incarnation: the god-dimension of mission
John 1:1-18
forms the central defining Scriptural text narrating to us of the marvelous coming of God into human history. But this text is far from the only one to probe this mystery. All Christians acknowledge that In Jesus Christ God was fully present and that He moved into our neighborhood in an act of humble love the likes of which the world has never known. “When we talk of the Incarnation with a capital “I” we refer to that act of sublime love and humility whereby God takes it upon himself to enter into the depths of our world, our life, our reality in order that the redemption and consequent union between God and humanity may be brought about. This ‘enfleshing’ of God is so radical and total that it qualifies all subsequent acts of God in his world.”
When God came into our world in and through Jesus, the Eternal moved into the neighborhood and took up residence among us (John 1:14). And the central thrust of the Incarnation as far as we can penetrate its mystery, was that by becoming one of us, God was able to achieve redemption for the human race. But the Incarnation, and Christ’s work flowing out of it, achieved more than our salvation, it was an act of profound affinity, a radical identification with all that it means to be human–an act which unleashes all kinds of potential in the one being identified with. But beyond identification, it is revelation: By taking upon himself all aspects of humanity, Jesus is for us, quite literally the human Image of God. If we wish to know what God is like, we need look no further than Jesus. We can understand him because He is one of us. He knows us, and can show us the way.
Following from this we can identify at least four dimensions that frame our understanding of the Incarnation of God in Jesus the Messiah. They are…
- Presence: That in Jesus the eternal God is fully present to us. Jesus was no mere representative or prophet sent from God, he was God in the flesh (Jn.1:1-15, Col.2 2:9)
- Proximity: That God in Christ has approached us not only in a way we can understand, but in a way which we can access. He not only called people to repentance and proclaimed the direct presence of God (Mk.1:15) but he befriended outcast people and lived life in close proximity with the broken and ‘the lost’ (Lk.19:10.)
- Powerlessness: In becoming ‘one of us’ God takes the form of a servant and not that of someone who rules over us (Phil.2:6ff. Lk.22:25-27.) He does not stun us with sound and laser shows, but lives as a humble carpenter in backwater Galilee for 30 years before activating his Messianic destiny. In acting thus he shuns all normal notions of coercive power and demonstrates for us how love and humility (powerlessness) reflect the true nature of God and are the key means to transform human society.
- Proclamation: Not only did the presence of God directly dignify all that is human, but he heralded the reign of God and called people to respond in repentance and faith. In this he initiates the Gospel invitation which is active to this very day.
Perhaps we can illustrate these in the following way…
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Nice post Alan. Your statement in point three really left me thinking.
“He does not stun us with sound and laser shows, but lives as a humble carpenter in backwater Galilee for 30 years before activating his Messianic destiny.”
I know most of the examples we have of Jesus are those of his Messianic rule on earth, but there is a great deal of relevant information for Christians in his pre-Messianic rule. They are simple things like: get a job, work hard, know people, make sure they know you and become a part of your community. This is super-simple but it seems accurate in that Jesus seemed to have some kind of relationship with people back home. (It actually made it fairly difficult for him to be the Messiah there.) I just wonder if there is something to understanding Jesus as a man that is more relevant to us today as to understanding him as the Messiah.
John 1
has always been a catalyzer for thought for me in the consideration of “Word” becoming “flesh”. The very essence to this I can’t help feeling indicates the gospel’s message being communicated through more then just word but action, embodiment, and the existence of the unspoken core belief which shapes and molds our lives.
Your post Alan brings an interesting question to mind though. As Josh identifies with your statement, “He does not stun us with sound and laser shows, but lives as a humble carpenter in backwater Galilee for 30 years before activating his Messianic destiny”; I too am perplexed by it within a different framework. Why wait 30 years? Why is this the set “measurement” to which we can identify being the level of love and humility (powerlessness) which he has for us? Why not 40 years, 60 years, or why not sooner as say when he was in the temple as a boy? Would not any of these other time frames be adequate for us to accept as being an example for the incarnation of powerlessness?
In a connected sense I wondered if we could see this in some way of identifying with the level of love and humility we develop within our own communities and contexts. Particularly when considering the approach or “timing” for proclamation. Perhaps these are questions of irrelevance as God’s timing is within his own context and not our own. Still… I couldn’t help but wonder!
People speak about the suffering of the cross, but Jesus gave up for 30 years to reach us and be us is mind blowing. What people forgot is that Jesus is still man and be that way forever.
I’ve been doing a lot of reflection on the incarnation since Christmas and I am thinking it is very important to remember that Jesus as incarnation is a post-resurrection realization. That is, while the incarnation is “ontologically” prior to the resurrection, the resurrection is “epistemologically” prior to the incarnation.
I have found this becomes very important when doing mission amongst people whom are more open to Jesus’ humanity than his divinity, for amongst them it is sometimes more helpful to work from an ascending Christology than a descending Christology when explaining who Jesus was and what he did.
Why I have found it important is, centering your theology around the incarnation, as us incarnational types are inclined to do, need not obligate us to begin gospel presentations with the incarnation. On the contrary, the incarnation, may be introduced as a CLIMAX of reflection on the resurrection, after beginning with the humanity of Jesus.
Sorry for all the jargon, but I’m in a rush. Hopefully most of you can interpret?
