the diversity of language [begins to operate], the
matter to be expressed exists bare and unadorned in the chamber
of the heart, is it clothed with the voice of the speaker so
that it may come forth. Both that which is considered in the
mind, however, and that which sounds forth in speech are
variable and diverse; the thought will not remain when you have
forgotten it, nor will the utterance remain when you are silent.
But the Word of the Lord remains forever and remains unchanged.
(4) When the Word assumed flesh in time, so that He might enter
into our temporal life, He did not, in this flesh, give up His
eternity, but gave immortality to this flesh. Thus He, 'as a
bridegroom coming out of his bride-chamber, hath rejoiced as a
giant to run the way,'[4]
who, 'though he was by nature God, did not consider being equal
to God a thing to be clung to,'[5]
but, so that for our sake He might become what He was not, 'He
emptied himself,' not laying aside the nature of God, but
'taking the nature of a slave,' and by this nature 'being made
like unto men,' not in His own nature [as God], but 'appearing
in the form of man.' For, all that we are in soul and body
constitutes, for us, our complete nature, but, for Him, only a
visible nature. If we had not this soul and body, we would still
exist; if He had not this soul and body, He would still be God.
Remaining God, He became Man; that is, He began to be what had
not been before, so that not one but two natures may truthfully
be ascribed to Him. Because He was made Man, the statement, 'for
the Father is greater than I,' is true; because He remained God,
the statement, 'I and the Father are one,' is true. If the Word
were changed into flesh, that is, if God were changed into man,
only the statement, 'for the Father is greater than I,' would be
true because God is greater than man; but the other statement, I
and the Father are one,' would be false since God and man are
not one. In such a case, He could say: 'I and the Father were
one,' but not 'are one,' implying that He has ceased to be what
He was; that He was so in the past, but is so no longer. On the
contrary, because of the true nature of servant which He had
taken upon Himself, He said truthfully: 'The Father is greater
than I'; because of the true nature of God which He retained, He
said with equal veracity: The Father and I are one.'[6]
Therefore, He emptied Himself among men, becoming what He had
not been previously, not in such a way as to cease to be what He
was, but, hiding what He was, He showed forth only what He had
become. Hence, since the Virgin conceived and brought forth a
Son, because of His manifest nature of servant, [we read:] 'A
child is born to us';[7]
but, because the Word of God, which remains forever, became
flesh so that He might dwell with us, on account of His real,
though hidden nature of God, we, using the words of the Angel
Gabriel, call e his name Emmanuel/ Remaining God, He has become
Man so that the Son of Man may rightly be called 'God with us'
and so that [in Him] God is not one person and man another. Let
the world rejoice In those who believe, for whose salvation He
came, by whom the world was made, the Creator of Mary born of
Mary, the Son of David yet Lord of David, the Seed of Abraham
[1]
Cf. Wisd. 8.1.
[2]
John 1.1,14.
[3]
Cf. Matt. 1.23.
[4]
Ps. 18.6.
[5]
Phil. 2.6-8.
[6]
John 14.28; 10.30.
[7]
Isa. 9.6.
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Adoration of the Shepherds
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