Mystery of the Incarnation

Posted on April 5, 2024 by Father Joe

An important verse for the ancient school of Alexandria was John 1:14: “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” This is what authorities call a high Christology because the emphasis is upon Jesus as God and only secondarily upon him as man. Who is Jesus? He is God come down from heaven to save us.

Given the revelation of the Trinity, Jesus is understood as the Second Person of the one triune God. Conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the eternal God joins himself to his creation and begins to exist in time. The Son of God becomes one of us, entering our world through the immaculate vessel that he had fashioned and safeguarded for himself. It all begins not with the nativity scene but with the annunciation:

Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” (Luke1:30-31, 34-35)

God would come himself to make things right, making possible— the forgiveness of sins, hope against despair, healing to the broken, liberation from spiritual bondage, and the victory of love over death.

The incarnation is a deep mystery that we cannot fully penetrate. Who is Jesus? He is almighty God and the second Person of the Trinity. He is the eternal Word. What is Jesus? He is God and man— two natures that are substantially joined in the one person of Jesus Christ. Both natures are whole and complete. His human nature is body and soul. His soul possesses both a human intellect and will.

This is no spiritual adoption of an ordinary man as through an accidental union of the godhead. He is no Gnostic phantom or a God pretending to be a mortal man. Jesus Christ is a unique individual whose soul and flesh is substantially joined in the divine Person of the Lord. Yes, this is a fantastic claim. Note how Caiaphas responds to our Lord’s admission of his identity:

But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I order you to tell us under oath before the living God whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “You have said so. But I tell you: From now on you will see ‘the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power’ and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.’” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need have we of witnesses? You have now heard the blasphemy; what is your opinion?” They said in reply, “He deserves to die!” (Matthew 25:63-66)

Jesus is not simply a prophet. If he is not God and the promised Messiah, then his claim was indeed blasphemy. But our Lord affirms his identity by his works— the sick are healed, the possessed are exorcised, and the dead are raised. He forgives sins which is a prerogative reserved to God. (Priests can do so because Jesus has extended something of his authority to mortal men.)

There was no division in Christ but rather a perfect harmony between his two natures. His divine and human wills were in perfect sync. Room was made for his human knowing while not impoverishing or forfeiting his divine mind. As God, Christ knew all things; as human, he had genuine experiential knowledge and beheld the beatific vision.