At the foot of the crib, a dragon

Homily for the Eve of the Nativity

Our Lord was born in a war zone. It is a war zone now, and it was a war zone then. I do not speak only of the present war in and around Israel, nor of the ancient Jewish resistance against Roman rule. I speak of a greater war which began at the dawn of time. A war which shakes the heavens, and of which all wars on earth are aftershocks.

There is a hint of that war in St John’s account of the Nativity. Yes, you read that right. I know full well that the account of the Nativity in Bethlehem with the shepherds and the Magi can be found only in the gospels of St Matthew and St Luke. And no, you will not find it in St John’s Gospel. You will need to look instead at the last book of the Bible, the Revelation or Apocalypse of St John, the expansive and at times confusing vision he received from God. In Chapter 12:1-5, you will find an alternative Nativity story:

“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.”

This version of the Nativity has not, so far as I know, made it onto any Christmas cards. It does not feature in school pageants. Maybe it should. It gives us a glimpse of the heavenly reality going on behind the scenes of what was playing out in the earthy cave of Bethlehem. It is perhaps something of what the Magi of the East saw in the stars. As on earth, so in heaven, the Blessed Mother is there, and her Son, our saviour. But there is another player, the old and deadly foe: the Dragon, coiling like a snake around the foot of the crib.

This Nativity at the end of the Bible takes us right back to the beginning, and the very first chapters of Genesis. When God made the world, and put Adam in the Garden, it is said in ancient Jewish tradition that some of the angels grew jealous, and fell to earth to thwart God’s work of creation. One was the snake in Eden, who tempted Eve, and so brought death and violence into the world. One day, in the far future, God said to Eve, the serpent would bite her offspring’s heel. And so the war in heaven, waged against God by those rebellious angels, began to echo here on earth.

How delighted was the Serpent to see the Word of God who once walked with Adam, who showed Himself to Abraham and Moses, who spoke to the prophets, now come to earth in such weakness, a mewling babe born bloody one silent night in a pen of brute beasts. How easy a target the Lord had made Himself! How sweet the scent of victory amid the dung and blood!

But the baby was bait, a trap for the Devil, God’s secret weapon. Yes, the snake would bide its time, and failing to tempt Him in the desert, would bite Him with the nails of the Cross. Yes, He would die, devoured by the Dragon. But there was another half the promise God made to Eve in Eden: the snake would bite His heel, but He would crush its head. And so the victory was won, death defeated, the power of sin’s poison drained.

On the Cross, Christ made the decisive strike in the war to end all wars. But we are still here, stuck behind enemy lines, and though the war is won, the wounded Snake and his servants still stir up the chaos of pride, anger, jealousy, greed and lust, all that dust they take for daily bread. And we suffer, as they animate individuals, tribes, nations, stirring up hatred and setting us against each other. They use any means they can, and there are many at their disposal. And so the world remains in darkness and in war.

But tonight, we have hope. Tonight, the light that gave being and meaning to all things at the outset of creation was born a child among us. Tonight, the One who descended to Bethlehem, the House of Bread, descends into our hearts in the bread of the altar. Tonight, the Word of God shines the light of reason and order onto the diabolical anarchy of the world. Tonight, the Spirit that breathed on the void and on the waters of the Virgin’s Womb breathes anew on the tumult of our hearts. The Devil cannot win. For, as God spoke to St John the Divine:

“Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” (Rev 12:10)

The wars continue in the world and in every human heart. Our spiritual enemies are many and powerful. But the angels and saints fight with us, and the Lord Christ Himself leads, a mighty warrior whose only weapon is love. May God grant us grace to wield that same sword well, and may Christ bless His world with peace and rest this Christmastide.