The Nativity Icon

The Birth of Christ has always been celebrated and

hymned by Christians in some way or other, as it is central
to the Faith. The Word of God in past times may have
appeared as an angel of the Lord, or the divine fire of the
burning bush, but now, from this time onwards, He has
become one of us; and not just as a fully-grown man
descended from Heaven, but in humility God is born of a
woman, and comes to us as a tiny, speechless, infant. This
is what is shown in the Nativity Icon

The New Testament in the Nativity Icon

The child-Christ and His mother are shown in a
cave, surrounded by impossibly sharp, inhospitable, rocks
which reflect the cruel world into which Jesus was born.
The Gospels record that Joseph and Mary could not find a room at any inn when they came to
take part in the census at Bethlehem, and so Jesus was laid in a manger, an animals feeding
trough. Common to the time, animals were not sheltered in wooden barns, but in caves and
recesses in the hills, and so this stable is shown in the Icon.
High in the skies is a star which sends down a single shaft towards the baby Jesus. This
star is being followed by the Magi, the wise Persians from the East, who are bearing gifts to the
Christ. But they are shown in the distance, still on their journey. They are not there.
Thronged in the skies are a host of angels bringing the glad tidings of the birth of the
worlds Saviour. On the right, the shepherds people not regarded by anyone else are the first
to be given the Good News of Jesus birth. But they are also shown outside of the cave, still by
their flocks. They too are not at Christs side yet.
Besides His mother, the only company Jesus Christ has in the first few hours of His
earthly life are a lowly ox and donkey. This is the humility of Gods incarnation on earth.

The Old Testament in the Nativity Icon

The humbleness of Christs origins should not surprise us, as the manner of His birth was
prophesied many hundreds of years prior to the event. The presence of the Ox and the Donkey in
the Nativity icon fulfills one of many prophecies in the Old Testament book of Isaiah:The ox
knows his owner, and the donkey his masters crib (Isaiah 1:3) . Here the animals are also
shown providing warmth to Jesus by their breath.
Also found somewhere in most icons of the Nativity is a Jesse Tree. Named after an
Old Testament patriarch, the trees presence is to remind us of another fulfilled prophecy from
Isaiah:A shoot shall sprout from the stump (tree) of Jesse and from his roots a bud shall
blossom. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him (Isaiah 11:1-2). In the flesh, Jesus can trace
his ancestry through both His mother and adoptive father Joseph, all the way back to Jesse. This
lineage is also sometimes shown in Icons of the Jesse Tree.

Theology and symbolism

The icon has much symbolism. The helpless figure in swaddling clothes represents the
complete submission of Christ to the physical conditions governing the human race.
The earth provides Him with a cave. The animals watch Him in silent wonder and
humanity offer him one of its own, the Virgin Mother. The manger is like a casket and His
swaddling clothes are very much like the grave clothes.
Star
The sky salutes Him with a star, the light of wisdom. This is a sign that Christ came for
everyone: "For by it, those who worshiped the stars, were taught by a star to adore Thee, the Sun
of Righteousness, and to know Thee, the Orient on high" (from the troparion of Christmas).
Some icons have three rays from the star, representing the Holy Trinity. The Magi and the
shepherds bring their gifts, also a sign that Christ came for everyone. The women on the bottom
right are midwives. This indicates that Jesus was born in the normal way and would have needed
washing, as a regular human baby would.
Old Testament prophecy
Below the center are a tree, an ox, and an ass. The tree is the "Jesse Tree" from prophecy,
which says that a shoot will sprout from the stump of Jesse (the father of King David): "A shoot
shall sprout from the stump (tree) of Jesse and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of
the Lord shall rest upon Him" (Isaiah 11:1-2). The ox and the ass are also from an Old Testament
prophecy: "The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master's crib" (Isaiah 1:3). Sometimes
they are shown near the Christ child, providing warmth from their breath.
Joseph
The Righteous Joseph is depicted away from Jesus and the Theotokos, off to the bottom
left. This is because he was not involved in the miracle of the Incarnation of the Son of God, but
he was the protector of Mary and Jesus. The old man speaking to him represents the devil
bringing new doubts to Joseph. The devil suggests that if the infant were truly divine He would
not have been born in the human way. (This argument, assuming different forms, keeps on
reappearing through the whole history of the Church. It is the basis of many heresies.) In the
person of Joseph, the icon discloses not only his personal drama, but the drama of all mankind,
the difficulty of accepting that which is beyond reason, the Incarnation of God.
Mary
Mary in the center, from her reclining position, looks at Joseph as if trying to overcome
his doubts and temptations. She is not the most important figure in the icon, but the most
dominant. Sometime she is depicted kneeling, still concerned.
Angels
The angels are glorifying God, tending to the action, and ministering: announcing
the Good News to the shepherds, or singing. To the right, a young shepherd sits, wearing a
wreath and playing his flute, showing the joy of the Good News.