Bethlehem And Judah

Cum natus esset Jesus in Bethlehem Judae Bethlehem, fratres, Hebraice domus panis vocatur. His ergo vocabulis Judae signatur domus, genus vocatur, ut promissionis fides, ut prophetiae veritas impleatur, dicente Jacob: Juda, te laudabunt fratres tui, manus tuae supra dorsum inimicorum tuorum, adorabunt te filii patris tui. Et post Non deficiet princeps ex Juda, nec dux ex femoribus ejus, donec veniat cui reposita, et ipse erit exspectatio gentium. Unde et David, Juda rex meus. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo CLVI Source: Migne PL 52.612c-613a

'When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea' 1 Bethlehem, brothers, in Hebrew means house of bread. Therefore with these words the house of Judah is signified, that tribe being named, so that the faith of the promise and the truth of prophecy be fulfilled, with Jacob saying, 'Judah, your brothers shall praise you, your hand shall be upon the backs of your enemies, the sons of your father shall adore you.' And then: 'Judah shall not lack a prince, nor a leader from his loins, until he comes who is laid up for him, even he who is the hope of the nations.' 2 Whence David says: 'Judah my king.' 3 Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 156 1 Mt 2.1 2 Gen 49.8-10 3 Ps 59.9

Shepherds And Church

Καὶ ποιμένες ἧσαν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ αὐτῇ ἀγραυλοῦντες. Ποιμέσει δὲ πρῶτον ἀποκαλύπτεται τὸ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων ὑμνούμενον μυστήριον, οἵτινες τύπον ἐπεῖχον τῶν τὰς Ἐκκλησίας μελλόντων ποιμαίνειν· αὐτοὺς γὰρ ἔδει καὶ πρώτους ἀκούειν τὸ, Ἐπὶ γῆν εἰρήνη, διότι καὶ οἱ πνευματικοὶ ποιμένες ἔμελλον τὴν εἰρήνην ἐπιφωνεῖν παντὶ τῷ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας πληρώματι· ἔτι δὲ τὸ τῶν ποιμένων πρόσωπον, καὶ ἡ γενομένη διὰ τῆς ἀποκαλύψεως αὐτοῖς χαρὰ σημαίνει σαφῶς, ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πλανώμενον ἦλθε πρόβατον ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός· ποιμένας γὰρ οὐδεν οὕτως εὐφραίνειν οἶδεν, ὡς ἡ τοῦ ἀπολωλότος βοσκήματος εὕρεσις· ὅπερ οὐκ ἧν ἑτέρου τινὸς εὑρεῖν, ἥ τοῦ ἀρχιποίμενος Χριστοῦ. Εἶτα ἐπειδὴ βηθλεὲμ οἴκος ἄρτου ἑρμηνεύεται, ποῦ ἔμελλον οἱ ποιμένες μετὰ τὸ κήρυγμα τῆς εἰρήνης ἐπείγεσθαι, ἤ ἐπὶ τὸν πνευματικὸν οἴκον τοῦ οὐρανίου ἄρτου, τουτέεστι τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, ἐν ᾖ μυστικῶς καθ' ἐκάστην ἱερουργεῖται ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβὰς ἄρτος, καὶ ζωήν διδοὺς τῷ κόσμῳ; Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Λούκαν Εὐάγγελιον, Κεφ' Β' Source:  Migne PG 72.489a-b

And shepherds were pasturing their flocks in the fields... 1 To the shepherds the mystery is first revealed by the singing of the angels, they who are given as a type of those who shall in the future be shepherds of the Church; for certainly it befits that they first hear, 'Peace on earth', because the spiritual shepherds shall be proclaimers of peace to all the people of the Church. And then the person of the shepherds, elated by the joy of this revelation, signifies the good shepherd who has come directly to the wandering sheep. Indeed He knows that nothing more delights the shepherds than the finding of the lost one of the flock, which no one else was able to find but Christ the prince of shepherds. 2 Then because we understand Bethlehem to mean 'House of Bread', where should the shepherds gather after the proclaimation of peace, but in the spiritual house of the heavenly bread, that is, the Church, in which every day He is sacrificed who from heaven descended as bread to supply life to the world? Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Luke, Chap 2 1 Lk 2.8 2 Mt 18.12–14, Lk 15.3–7

