Blown Away by the Incarnation

On December 1, we received a wonderful Christmas gift—our first grandchild. I was blessed to visit the family for eight great days, including lots of time loving on her. Because of her birth’s proximity to Christmas, I often thought of the baby in the manger when I held her, and my mind was blown away by the truth of the incarnation.

How can God become a baby? How could he remain God and yet be totally dependent and helpless? How did Jesus grow in wisdom and knowledge like other children when he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end? How can the Creator be enclosed in a created body?

Brown Paper Gifts

I appreciate having beautifully decorated Christmas presents. However, I remember a year when my son wrapped his gifts to us in brown package paper, sealed them with duct tape, and wrote our names in marker on the outside. What was inside was great, but I didn’t want him to put the wrapped presents under the tree. (He so enjoyed upsetting traditions and his mom!)

Two thousand years ago God gave the gift of Jesus, but he too came wrapped in brown paper. The Jews expected him to come as their King dressed in royal robes, restoring the Jewish kingdom. Instead, they received a baby born in a shelter for animals, a poor itinerant preacher who died at the hands of the Roman oppressors. They missed the gift, not looking beyond its plain packaging.

 

Sometimes God’s best presents come wrapped in brown paper, but we often prefer those that look good—