Caves, Midwives, and Sarcophagi in the Nativity Scene

We've grown as used to the cozy, hay-filled stable and bouncy baby Jesus in Nativity scenes as we have the discussions that follow about where animals were really kept in ancient Palestine. I love all of these conversations that look for ever-deeper understanding of the birth of Christ. So my little contribution is a look at the slightly different nativity scene we find in Orthodox icons. Icons aren't like photographs. They don't show a single moment but the whole story - so don't worry about the  early arrival of the magi. They also don't attempt to show exactly what things looked like, but instead they reveal the light of Christ in events. So, with that in mind, here are just three of the unique elements you'll find in the icon of the Nativity.

First, you might notice some characters who aren't usually present in most creches: the midwives. Primarily, the midwives speak to the total, vulnerable humanity of Christ. He was born, received, washed and swaddled by those faithful women who have assisted in births since the beginning of time. We're reminded of those brave midwives who defied Pharaoh and saved Moses and the other slave children in Egypt. God saw their reception of these little ones and blessed them with their own families. Here, too, we suppose these midwives who received the infant Christ didn't yet understand the divine-human family that God ushered in with this birth.  Nevertheless, the women faithfully set about their work, washing the child Christ. I can't help but notice that the basin resembles a baptismal font, and so in the icon this first birth points ahead to that second birth. As they wash this baby boy, we expect the descent of the Holy Spirit and the voice of the Father who reminds us this is his son.

If we zoom out, we see that icons show the scene somewhere totally different - in a cave. Perhaps homes were carved out of caves and rock, but the icon points to something further up and further in. We recently took our kids to visit a large cave, and their legs shook as we descended deep into the darkness. Caves can be scary. They are the darkest places within the earth, places of hiding and burial. Yet even in this deep darkness the light of Christ came to earth.

But in fact, if you look at many icons, this cave is familiar. We see a similar rock formation in the icon of the Transfiguration, a time when Christ shines his light into the world more explicitly. This cave also looks like the one the women approached mournfully to anoint the Lord after his death. But on that occasion, they find once again Christ revealed to be God, risen from the dead. In Vespers before the Nativity, we sing about the response of all of creation to God's great gift of himself to us. We know the shepherds, the wise men, and even the little drummer boy bring gifts to Christ, but in this song, the earth itself offers to hold and welcome God into its inner places:

What shall we offer Thee, O Christ, Who for our sakes hast appeared on the earth as a man? Every creature which Thou hast made offers Thee thanks. The angels offer Thee a song; The heavens, their star; The wise men, their gifts; The shepherds, their wonder; The earth, its cave; The wilderness; the manger; And we offer Thee a virgin mother. - Vespers Stichera

And finally if we look back to the swaddled baby in the cave, we don't see a rosy cheeked child - with arms spread and the little cloth gently and strategically draped across him - like the one in the little set in my living room. I love that baby. A real human child that was snuggled by his mother. But here we see a baby swaddled tightly as in grave clothes and laid in a stone manger that looks more like ancient sarcophagi than a wooden basket overflowing with straw. We've seen this before, too, in that familiar cave. The icon shows us the baby prepared for his work ahead, the divine economy of his life as the suffering servant who will be laid in a tomb. The icon anticipates Christ's death with both somberness and hopefulness. For his death reminds us that he doesn't die as men do, but will overcome death once and for all. We sing,

"I behold a strange and wonderful mystery: the cave is heaven, the Virgin a cherubic throne, and the manger a noble place in which hath lain Christ the uncontained God. Let us, therefore, praise and magnify Him." -  9th ode of the 1st canon of the Nativity

Ultimately icons as invitations to prayer. So, let the icon of the Nativity cultivate in you a prayer to welcome Christ into our humanity, like the faithful midwives; welcome him into your own inner places that need to be filled with the light of Christ; giving thanks for God's coming to be with us in death and life.