Shepherds Of Bethlehem

Transeamus usque Bethlehem, et videamus hoc Verbum quod factum est, sicut Dominus ostendit nobis. Et venerunt festinantes. Vides festinare pastores; nemo enim cum desidia Christum requirit. Vides pastores angelo credidisse; et tu Patri, Filio, Spiritui sancto, angelis, prophetis, et apostolis crede. Vide quam signate Scriptura singulorum libret momenta verborum: Festinant, inquit, Verbum videre. Etenim cum caro Domini videtur, Verbum videre, quod est Filius. Non mediocre fidei tibi hoc videatur exemplum, non vilis persona pastorum. Certe quo vilior ad prudentiam, eo pretiosior ad fidem. Non gymnasia choris referta sapientum, sed plebem Dominus simplicem requisivit, quae phalerare audita, et fucare nesciret. Simplicitas enim quaeritur, non ambitio desideratur. Nec condemnenda putes quasi vilia verba prophetarum: a pastoribus populus ad Dei reverentiam congregatur; 'mirati enim sunt de iis, quae dicebantur a pastoribus ad ipsos.' Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Evangelii secundum Lucam, Liber II Migne PL 15.1571-72

'Let us go to Bethlehem and let us see this word that has been given to us, as the Lord has shown to us. And they went swiftly.'  1 You see that the shepherds hurry; for no one with sluggishness desires Christ. You see that the shepherds believed the angel, and so you, then, have faith in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and the Angels and the Prophets and the Apostles. See how with the meaning of each word Scripture weighs the moment. Hurry, it says, to see the Word. Indeed when the flesh of the Lord is seen, the Word is seen, which is the Son. This is no image of you who are of a petty faith, nor indeed is the lowly state of the shepherds. Certainly as something is more vile to the clever, so it is more precious to faith. It is not schools stuffed full of choirs of the clever the Lord seeks but the simple, whose hearing is adornment and who do not know not how to ornament themselves. For simplicity He seeks, ambition He does not want. Nor should you think to condemn as vile the words of Prophets, for by the shepherds the people are gathered to the reverence of God: 'They were amazed by the things which the shepherds told them.' 2 Saint Ambrose, from The Commentary On The Gospel of Luke, Book 2 1 Lk 2.15 2 Lk 2.18

Children Good and Bad

Bethlehem, id est, Judaea, martyrum sanguine redundante. Herodis vero furor et infantium interfectio, populi Judaici in Christianos saevientis est forma: existimantis se beatorum Martyrum caede posse in omnium fide et professione Christi nomen exstinguere. Sed gloriosus per prophetam neci eorum honor redditur, dicentem, Vox in Rama audita est, ploratus et ululatus multus, rachel plorans filios suos: et noluit consolari, quia non sunt. Rachel Jacob uxor fuit diu sterilis; sed nullum ex his quos genuit amisit. Verum haec in Genesi Ecclesiam typum praetulit. Non igitur illius vox et ploratus auditur, quae nullum habuit amissorum filiorum dolorem, sed hujus Ecclesiae diu sterilis, nunc vero fecundae. Hujus ploratus ex filiis, non idcirco quia peremptos dolebat, auditur; sed quia ab his perimebantur, quos primum genitos filios retinere voluisset. Denique consolari se noluit quae dolebat. Non enim non erant ii, qui mortui putabantur: in aeternitatis enim profectum per martyrii gloriam efferebantur.   In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius, Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis

Bethlehem, that is, Judea, overflows with the blood of martyrs. Indeed the fury of Herod and the murder of infants is a form of the savagery of the Jews against the Christians, thinking that by the slaughter of blessed martyrs it is possible to extinguish the faith and the profession of Christ in everyone. But a glorious honour is given to the slain through the prophet, who says, 'A voice in Rama is heard, weeping and crying out greatly, Rachel weeping for her children, and she will not be comforted because they were not.' Rachel wife of Jacob was for a long time barren, but she did not lose those born. In Genesis she is brought forth as a type of Church. It is not therefore her voice and weeping that is heard, since she had no sorrow for lost children, but it is the voice of the Church, long barren, now in truth fertile. This weeping for her children was heard not because they were killed but because they were killed by those first born whom she wished to retain as sons. This is why she did not want to be comforted in her grief. And indeed it is not that the first mentioned should be thought not to have died, for from eternity they were marked to bring forth the glory of martyrdom Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Saint Hilary of Poitiers