With the Newborn of Bethlehem (1970)
Source: Studies and Meditations on the Major Feasts, vol. 1 (1983), 10–15.
The first contemplation in Anba Bimen’s set of reflections on the Major Feasts of the Coptic Church. Echoing a classical theme in Orthodox preaching, Anba Bimen emphasises that events like the Lord’s birth in Bethlehem must become part of the believer’s life and objects of firsthand experience, rather than simply historical events to be commemorated.
With the Newborn of Bethlehem
Knowledge of the Lord in Christianity is not merely theoretical knowledge; the demons believe, and tremble.[1]James 2:19
Rather, true knowledge is experiential knowledge, in which the Lord Jesus becomes to each and every believer their Christ and their God and their own Shepherd, the bread of their own life and the object of their own love, faith, service, efforts and sacrifices.
He is Jesus the Saviour
This is the experience of our encounter with the Lord: He was born in Bethlehem in order to beget us to a second birth by water and the spirit.
In baptism the old is buried and all things become new. In this holy mystery we receive from Christ the pledge of salvation.[2]‘arbūn al-khalāṣ, a phrase echoing the Coptic rite of Chrismation. While anointing a believer with oil of the Holy Chrism, the priest asks that the oil be “an unction of the pledge (‘arbūn) of the kingdom of the heavens”.
He gives us the new man, puts a wedding garment on us, and we become children of God, who are born not of blood or the will of man, but of God.[3]John 1:13
While the son travels to a faraway land, and amuses himself with the vanities of the world, the Lord Jesus the Saviour keeps his arms outstretched, awaiting
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his return with yearning and sympathy. The soul remains far away from the green pastures tended by the faithful shepherd, and so it hungers and thirsts: a man finds himself in a vacuum, isolated, needing a return to the Saviour; Jesus the Redeemer comes knocking on the door, in the hope that the soul might snap out of its waywardness and awaken from its slumber, finding no other option than to cry out saying, ‘Have mercy on me!’
Say but one word, my Master; help me so that I can begin.
Cast but a single glance, my Saviour, and I will be strengthened and revived.
Grant but a single touch, my God, and I will run and bound homewards.
Suddenly my eyes fill with warm tears. Suddenly my heart is filled with grief over the days eaten up by locusts. Suddenly my spirit rejoices, exploding with happiness because it has undergone the experience of repentance and renewed the covenant of salvation.
It recalls the words of the angel: ‘for He will save His people from their sins’ (Mt 1:21). In this experience, the soul hears the Saviour’s voice saying, ‘Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord! … the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; sorrow and sighing shall flee away. I, even I, am He who comforts you’.[4]Is 51:9–12
O soul, arise and shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has shone upon you![5]Is 60:1 This is what it is to experience the encounter [with God], and it works powerfully in the life of a believer:
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+ Simon leaves everything after encountering the invitation of love
+ Saul was consecrated to serving the Word after meeting the Saviour
+ Moses the Black became a monk and abandoned the world after coming to know the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Anyone whose heart Jesus the Saviour has entered, and who has become acquainted with Him by genuine experience, can say with John the Beloved: ‘that which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life … we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us’ (1 Jn 1:1–3).
Emmanuel: God is with Us
Into the soul that undergoes the first experience, grace enters for the second experience, in which the Lord leads the soul as a good shepherd and an experienced bishop and leader. In this experience, the soul sings with David the Prophet: ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters … Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me’[6]Ps 23:12, 4
+ The Good Shepherd strikes the ground with his staff so that the sheep will hear His voice and follow Him.
+ The Loving God holds His rod to discipline every soul that longs to wander from the path.
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+ Emmanuel — God is with us — raises His staff so that all His enemies might be dispersed before His face, that the wolves who roam about seeking whom they may devour might be flee.[7]1 Pt 5:8
He warns and rebukes every soul that begins to journey with Him but then longs to go and carouse with crooked people, or become preoccupied with inviting, far-away springs where merciless enemies lie in wait.
‘God is with us’: this is an anthem of joy and gladness, sung by those on travelling along the road as a hymn of victory with which to praise the lion who proceeded from the tribe of Judah. They perceive, in His presence with them, the experience of growth and grace and wisdom and spiritual stature.
