Jesus Was Born to Be a Warrior

Dec. 21, 2025

On Thursday, we celebrate the Nativity of the Lord. This is the second most important feast of the Church’s year, the first being Easter. The stories that are found in the Infancy Narratives of Matthew and Luke tell us of the great miraculous events through which the Son of God became the Son of Mary and united Himself to all of us, so that He could save us.
   
Those stories are told in the first two chapters of both Matthew and Luke. I encourage you to take a few minutes to read those chapters leading up to Christmas. It will not take much time at all.

The Fall of Adam and Eve separated Heaven and Earth. Now they are reunited as the God Man is born into our midst. The name “Jesus,” given to the child by the Angel Gabiel and the angel who appeared to Joseph in his dream, means “Yahweh Saves,” announcing who He will be and what He will accomplish. He will heal the broken relationship between God and man, and between Heaven and Earth.
   
That healing and our salvation will be ultimately won for us through Christ’s death and Resurrection, but it begins in the stable in Bethlehem. This child was born to be a warrior who would do battle with the forces of evil, to suffer and die, and most especially to rise from the dead, defeating sin and death. We don’t want to overly sentimentalize Jesus’ birth. The birth of Jesus is God’s sneak attack on Satan.
—Fr. Mike Comer