When God Became
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14, ESV)
John’s description of the Christmas event could not be simpler or more profound. Christmas was the time when God became something new. Without ceasing to be what He had always been, God became something He had never been before. This is true on a number of levels.
He Became Flesh
He took on our humanity, our flesh-and-bloodness as His nature. You understand that He didn’t just put on flesh as one puts on a glove or a coat. He became flesh. He didn't just appear human. He is human, yet without sin, and He always will be. From here on out, He will be forever one of us.
His body, therefore, is real, with a real location in time and space. In one sense, way back then, His personality lay contained within a ball of cells tumbling towards the womb of a Jewish, teenage maiden. While His divine Nature continued to fill all things, in His human nature, God the Son is here and not somewhere else. That’s astounding. Quite restrictive for One whose presence permeates the cosmos and beyond: The heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, yet her womb did.
Along with a human body, He has a human mind - a limited human mind. As a result, there were some things (like the day and the hour of his Second Coming) that he would never know during His earthly life. What’s more, He had to learn to talk, to walk, to toilet himself, to read, and most jarringly, He had to learn how to suffer, how to face rejection, how to feel pain, and in the end, how to die.
He had the full range of human affections and emotions. He felt things the way you and I ought to, but so seldom do. Our emotions are often out of step with reality, and out of step with righteousness. Like Goldilocks’ porridge, our feelings are usually too hot or too cold, but almost never just right.
He also had a human will. He chose twelve men to be His disciples. When He was reviled, He chose not to upbraid in return. When He suffered, He chose not to threaten. In Gethsemane, despite the overwhelming trepidation of what it would mean, He chose the cup and then drank it to the dregs because He loved us.
He Became a Neighbor
We couldn’t come to Him, but He came to us and dwelt amongst us. He pitched His tent on our level. “He moved into the neighborhood,” one commentator says. He came to a place where we could get our hands on Him, knowing full well, when we found out who He really was, that not all these touches and interchanges would be kind. He came within the reach of human fists and spittle, where sharp, unforgiving weapons could vent mankind’s malice.
The Christmas story, then, tells the tale of God’s willingness to become touchable, vulnerable, and most shockingly of all, accountable. The genealogy at the beginning of Matthew’s gospel pulls no punches here. Jesus moved into a family of deplorables. There was Abraham the coward who risked his wife’s purity for his own safety. There was Jacob the twister, and Judah the incestuous father-in-law. Let’s not forget Rahab the whore of Jericho, David the adulterous murderer, and Manasseh the child-sacrificing idolater. This family became His family. He took their name, and before all was said and done, He also took their guilt. His death, therefore, beyond the pale on a rubbish heap surrounded by terrorists was no accident. He died as He lived, a neighbor of sinners.
He Became Visible
“We beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Hidden beneath His humanity, yet shining through that humanity was the glory of God. “He that hath seen me has seen the Father,” Jesus said.
What is God like? He is just like Jesus. There is no un-Christlikeness in God at all. I sometimes refer to the Ten Commandments as, “The way God would live if He became a man.” Well, in Christ, we go one step further; we see God live as a man.
See Him playing at Joseph’s feet in the carpenter’s shop - This is God as a little child. See Him as a spotty teenager, feeling the first surges of testosterone coursing through His veins, astounding the teachers in the temple - Here is God as a teenager. See Him all grown up, out among the crowds of unvarnished humanity, touching the leper, healing the blind, encouraging the faint of heart, binding up the broken soul, rebuking the proud, driving out the greedy, welcoming the penitent. Behold your God, enfleshed!
Christmas, then, tells the story of how God came down for you, to be damned for you, to deliver you. Will you have Him? Do you have room in your Christmas for Jesus, not just the china Jesus in your nativity sets, but the real Jesus? Tis no wonder that most don’t. Most people never had room for Jesus, which is why He was born out back in a smelly and cold stable. There was no room for Him at the inn. Do you have room in your heart for Jesus? No matter your answer, you can be sure of this: He has room in His heart for you!
Happy New Year!