“The Word became flesh . . . ” These words from the Gospel of John seem outrageous and even scandalous to me. How could the perfectly Holy and powerful God come down to ordinary and imperfect people – and to ordinary imperfect me? And even more shocking, He didn’t simply come down to us as he had done in the past, in the Old Testament stories, as an unattainable Spirit being. He removed His cloak of brilliance and put on skin that looked like our skin – flesh that looked like our flesh. He made Himself look like us, so we might approach Him. But He came down even lower – not only in human form – but as the tiny baby Jesus. An infant so small that we can hold Him and behold Him. We don’t have to be afraid of Him, because He looks like one of us.
When my babies were first born, I spent much time simply gazing at them. I pray that I will do the same with the Christ Child – that I will take time each day to simply behold Him – and ponder the mysterious workings of a God who loved each one of us with such intensity, that He lowered Himself to become one of us. This is the gift of Christmas; the Christ Child is God’s gift to us. You don’t have to fully understand the mystery – simply take Him in your arms and receive Him – and by doing so, you will receive His gift of eternal life.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17
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