Incarnation – The Imprint of God

Dr. Verghese Chandy

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem a little over 2,000 years ago. It is the season when Christians all over the world hold Christmas services, sing carols and share gifts with each other. The Advent season is a time of joy, cheer and goodwill among all peoples.

The birth of the Saviour is also heralded as the incarnation – God appearing in human form and tenting among mankind.

The prophet Isaiah predicted some 700 years before the birth of Christ that "a child shall be born to a virgin and she shall call him Immanuel (meaning 'God is with us')", (Isaiah 7:14).

The prophet also prophesied that a child is born and a son is given to us and his royal title shall be "Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9.6).

The apostle Paul, writing to Timothy, says the Christan life is a mystery, but some things are very clear "God was manifest in the flesh, seen of angels and preached to the world and then taken up to Heaven." (1 Timothy 3:16).

Maurice Lamouroux of France collected 500 paintings of the Nativity from different museums of the world. Not one of these paintings were able to express fully the sublime truth of what St. John presented in his Gospel namely, God's Word took human form. These paintings were nativity scenes mainly from the Gospel of St. Matthew and St. Luke.

People of ancient times were convinced that God can never meet with man. The day man saw God he would die. God was distant and unreachable. When the Ten Commandments were given to Moses they heard the "sound of the words but saw no form, there was only a voice" (Deuteronomy 4:12).

Celsius, a Philosopher, said, "God is away and beyond everything".

Apuleus noted that "man could catch a glimpse of God as a lightning flash on a dark night, that is all".

The Fourth Gospel of St. John was written mainly to the Greeks to explain the mystery of the incarnation. His approach was different since, to the Greeks, the emphasis on the Messiah was irrelevant.

He had to present Christ to them as the fulfiller of man's dreams and aspirations.

St. John begins his Gospel by saying, "In the beginning was the Word [Christ] and the Word was with God and the Word was God. All things were made and came into existence through Him, and without Him, not even one thing made" (John 1:1-2).

St. John had to connect Jesus with creation since the Ancients had different views on how the world came into being. Some of them believed that God is a pure spirit and matter is evil. Therefore God and matter cannot co-exist. So, God sent emanations that created the world, but later abandoned it to float aimlessly.

In B.C. 560, Heraclites, a Philosopher from Ephesus said "in all life and events there is a purpose and pattern. There is a dynamic force that animates all things and that is the Logos - the Spoken Word of God. The Logos is the reason or the mind of God.

The theme of the Logos was taken up by St. John saying "the Logos which you have been thinking and dreaming about is Christ - the Eternal Word and that Word has now appeared in human form".

In chapter one and verse fourteen we have one of the most sublime truths of the Scripture. "The word Christ [Logos] became flesh, human, incarnate and fixed his tent of flesh among us and we saw His glory and majesty". (Amplified Bible).

The Word became a person and that person is Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus is the imprint of God, the icon, the mirror that reveals the Father-God to mankind. The Apostle was a very intimate friend and disciple of Jesus. He says, "We saw Him, we touched Him, we heard Him speak words of loving kindness to people". He forgave sinners, healed the sick, opened the blind eyes, cleansed the lepers and raised the dead. We heard Him say "come unto me all you that labour and are heavy laden, I will give you rest".

"We saw Him walk on the water, still the roaring tempest, cast out devils and taught us to love our enemies".

"We, His disciples, saw him hanging on the cross, knew that he died and was entombed by the Romans. We saw Him as He appeared to us after his passion and resurrection. Finally, we saw Him return to heaven in a cloud at Bethany".

The message of Christmas is that God's Word took human form and entered history in the person of Jesus Christ. He mended, healed and redeemed that which was broken, sick and lost. He came the first time as a babe in a manger, the second time He will come to establish his Kingdom of Peace and Righteousness.

A joyful Christmas and peaceful New Year!