" …and
the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us" – John 1:14
The mystery of the incarnation is not all about
the omni-attributes of God being enshrined in the flesh of Christ nor is it in
the hypostatic unity of spirit and matter[1].
It is also in the mystery of God revealing himself
in one who is co-ordinate in living out the values that he puts in the realm of
the material.
In Jesus we find one who lives, breathes and
acts upon the expectations of the prophets and enacts the essence of the Law.
Jesus reveals God to us not in words but in
the flesh, in what he does and has done. He is God’s revelation, which shows to
us what God does in concrete terms.
Simply
put: when Jesus does something, God does something. When we look at Jesus’ life
and see what he did for us and how he lived, we know not only what Jesus is
like, but also what God is like because as the Word Jesus explains God to us[2].
He shows us what God loves and what God’s
love is like.
This is the mystery of the incarnation that
salvation is here and now in the person of Christ who has shown us in his life
and deeds on earth that God loves and seeks to have fellowship those whom he created.
Hence, to celebrate Christmas in light of
understanding the incarnation is to bear witness to an amazing act of gracious condescension, that God the
Son assumed our flesh[3].
It is interesting to note that what we often
forget is that divine revelation functions as a two-way mirror. It doesn’t just
reveal God to us, but likewise reveals us to God (and also to ourselves!) now.
We live our lives by following the plot of our individual narratives. We live
according to our personal story that hinges on fundamental decisions that are
brought into light in the incarnation. Will we be on the side of light or
darkness? There are only two
alternatives open to us –to choose either light or darkness.
What is asked in this decision goes beyond a
mere affirmation of the abovementioned truths in faith because wisdom is
vindicated by her deeds (Mat. 11:19 ISV), which renders the need to make our
actions speak louder than our words even more apparent.
Perhaps this is the choice that we are
brought face-to-face with this Christmas: to choose whether or not we would
still persist in the darkness of domesticating Christ as an abstract theological
construct or to choose become like Christ who went out and showed us God’s
love in deeds of mercy, healing and ultimately self-giving to the point of
death.
Christmas challenges us to Christlikeness, in both word and
deed. It dares us to exhibit an implicit preference for grace over judgment, by
the bid for unity amid diversity and by an abiding faith in a God who is
present and active in all reality[4].
Merry Christmas, may this season remind us of the call to
participate in enlivening the Living Word that is at work in shedding light
into this dark world.
[1] Historically and experientially
growing up as an Evangelical the passage has often been used as a expositional
reference to explore the doctrines of: 1) God’s “Omni-Attributes,” which
emphasizes that the Christian God is all-good, all-knowing,
all-powerful" deity. 2) The “hypostatic union” which attempts to explain
the union of Christ's humanity and divinity. In this reflection I have chosen not to dwell on these
topics but instead choose to delve into its ethical implications as I believe
the passage in the first chapter of John’s Gospel is also a wellspring of
resource on that matter.
[2] Here
I paraphrased the John 1:18 in light of the original Greek word, used,
exégeoma, (the word where we get the term exegesis which often pertains to the
act of preaching words from the Bible) that is translated as “made known” could
be translated more literally by saying that Jesus has “explained” God to us.
[3] Torrance
, Thomas. Incarnation: The Person and Life of Christ ed. Robert T. Walker
(Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008) p.61
[4] Watkins, T. Wyatt. Gospel,
Grits and Grace: Encountering the Holy in the Ridiculous, Sublime and
Unexpected (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1999) p.xiii
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