The Station of Christ

As a Baha’i, I do not celebrate Christmas as Christians do, but as I live in a country that celebrates Christian holidays, I have been surrounded by Christmas…and instead of the usual materialistic images that are evoked by the holiday, I wish to instead focus on who Jesus Christ was: a Manifestation of God. Baha’is believe that Baha’u’llah was the return of Christ in the glory of the Father, and that all Manifestations came from God at different times to teach humanity about what God wants us to do.

The position of Christ was that of absolute perfection; He made His divine perfections shine like the sun upon all believing souls, and the bounties of the light shone and radiated in the reality of men. This is why He says: “I am the bread which descended from heaven; whosoever shall eat of this bread will not die”- that is to say, that whosoever shall partake of this divine food will attain unto eternal life: that is, every one who partakes of this bounty and receives these perfections will find eternal life, will obtain preexistent favors, will be freed from the darkness of error, and will be illuminated by the light of His guidance.

(Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 120)

When the sanctified breezes of Christ and the holy light of the Greatest Luminary [1] were spread abroad, the human realities — that is to say, those who turned toward the Word of God and received the profusion of His bounties — were saved from this attachment and sin, obtained everlasting life, were delivered from the chains of bondage, and attained to the world of liberty. They were freed from the vices of the human world, and were blessed by the virtues of the Kingdom. This is the meaning of the words of Christ, “I gave My blood for the life of the world”[2] — that is to say, I have chosen all these troubles, these sufferings, calamities, and even the greatest martyrdom, to attain this object, the remission of sins (that is, the detachment of spirits from the human world, and their attraction to the divine world) in order that souls may arise who will be the very essence of the guidance of mankind, and the manifestations of the perfections of the Supreme Kingdom.
[1 Bahá’u’lláh.]
[2 Cf. John 6:51.]

(Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 124)

The Cause of Bahá’u’lláh is the same as the Cause of Christ. It is the same Temple and the same Foundation. Both of these are spiritual springtimes and seasons of the soul-refreshing awakening and the cause of the renovation of the life of mankind. The spring of this year is the same as the spring of last year. The origins and ends are the same. The sun of today is the sun of yesterday. In the coming of Christ, the divine teachings were given in accordance with the infancy of the human race. The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh have the same basic principles, but are according to the stage of the maturity of the world and the requirements of this illumined age.

(Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith, p. 400)