WATCHWORD:
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8
Meditation:
God Incarnate?
Dictionary definition: Incarnate \In*car”nate\, v. t. To clothe with flesh; to embody in flesh; to invest, as spirits, ideals, etc., with a human form or nature.
God in human flesh! God seeking to experience the fullness of life as a human! Stop and consider what that means. Born from a teenager’s womb, in a barn-like stable, totally dependent on the mother and her husband.
Now consider the stages of human development, even your own. Jesus experiencing his first fear, that of lack of physical support, falling. Learning: first to talk, to crawl, to walk. Schooling were lessons given by a visiting rabbi, once a week, or less. Growing up in a carpenter’s home, the engineer of that day, and learning about construction, masonry, etc. Not much work in Nazareth and so he probably traveled to other towns, apprenticing with his dad, and he learned, first hand, about life as a human.
Aside from his birth, his experience in the Temple at age 12, and then his ministry, we know very little about his early years. However, we know of our own experience and the fact that scripture tells us that he experienced everything we did. Although it is hard for us to imagine the God of the Universe, as an infant, a child, an adolescent, a young adult, experiencing all the stresses and angst of that time of life.
Randy Alcorn, in Face To Face With Jesus, writes: “Jesus didn’t put on a body as if it were a coat. He wasn’t made of two separate components, man and God, to be switched on and off at will. Rather, from the point of his incarnation, he was and is and always will be a man and God. When Christ died, he might have appeared to shed his humanity; but when he rose in an indestructible body, he declared his permanent identity as the God-man. This is a mystery so great it should leave us breathless.”
From the Gospel of John, we see glimpses of Jesus’ humanity as an adult. The disciple points out that Jesus was weary and thirsty (John 4:6-7), he groaned and wept openly (John 11:33-35). On the cross, he thirsted and died (John 19:28-30). After his resurrection, he proved to Thomas and the other disciples that he still had a real body, however, glorified.
Edward Welch puts it this way: “From the foundation of the world, God knew your sufferings and declared he himself would take human form and participate in them (which means that we too, could share in his). This is not. distant, indifferent God.”
So, God, the creator of the universe, very God of very God, knows, first-hand, our lives as humans, and despite that, He loves us, to the point where he sent his very Spirit to dwell within each of us. That is also part of this mystery so great that it should leave us breathless, and, I would add, grateful. Amen.
Bulletin Board:
“That infinite God became one person with finite man, will remain for eternity the most profound miracle and the most profound mystery in all the universe.” Wayne Gruden
Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I humble myself before you today to acknowledge you as the creator of all things. You have made us. We are the sheep of your pasture. Through your truth we have found freedom. Because you know us so well, and had experienced all that we have experienced, then you know our needs. You have given us a home and place of liberty. Give us the wisdom to maintain what has been entrusted to us. Let the darkness, that seems to stand like a cloud above us, be pushed away and let your light break forth. We ask you Heavenly Father and acknowledge that you are our hope and our great Redeemer. May the name of Jesus be exalted. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
