Advent Devotional - Christmas Eve
The Incarnation of God
"Don’t try to explain the Incarnation to me! It is further from being explainable than the furthest star in the furthest galaxy. It is love, God’s limitless love enfleshing that love into the form of a human being, Jesus, the Christ, fully human and fully divine" (Madeleine L'Engle, Bright Evening Star, 1997).
In 2024 the Northern Lights made two appearances as far south as Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. The lights, ranging in colors from green to shades of red and purple, happen when the sun sends out charged (radioactive) ions toward the earth. When those particles hit the earth's magnetic atmosphere and its gasses, the auroras light up the skies near the poles. The sun is in an active phase and the severe storms from the sun allow people to see the Lights from much farther away from the poles.
However, many people in Georgia were disappointed in the light shows this year. Even with severe storms, the lights in the South were still too dim to see with the naked eye. Only through a camera lens set to a high ISO, a small aperture, and a long exposure (or through night mode on a smartphone camera) were the lights visible, and even then, the images required some editing to bring out the colors. The lens made the difference between seeing and missing the Northern Lights in Georgia.
The Incarnation of Jesus also required a different kind of lens. We all know the story of the star, the shepherds, the wise men, and the baby because we have the history in our Bibles and the storytellers in poems, songs, and movies. But the baby born in a place where animals slept was not an earthly story yet. He hadn't saved the world yet. No one, except Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, and Zechariah knew that the baby was more than he appeared to be. At the moment of his birth, Jesus was a baby like every other baby in the world.
The shepherds heard the angels, and they came to see the baby through the lens of an oppressed group of people, wondering at the great goodness of God. Elizabeth and Zechariah recognized the infant through the lens of prophecy, seeing at last the steadfast love of God come to redeem their people. The star, set in place on the fourth day of creation, gave the Magi direction to the child, where they worshiped God through the lens of his eternal nature for both the Jews and the Gentiles. And Simeon and Anna viewed the baby through the lens of God's faithfulness, knowing that their lives were filled to completion at God's promise kept.
Seeing the paradox of God-in-flesh required special lenses. Most people missed him while he walked the earth. Others saw his glory through the lenses given to them by the Father. We have the lens of Scripture to show us the Messiah who came to demonstrate God's goodness, steadfast love, eternal character, and faithfulness for all time.