Er… I don’t see him as spending thirty years doing nothing extraordinary - he spent thirty years living a life of Torah and mitzvot, as a Jewish man from the sort of background (Mary being unmarried) which would be remembered in a small and relatively close-knit community like the parting of the red sea… But what always strikes me is that from that situation he came to be able to speak in synagogue and be addressed, formally or informally doesn’t really matter, as ‘Rabbi’, and from there he lived the three years of his ministry encapsulating the essence of Torah that could both call the Jewish community back to the heart of what they are meant to be, and be inherited by the gentile church. So that apparently empty period is hugely significant. One doesn’t (and surely didn’t) become a teacher in the Jewish community from a background of just making furniture? If that makes sense…
I’ve been reading “The Great Omission”, by Willard, which fits in nicely with the comments of Eleanor, and Erik. Willard uses a principle from Plato & Aristole. Though Willard agrees their use of the human soul is a cosmic one, their point being, is the ordering of the human soul. The ordering of the human soul for Plato is providing a proper education for those who would lead society in various capacities, especially in the area of legislation. On this view, the legislator must carefully study the human soul, because he legislates entirely with a view to producing good human souls. If society is rightly organized by legislation, his presumption was, all will go well both in the individual and in society. If the inner source and ordering principle is functioning rightly, the life that flows from it can only be as it should be.
When looking at Jesus as not only the legislator but also the teacher, Jesus would have certainly put into practice and lived the spiritual disciplines the 30years before beginning His ministry. The 2 biggest disciplines that hit me were solitude and silence. A primary means for correcting our distortions of our embodied social existance.
In our world and our institional religions this is not taught. It made me wonder within my own self why at moments of deep spiritual prayer, do I get up and walk away. There is this fear of,at least for me, my own humanity. A vulnerablity that I seem to naturally run from and replace with something to do. Yet, Jesus in his own humanity practices this quite often. I also noticed in looking at my own dna that the gift of sheperding is strong in myself and in my church. It dominates the other qualilties, and not only blocks any movement, but tears down what Christ is doing. Discipleship can not occur, now I am beginning to realize part of my fear is the guilt we are fed that keeps the cycle going. The biggest sin is not doing!
Whether intentional or because spiritual disciplines are not taught, we choose not to practice them. To go deeper, is infact, to see how small you really are, but I’m coming to believe that it is where the teacher is at, and the master of our souls. A practice of solitude, by fasting from this mindset, which I have already begun to see results in. Almost to simple.
“…In our world and our institional religions this is not taught…” I wouldn’t go nearly so far.
I’d say that in protestant Christianity it is “rarely” taught, but that even there you can find it if you look hard enough. As a boy I was taken on retreats by Catholic brothers who by and large had a positive attitude towards solitude and silence. And if you look beyond the Christian tradition to consider Buddhism and Hinduism, well, solitude and silence are respected there too. So I think this is a perception more than a reality, and one of the reasons why Protestantism, particularly non-Pentecostal forms, are being eclipsed in the west.
I have long said that Protestants generally just don’t know how to do silence well, particularly in their church services. I think this partially stems from their traditional emphasis on The Word, or rather, the word about The Word. Personally I prefer to put more emphasis on The Word made flesh, with the corresponding understanding that enfleshment need not always be a noisy affair.
Recently I was sounded out if I would be willing to help organize a tenebre service this Easter. One of the other two guys involved is also a former Catholic. We laughed, these guys aren’t going to know what hit them if we do it! We have much different benchmarks on silence. But I think this is a good thing for Protestants to grapple with, how can The Word be present in silence and solitude?
So I think this is a perception more than a reality,
I stand corrected. My life has been so consumed, the reality and world I have lived in is terribly small. We are attracted by like minded people, guess thats why I am where I am!
This has been a great discussion guys. Thanks.
I apologize guys for being slow to respond. In truth I have had some long days and short nights and it has been catching up with me.
You are right Eleanor in that Jesus’ 30 years before “ministry” were of great significance. I did not mean to imply any differently. The fact that he was willing to embrace humanity fully enriches the characteristics of his love. I also have no doubt to the richness of his Jewish upbringing, culture, and faith and the power or powerlessness of his unspoken faith and personal essence.
In that same breath I do truly identify with this same sense of withdrawal to the place of solitude and silence as Penny articulates in the practices of Jesus. Several months ago in a deeper sense I remember reading an article Patrick wrote on the essence of ‘Kenosis’ which similarly connects with the power of Jesus emptying himself out (powerlessness) as described in Phil. 2:1-11
.
In the human sense however, there seems to be a danger in taking this practice to far. Just the other evening my wife and I watched the movie ‘Into the Wild’ illustrating the true story of Christopher McCandless (a.k.a. - “Alexander Supertramp”) who after withdrawing from his social existence entirely not only lost societal “errors” but himself as well!
At some point in Jesus’ life after thirty some years of powerless unspoken faith; Jesus felt the call for change in social position. No longer was he the “son of a carpenter” (adopted as it may be) but the “Son of Man” and the “Son of God”. There was a shift from powerlessness to proclamation and like all places of Communitas there is a space for liminality in between. This is where my questioning comes in. Is there something we might recognize in Jesus’ life which illuminates the “clues” to when the shift of powerlessness and proclamation were to shift? In the contemporary contexts and practices of existing with and in social frameworks of neighbor, brother/sister, coworker, ect… that we might see these same “clues” to the shift of powerlessness and unspoken faith and the harvesting of proclaiming Jesus as Lord?
Just some thoughts and I hope they were not overboard and out of line! In truthful confession and honesty these thoughts stem from my own fear of following in similar footprints to that of Christopher McCandless within my own framework. Crazy as that may be, I wonder about a “better way”!