That we might be made perfect in one
However, Christianity does not end here, with these two experiences already mentioned; i.e. in the first place forgiveness for all who repent and confess their sins, and in the second place, granting guidance to every obedient soul that longs for eternal life. Rather, it Christianity is wont also to grant the experience of the life of fellowship with the true vine.
Christ our God, in His incarnation, took what is ours and gave us what is His (let us praise Him and glorify Him and exceedingly exalt Him), and the Word became flesh in order to grant us the life of communion with Him and His Good Father in excellence, goodness and everlasting joy.
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According to the Apostle Peter, the goal of Christianity is that we should be partakers of the divine nature.[8]2 Pt 1:4 This fellowship of ours as believers is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, as John the Seer says.[9]Referring to 1 Jn 1:3, quoted earlier. Importantly, Arabic preserves a natural connection between 1 Jn 1:3, where we are said to have fellowship (κοινωνία) with the Father and the Son, and 2 Pt 1:4, where we are said to be partakers (κοινωνοὶ) of the divine nature; the same root word (κοινωνία), meaning communion, participation or fellowship, is used in both verses. English translations typically obscure this connection by translating the one as fellowship and the other as participation or partaking, but in Arabic, it is natural to speak of both participation (sharika) in the divine nature, and the fellowship (sharika) with the Father and the Son, which is essential to Anba Bimen’s point here.
Because the Lord wanted to clarify this experience for us, He likened Himself to a vine, and gave us the honour of being branches in this vine.
Every branch that bears fruit, He prunes, so that it may bear more fruit. Just as a branch is not able to bear fruit of itself, without being rooted in the vine, neither can we [bear fruit] if we are not rooted in Him.
In the Lord’s last prayer of intercession, He revealed to us the goal of His incarnation, birth and redemption when He said: ‘Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are … that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one … and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.’[10]Jn 17:11, 21–3
These are some basic features of the three experiences with the newborn of the manger.
In the beginning, we encounter the Saviour as Jesus, our Saviour from our sins.
As we walk along the path behind Him, He is Emmanuel — God with us — shepherding us with His staff and rod.
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O my beloved, this is the Lord’s voice to us:
+ That we might meet with Him in repentance as Jesus the Saviour
+ That we surrender the leadership of our souls to Him in the spiritual struggle as Emmanuel, God with us
+ And that we be confirmed and united in Him in the mystery of our experience of the mystery of the true vine.
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Notes:
| ↑1 | James 2:19 |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | ‘arbūn al-khalāṣ, a phrase echoing the Coptic rite of Chrismation. While anointing a believer with oil of the Holy Chrism, the priest asks that the oil be “an unction of the pledge (‘arbūn) of the kingdom of the heavens”. |
| ↑3 | John 1:13 |
| ↑4 | Is 51:9–12 |
| ↑5 | Is 60:1 |
| ↑6 | Ps 23:12, 4 |
| ↑7 | 1 Pt 5:8 |
| ↑8 | 2 Pt 1:4 |
| ↑9 | Referring to 1 Jn 1:3, quoted earlier. Importantly, Arabic preserves a natural connection between 1 Jn 1:3, where we are said to have fellowship (κοινωνία) with the Father and the Son, and 2 Pt 1:4, where we are said to be partakers (κοινωνοὶ) of the divine nature; the same root word (κοινωνία), meaning communion, participation or fellowship, is used in both verses. English translations typically obscure this connection by translating the one as fellowship and the other as participation or partaking, but in Arabic, it is natural to speak of both participation (sharika) in the divine nature, and the fellowship (sharika) with the Father and the Son, which is essential to Anba Bimen’s point here. |
| ↑10 | Jn 17:11, 21–3 |
How to cite this text (Chicago/Turabian):
Bishop Bimen of Mallawi. “With the Newborn of Bethlehem” [Ma‘ mawlūd bayt laḥm]. In Studies and Meditations on the Major Feasts [Dirāsāt wa ta ta’āmulāt fī-l-ā‘yād al-kubrā], vol. I, 10–15. Mallawi: Metropolitanate of Mallawi Press, 1983. Translated by Samuel Kaldas in Archive of Contemporary Coptic Orthodox Theology. Sydney, NSW: St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological College. https://accot.stcyrils.edu.au/bb-nat/.
(For more information, see Citation Guidelines)
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