The Incarnation of God

by Pastor Paul Wolff

The Incarnation of God in Jesus is one of the greatest mysteries in all of history. Yet, we ought to remember that whenever the Holy Scriptures speak of a mystery it is something that has been revealed to us in Jesus. It is not that all our questions are answered, but the great mysteries are no longer hidden, but are revealed in Jesus.

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:1-3)

When the Angel Gabriel said to the virgin, Mary, “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus…” God was then incarnate in a microscopic single celled person, Jesus. He was still God, but He humbled Himself and from the moment of His conception He lived a life just like the rest of us, except without sin.

It should be little wonder that “the world did not recognize Him” (John 1:10) because in His humility Jesus did not use His Divine power until his ministry began. Jesus had to learn who He was, and why He came to earth to live as one of His beloved creatures. And yet, even though Jesus had to learn and grow like any other child, He still lived the sinless life according to His nature. Even though Mary and Joseph surely sinned against Him (how could they not?), and even though His siblings: James, Joseph, Judas, Simon, and his sisters (Mark 6:3); surely sinned against Him, yet Jesus never sinned against them, nor against God, the Father.

Window from Trinity Lutheran Church, Herscher, Illinois

It is a good exercise to consider all that Jesus sacrificed in order to save us. Though we cannot know all that Jesus sacrificed, the better idea we have of what He sacrificed, the better we can appreciate what He did to save us from our sin and death.

Pastor Jared Melius of Mt. Zion Lutheran Church, Denver, Colorado, has some great insight into Luke 2:41-52 (Issues Etc. audio link) which shows just how much Jesus gave up to win our salvation. This story is not about Christ’s Nativity, but it happened when He was 12 years old. Sometimes this event is described as the boy Jesus teaching in the temple, but that is not the way Luke records the event. Pastor Melius’ brilliant insight is that although Mary and Joseph regularly went to Jerusalem for the Passover this may have been Jesus’ first time there since He was 40 days old (Luke 2:22-ff). Jesus did not come to teach, but to learn, as Luke makes a point of saying how Jesus grew as a child.

Since it was the Passover celebration, Jesus likely asked questions about the sacrifice of the passover lamb, and how it saved God’s people from the plague of death, and how the death of the lamb related to the promised messiah. He learned from the Scriptures that God’s messiah would sacrifice His life like a passover lamb to save all people from their sins. In His state of humility, Jesus had to learn that it was the will of God, the Father, that He would give up His life to save sinners from the consequences of their sins. And yet, Jesus did not once turn away from the path that God, the Father, had placed before Him.

The Holy Scriptures were not written only for us sinners, that we may believe in Christ as our savior, but they were also written for Jesus, so that He might also know what He had to do in obedience to God to win our salvation. Jesus, too, had to trust in God’s Word, and obey God as a man, even though it meant great suffering and torment for Him. Out of His love for God and for us sinners, Jesus obeyed His Father and was obedient unto death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-11)!

May Christ bless you and your family through the Christmas Season and throughout the whole year as you contemplate God’s incarnation, and all that Jesus did to save you from sin and death!

A Peaceful Passing

When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord” ), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (Luke 2:22-35)

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You will sometimes hear people say, “I can die happy, now.” This is a great exaggeration. There is nothing “happy” about death, and with all due respect to Simeon, there is little that is “peaceful” about death either. Death is not “natural.” God did not create death. God created life. Death only came into the world as a result of people’s sin (see Genesis 3:19). Because of this, death is always a great tragedy, though in some cases, it is welcomed as a release from suffering (as long as the person has the assurance that the life beyond death is in Paradise, and not a greater suffering.)

Simeon, however, was given a great gift. God the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not see death before he saw the Christ, the long-awaited savior of mankind. Yet what did Simeon see there at the temple in Jerusalem? Simeon saw a helpless newborn baby and a young family far from home who were struggling with cash flow problems. The baby Jesus looked and sounded and felt and smelled like any other baby His age. He couldn’t talk, He couldn’t walk, He couldn’t feed himself despite the fact that He was the almighty creator and ruler over all things visible and invisible.

It wasn’t the appearance of Jesus that made Simeon praise Him. Many other people saw Jesus with their eyes, and did not receive the great blessing that Simeon received. King Herod saw Jesus, but was unimpressed and felt disappointed. Judas saw Jesus nearly every day for about three years, and was a student of Christ’s teachings, yet, Judas did not believe and lost the salvation which was so close, yet so far away for him.

Many people view faith as a matter of feeling. We are sensual creatures and we often rely too much on what we take in with our five senses. It also wasn’t just how Simeon felt about this baby which made him identify Him as the Christ - he could have felt more strongly about someone else, and would have been wrong. Remember that Eve (Genesis 4) felt that her firstborn son was the promised Christ, but she was tragically wrong. What Simeon had, which blessed him so, was the Word of God!

Despite what Simeon saw, felt, heard, and smelled, he believed God’s word to him that this baby was the promised Christ who would redeem the world from sin. It didn’t matter to Simeon that this child had not accomplished any of this yet. All Simeon knew was that God had promised that it would happen and this baby, Jesus, would do what was necessary for our salvation. That was good enough for Simeon.

Simeon sings a prophetic song of praise to God, though he does briefly mention his experiences. He says, “my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Note that while he mentions what God had revealed to him, Simeon only praises God and not himself. Simeon rejoiced in his salvation, not because he was convinced by what he saw, but because he believed God’s promises to send a savior who would redeem the world from sin.

Simeon also notes that God did not do this in secret, but had “prepared [this] in the sight of all people.” This was the task that God had given the Israelites from the days of Abraham (who was actually, Israel’s Grandfather) until the fulfillment of the promise in Christ and then the spreading of the message of salvation to the Gentiles. Jesus is the “glory of Israel” because all believing Christians praise God for the Israelites who were faithful to Him and remained faithful up to Christ’s birth of the Virgin Mary. We also praise God for all those Christian Jews like St. Paul who also spread the Gospel message to the world during the first century Roman persecution (and subsequent persecutions).

Christ is a “light for revelation to the Gentiles” because before that time God’s promises of salvation were largely forgotten and unknown by the whole world except for the Israelites. Only Israel knew the true God and kept His Word in the Holy Scriptures, though as we read in the Bible even Israel forgot about God from time to time and needed some gentle (and sometimes not so gentle) reminding about who God is and what He has done for us.

I don’t know if Simeon died happy. I do know that he was at peace. He knew that God had kept His promise to send a savior to redeem the world from sin. In this respect we are no different from Simeon. Just as Simeon trusted in God’s Word more than just what his senses told him when he met the baby Jesus, so we, too, can trust in that same Word from God.