A Son is Born

I think, amidst the repetitions and hoopla, we might often miss the import of such a statement: "A Son is born." Here's what the angel told the shepherds:

And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger." (Luke 2:10-12)

The event? "There has been born for you a Savior." Who? "A baby wrapped in cloths." Right.

No, think about it. We don't often think of Paul as one telling the story of the Incarnation, but this particular text really brings it home:

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil 2:5-8).

"Christ Jesus ... existed in the form of God." And yet, He "emptied Himself". He took on flesh.

We're so used to the Nativity scenes that we probably find this hard to grasp. We miss it. God the Son became flesh. He "humbled Himself". And this is no trivial matter, no mere trick. I mean, changing water to wine was cool and all, but this was huge. The author of Hebrews says, "Consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession" (Heb 3:1). Let's do that. On the subject of the Incarnation he writes, "Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession" (Heb 4:14). You see, there were human high priests. Fine. But this one was absolutely unique. God and Man. Further, "we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin" (Heb 4:15). A God-only Savior would be great, but this one "has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." Much, much better. More. "Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered" (Heb 5:8). God, the Son, God Incarnate, suffered ... for us.

Oh, we do so like the Christmas story. And we should. But sometimes I think it's too big to grasp. God became Man. He took on the form of a bond-servant. The One who put the stars in the sky, who sustains all things, who made you and me, became a baby wrapped in cloths. In so doing, He became the quintessential High Priest. One of us and yet so much better. Tempted as we are yet without sin. Suffered and obeyed. One of us. He knows what your pain is like. He knows how to comfort from experience. He knows the evils you endure both inside and out. Having put on that appearance of a man, He is completely without equal as both God and Man, the absolutely most perfect, best Christmas gift of all time, without exaggeration. Much bigger than a warm Nativity scene can express unless you're really paying attention.