Day Eleven: Incarnation

Giovanni Bellini, Madonna and Child - 1480-1490 , Oil on panel, 83 x 66 cm
Accademia Carrara, Bergamo

God became a man. He took on flesh and blood. And when he did he also took on mortality. Flesh and blood eventually dies. Part of the deal of being human is being mortal. And God was willing to accept that.

He was willing to accept it in order to show that his creation is good; that mankind is not so corrupted and evil that it is beyond redemption. By becoming man God confirmed the worth of his creatures. In the beginning God affirmed his creation and mankind by declaring, “It is good!” But then mankind sinned and the relationship was broken. By coming and taking human flesh God shows that his creation is still good.

God was willing to take on flesh and bone to identify with his creatures and develop a deep bond with them. He now knows what it is like to be human, to be limited, to live in fear of death. He understands what its like to be a human because he lived as one. He experienced all the pain, temptation, confusion, and anguish that life on earth brings. And because he has gone through all those things, we can approach him with confidence. He knows what I’m going through.

God was willing to take on mortality and face death because in doing so he broke the reign of death. It’s like throwing a rock into the innards of finely tuned machinery. The rock get’s stuck and breaks the teeth on the gears so that the machine won’t run any longer. The scriptures tell us that when the immortal—who should not experience death—was subjected to death on the cross, the power of death was broken. We no longer need to fear it because it no longer can hold us. We will all experience death, but because of Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection, our death will only be the doorway to eternal life.

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
—1 Corinthians 15:54b-55

What is this jewel that is so precious? I can see it has been quarried not my men, but by God.
It is you, dear Jesus. You have been dug from the rocks of heaven itself to be offered to me as a gift beyond price.
You shine in the darkness. Every colour of the rainbow can be seen within you. The whole earth is bathed in your light.
Infant Jesus, by being born as man you have taken upon yourself the pain of death. But such a jewel can never be destroyed.

You are immortal. And by defying your own death, you shall deliver me from death.

—Adam of St. Victor,

a canon who lived in twelfth century Paris *

John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Hebrews 2:14-15,17
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

Philippians 2:5-8
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Optional Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:5-11

Daily Meditations

Joseph misunderstands

Presented at the Temple

The Wise Men

Possibility of Miraculous