"Who Is This?"

Nick E. Silverio is a member of the Order of St. Lazarus, and also the founder of “A Safe Haven for Newborns,” a non-profit based out of Miami, Florida. His organization is devoted to saving abandoned babies. Long ago, the life of a particular baby was threatened. After all, the parents could not find a place for the child to be delivered. But when the fate of the world hung in the balance, the child was not abandoned. Who was this baby?

Meet Nick E. Silverio. A quick glance tells you that he’s probably in his 60s or early 70s. What hair he has is white. He’s a widower with a round face latticed with age lines you’d expect, with spectacles balanced on his nose, beneath which is a sporty white mustache. His features are benign and nonthreatening. He’s of medium height and might be wearing trousers that are cinched just a bit high around the waist. If you were to pass him on the street, you might not even have noticed him.

He may not look like someone who is making a difference. But he is.

Silverio is a member of the Order of St. Lazarus, and also the founder of A Safe Haven for Newborns, a non-profit based out of Miami, Florida.1 Silverio wants to save children from abandonment — and in America, too many babies are abandoned for heartbreaking reasons. For example,

● In Alaska, a mother leaves a newborn in a box on a street corner with a note (the baby survived);

● In New Mexico, a mother is seen on video tossing a bag into a dumpster. People looking for food later found a baby in that bag (this baby also survived);

● In Illinois, a dead baby was found in a duffel bag in front of a fire station in freezing temperatures;

● In Nebraska, a baby was found on a blanket on the side of a road after the mother gave birth and abandoned the infant (the mother was found, and the baby survived).2

Silverio wants to save as many babies as he can and so far the number is at more than 300 babies who are alive today and have a chance “to become the President of the United States, a Supreme Court Justice, a scientist finding a cure for cancer or most important, a great mom or dad to their children.”3

All 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have policies on the books that decriminalize the leaving of an infant on the doorstep of a firehouse or church.4 These so-called “Baby Moses” laws are meant to offer parents, many of whom are teenagers, a way out, rather than doing harm to the child. Those who find these abandoned babies are amazed and wonder, “Who is this baby? How did this child end up on the steps of a church or at the firehouse door?” Often there’s a note which explains all or part of what is going on with the child.

In ancient Palestine, children were both valued and vulnerable. In about 4 B.C., following a decree by Emperor Augustus, a particular young couple were nervous. The girl was with child, and there was some question about its paternity. They were looking at a long journey, and Mary — for that was the mother’s name — was very close to her time.

Although there was no thought of giving birth to the infant and then abandoning it, the parents must have been concerned about the baby’s safety. Soon they’d discover that — perhaps because the emperor’s edict had the unintended consequence of filling every inn, hotel, motel and Airbnb in Bethlehem—that there were NO VACANCY signs everywhere. So, the survival of the baby was becoming an issue.

The good news is that the baby survived. It was born in a barn and laid in a feeding trough for cattle, wrapped nice and tight “in bands of cloth.” The shepherds ran into town and found the baby safe and “lying in the manger.” And then, the shepherds began to talk: “... they made known what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.”

One can only imagine the scuttlebutt floating about in the hallways, alleyways and byways of this sleepy town not far from Jerusalem and the ears of King Herod. “Who is this baby?” they whispered.

Joseph was doing his part. A normal guy might be wondering not only “Who is this baby?” but also “Whose is this baby?!” The shepherds must have wondered the same thing.

The answer is given to us, as it was to the shepherds, not by an explanation written on dirty lined paper. The shepherds were informed as to the identity of this child when they heard some lyrical notes spoken by an angel in the nighttime sky that explained all. “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the LORD.”

And we also learn that, according to Saint Paul, this baby was God’s Son, “who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead ....”5

The angel said it best, however: this baby is the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord.

The Savior

This is a baby that got its start as the child of questionable legitimacy, a baby born of a poor couple with grim prospects and little money. But for the mercy of an innkeeper, who knows where the child might have been born? Anyone’s guess. Not in a barnyard feeding trough, but perhaps on the street in a gutter, or in a shepherd’s cave on a cold winter night. Maybe in a vineyard hidden away amongst the vines. This is the child who is called by the angel a “savior.” How extraordinary! So, what would the word “savior” mean to the shepherds who heard the angel thus describe the baby?

The term “savior” refers to Jesus’ role as the one who saves or delivers humanity from sin and its consequences. An angel, perhaps the same one now talking to the shepherds, had appeared to Joseph in a dream and counseled him to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife, and added, “You are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”6 From the get-go, this baby would make a difference. He would be a channel of salvation, coming into the world to offer hope to all people by reconciling them with God through his sacrificial death and resurrection. Who knew? This poor baby, born of poor parents, born in poor circumstances would turn out to be the ultimate source of redemption and hope for humanity, offering forgiveness and the promise of eternal life to those who accept him as Savior.

The Messiah

The angel also says this baby is the Messiah. In Matthew’s birth account, Jesus is called the Messiah three times in the first chapter of Matthew’s gospel.7 What does this title tell us about “the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay”?

The title “Messiah” originates from the Hebrew word mashiach, which means “anointed one.” In Jewish tradition, the Messiah is a figure prophesied to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promises, including the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth and the redemption of Israel. For us as Christians, Jesus is understood as the fulfillment of these messianic prophecies, the long-awaited Savior-King who inaugurates God’s kingdom and brings salvation not only to Israel, but to all nations.

The Lord

The term “Lord” is a title of reverence and authority, indicating Jesus’ divine sovereignty and rulership. Of course, we don’t use the word in our everyday conversation anymore, nor do we even hear the word “lord” very often, unless we’re addicted to BBC reruns of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett having a row in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

But we know what the word means. In American parlance, the lord is the “boss.” In the UK, it might be “guv.” Elsewhere, it might be “captain.” El jefe. But in Christian theology, confessing Jesus as Lord acknowledges his divine nature and supreme authority over all creation. It means that we agree that Jesus Christ has a claim upon our lives. The apostle Paul makes it clear that Jesus is Lord: “At the name given to Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”8

Who is this baby to you?

Together, these three titles convey the profound significance of this Bethlehem baby as the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation for humanity. Identifying this baby as the “Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord” emphasizes his role as the divine Son of God sent into the world to bring salvation, fulfill prophecy and establish God’s kingdom. For us on this Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, this declaration summarizes in a few words the core of our faith and serves as a reminder of the profound love and grace of God manifested in the person of Jesus Christ.

But is this a baby you’ll abandon? That’s the question.

Nick Silverio and his organization have saved more than 300 babies. Perhaps we can take a practical interest in Silverio’s work and find ways to save babies as well. But, equally important is to ask ourselves whether we are willing to save “the Baby,” the Christ child, the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord.

This baby is one whom we must not, at all costs, even consider abandoning. On this Christmas Eve, we must reaffirm that the Christ Child is our Savior, our Messiah, our Lord. Not only does our life as a person depend on it, but the lives of others, indeed the world.