NOTES for Luk 2:10-11
The news of the Messiah's birth is joyful. Joyful for all. For each person. Not only for those who later will be called Christians, but for all who take spiritual life seriously. Of course, the Jews awaited Him most of all, the people of God. They alone at that time could understand what had happened and what the good news meant. The others could only guess. But the matter is not only who understands what, although for spiritual life understanding and awareness play the main role.
The matter is also what happened: the Kingdom that, according to the Savior's words, "has drawn near." And this can be felt not only by Christians. A person may know nothing about the Messiah, about the people of God, or in general about the history of the Covenant and salvation. But every seeker can sense the breath of the Kingdom. Remarkable and noteworthy in this sense is the transformation in the Christian era of certain Eastern teachings, Hinduism for example, or Buddhism. Could one have imagined in pre-Christian times that a Hindu, even a consistent monotheist who had chosen the path of yoga, would call God the heavenly Father?
Yet in modern Hinduism this happens. And this is by no means the influence of Christian missionaries. It is the movement of the breath of that very Kingdom which cannot be contained in any religious framework, which is open to everyone who strives for genuine spiritual life, whatever tradition he belongs to. Of course, there is no Kingdom without a King. But the seeker does not always know about the King. Sometimes he learns about the Kingdom before he learns about the One who rules in it.
But the King is glad for everyone who comes. And one can become acquainted with the King even after learning about the Kingdom, touching it, and understanding that one has been going precisely here and has come to where one long wanted to arrive. There is still time before the complete triumph of the Kingdom, before Christ's return in glory. This means there is time for seekers to meet the King, become acquainted with Him, understand whom they have met, and entrust themselves to Him.
Of course, the direct representation of the Kingdom on earth should first of all be the Church. But it is not always equal to this task, and Christ Himself never said that He would limit His activity in the world to the boundaries of the earthly Church. He promised not to abandon it, but He did not promise us, as Christians, exclusive rights to the Kingdom. After all, it is His Kingdom and His Church. And only He decides how far it will spread and who will be able to share in it.