Church Fathers Commentary Luke 2:6-7

"And it came to pass, while they were there, the days were fulfilled that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." — Luke 2:6-7 (ASV)

St. Ambrose of Milan: St. Luke has briefly explained the manner, time, and place in which Christ was born in the flesh. He explained the manner: that one who was betrothed conceived, and a virgin gave birth to a child.

Gregory of Nyssa: Though coming in the form of a man, He is not subject to the laws of human nature in every way. For while His being born of a woman speaks of human nature, a virgin becoming capable of childbirth signifies something above human nature. For Him, His mother's burden was light, the birth was immaculate, the delivery without pain, and the nativity without defilement, neither beginning from lustful desire nor accomplished with sorrow.

For just as the woman who by her guilt grafted death into our nature was condemned to bring forth in pain, it was fitting that she who brought life into the world should complete her delivery with joy.

Through a virgin’s purity, He makes His way into mortal life at a time when darkness was beginning to fail, and the vast expanse of night was fading before the great brightness of the light. For the death of sin had brought an end to wickedness, which from now on comes to nothing because of the presence of the true light that has illuminated the whole world with the rays of the Gospel.

The Venerable Bede: He condescended to become incarnate at that time so that after His birth He might be enrolled in Caesar’s census, and so that He might bring us liberty by becoming subject to servitude Himself. It was also fitting that our Lord was born in Bethlehem, not only as a mark of the royal crown but also because of the sacrament of its name.

St. Gregory the Great: Bethlehem is interpreted as "the house of bread." For it is the Lord Himself who says, I am the bread of life which came down from heaven. The place where the Lord was born was therefore called the house of bread beforehand, because it was there that He was to appear in His physical nature—He who would refresh the souls of the elect with spiritual fullness.

The Venerable Bede: But until the very end of time, the Lord does not cease to be conceived in Nazareth and born in Bethlehem whenever any of His hearers, taking the flour of the word, makes himself a house of eternal bread. Daily in the Virgin’s womb—that is, in the mind of believers—Christ is conceived by faith and born by baptism. As it is written, and she brought forth her firstborn son.

St. Jerome: From this, Helvidius tries to prove that no one can be called "firstborn" who does not have brothers, just as one is called "only-begotten" who is the only son of his parents. But we resolve the matter this way: every only-begotten son is a firstborn, but not every firstborn is an only-begotten.

We do not define a firstborn as one whom others follow, but as one before whom there is no one. Otherwise, if a firstborn were only one who has brothers following him, then no firstborn offerings would be due to the priests as long as no other children were born. For if that were the case, a child could be an only-begotten but not a firstborn if no other birth followed.

The Venerable Bede: He is also only-begotten in the substance of His divinity and firstborn in His assumption of humanity; firstborn in grace, only-begotten in nature.

St. Jerome: Now there was no midwife here, no attentive care from other women; she wrapped the Child in swaddling clothes, being herself both mother and midwife.

The Venerable Bede: He who clothes the whole world with its varied beauty is wrapped in simple linen, so that we might receive the finest robe. He by whom all things are made has His hands and feet bound, so that our hands might be lifted for every good work and our feet directed into the way of peace.

Greek Expositors: Oh, the wonderful confinement and exile He underwent—He who holds the whole world in His hands! From the very beginning, He seeks poverty and ennobles it in His own person.

St. John Chrysostom: Surely, if He had willed it, He could have come by moving the heavens, shaking the earth, and shooting forth thunderbolts. But that was not His way of appearing; His desire was not to destroy but to save, and to trample on human pride from its very beginning. Therefore, He is not only a man but a poor man, and He chose a poor mother who did not even have a cradle where she might lay her newborn Child. As it is written, and she laid him in a manger.

The Venerable Bede: He whose throne is the heavens is confined in the narrow space of a rough manger, so that He might give us ample room in the joys of His heavenly kingdom. He who is the bread of Angels is laid in a manger, so that He might feed us, like sacred animals, with the bread of His flesh.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: He finds humanity, in its corrupt desires, has become like the beasts that perish. Therefore, He is laid in a manger, in a place of food, so that we, by turning from the life of beasts, might be brought to the knowledge that is proper for humanity, partaking not of hay but of the heavenly bread: the life-giving body.

The Venerable Bede: He who sits at His Father’s right hand finds no room in an inn, so that He might prepare many mansions for us in His Father’s house. He is born not in His own house but in an inn and by the roadside, because through the mystery of the incarnation, He was made the way to bring us to our true country (where we shall enjoy the truth and the life).

St. Gregory the Great: And so that He might show that, because of the human form He took upon Himself, He was born as if in a foreign land—not according to His power, but according to His human nature.

St. Ambrose of Milan: For your sake, then, I am weak; in you, I am strong. For your sake, I am poor; in you, I am rich. Do not consider what you see, but acknowledge that you are redeemed. I owe more to Your sufferings for my redemption, O Lord Jesus, than to Your works for my creation. It would have been no advantage to be born, if it had not also been my advantage to be redeemed.