Creed and Crib

What we see in this image is, in the words of the Nicene Creed, “the Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father…” The child Jesus sits in a crib with the animals nibbling at the hay underneath him. He is clothed in swaddling bands up to the waist. He holds a scroll in his left hand and blesses the animals with his right. These subtle signs indicate that this particular child behaves like a ruler even from infancy. He is presented as a so called paidariogeron – meaning “old child” in Greek. This means that he is extraordinarily mature for his age and perhaps even aware of his unique identity from birth. The scroll symbolizes that “the Word became man.” The promises that the prophets had written about are now fulfilled in an infant who is both man and God. The animals represent creation, together with plants and planets, and now he dwells among them but is not a created being himself. He created them, upholds them in existence, and now lives among them and blesses them. The divinity and humility of Jesus is demonstrated in this contrasted way. The Nicene Creed formulates this very essence of the faith in the following words: “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father.” He himself is born, but not created, of the same essence as the Father. This is the mystery we contemplate during Chrismas. He is fully divine and fully human, born of the Virgin Mary.