After this, St. John the Baptist was born, circumcised and received a name with wondrous prophecies about him from the lips of his father Zachariah.

Meanwhile, in Nazareth, Joseph, confused by perplexities, received a revelation about the birth of the Son of God from the Virgin Mary and calmed down.

The time has come for Him to be born. The census brings the righteous Joseph and the Most-Pure Virgin to Bethlehem, where the Lord is born, as it was predicted long ago.

The newborn Lord is glorified by the Angels and accepts worship from the shepherds.

Then He is circumcised, and as a man receives the name foreordained from above, and in due time He is placed before the Lord in the temple with the testimonies and prophecies of the righteous Simeon and Anna the prophetess.

They had to make this return from Egypt, when the danger from Herod had passed with his death. Then, having received a command from above, they returned to their city of Nazareth with the Eternal Infant in their arms, without entering Jerusalem.

Here the Lord then dwelt, hiding His Divine greatness in humble humanity, until the time of His manifestation to the world as the God-man. Only once, when He was twelve years old, when He was with His parents in Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover, in the temple of the learned Jews He amazed them with His extraordinary wisdom, and announced to His parents that He had another Parent, in whose spirit and intentions He must abide and act.

This is all that pleased the Holy Spirit to inspire the holy Evangelists to announce to us the hidden sojourn of God incarnate on earth, until the time of His manifestation to the world as He is. The sequence of retold events is this and not another, does not require confirmation. Only one circumstance needs to be explained, namely, that the Evangelist Luke says that, having finished everything according to the law, the Lord's parents returned to Nazareth according to the flesh. But if they returned to Nazareth immediately after placing the newborn firstborn before the Lord, then there was no time for the adoration of the Magi.

All these are unnecessary assumptions. The words of St. Luke do not give an irresistible reason for them. Not intending to speak of the adoration of the Magi and the flight into Egypt closely connected with it, he said: "Having finished everything according to the law, they returned to Nazareth." And this had to be told to him. Thus would the Evangelist Matthew have said, if he had not spoken of the adoration of the Magi and the flight into Egypt: for then it would have remained only for him to say. But, having decided to speak about these two events, he could no longer speak about his return to Nazareth than after them: which he did. The words of St. Luke will not cause any confusion if we insert one word into their midst: intended, or assembled. And it will come to pass: having finished everything according to the law, the parents of the Lord set their minds, gathered, were ready to return to Nazareth; but the Magi came and restrained them; and when they had departed, the angel of the Lord commanded them to depart hastily to Egypt, and on their return from Egypt they had to fulfill their desire to return to Nazareth. In addition, such assumptions impose great inconveniences: after the adoration of the Magi, to go to Jerusalem, as required by the Meeting of the Lord, means to put oneself in the hands of Herod. Likewise, if you try to flee to Egypt from Nazareth, you will not escape its hands, because you will have to pass through its province. And there is a strange thing here: the Infant Lord is in danger in Bethlehem, and the flight from Nazareth is undertaken. As for the assumption that the adoration of the Magi and the flight into Egypt took place a year after the birth of Christ, we have no hint in the Gospel stories; on the contrary, we encounter circumstances that do not admit of this. His parents could arrive in Judea a year after the birth of the Lord only for some feast and stop in Jerusalem, without going further to Bethlehem. The adoration of the Magi was in Bethlehem; from there the flight to Egypt began.

Явление Господом Себя миру

Пришло время Господу явить Себя миру. Как это было не какое-либо обычное человеческое дело, а Божеское всепромыслительное, то ему предшествовали мановения и свидетельства свыше и торжественное посвящение человечества в Богочеловеке на соучастие в совершении воплощенного домостроительства нашего спасения. И видим, что, по гласу свыше, выходит из пустыни Предтеча Господень Иоанн и углаждает путь Господу к сердцам человеческим проповедию и крещением покаяния, убеждая всех правы творить стези свои и внушая, что вслед его идет некто, сильнейший его. К нему приходит и Сам Господь, и, тогда как смиренно приемлет крещение покаяния, торжественно посвящается в человечестве Своем на дело Свое видимым снисшествием на Него Духа Святаго, и гласом свыше свидетельствуется, что Он есть Сын Божий, в Коем почивает все благоволение Отца.

Так как, явившись миру, Богочеловеку предлежало действовать по-человечески и среди человеков, то Он благоволил пред тем пройти человеческое приготовление. И прошел его в сорокадневном посте, в борьбе с диаволом-искусителем и победоносном его поражении.

Затем самое явление Господа миру не вдруг открылось во всей силе своей; но сначала священство и народ приготовляются к принятию Его свидетельствами и прямым указанием Его народу от святого Иоанна Предтечи, потом Господом совершаются некоторые действия, которые прилично назвать преддверием ко вступлению Его в мир с делом Своим, каковы: намечение некоторых учеников, намечение, потому что избрание их последовало гораздо после; и намечение и осмотр нового места жительства; между коими чудо в Кане совершено случайно, быв вымолено у правды милосердием; ибо признано таким, для какового не у прииде час.

И наконец, уже совершилось самое явление Господом Себя миру, в Иерусалиме на празднике Пасхи. Там надлежало Ему начать Свое действование по воплощенному домостроительству, чтобы там потом и кончить его. Тут видим Господа действующим сначала в Иерусалиме, потом во всей земле Иудейской. Из многого, конечно, что здесь совершено, святой Иоанн передает нам только несколько действий.