And the Word Was Made Flesh

As we celebrate the birth of Our Lord, I can’t help but ponder the Nativity and the people gathered there on that night of miraculous celebration.

All of the details that have been repeated every year have grown more wondrous, more precious. God became a man, a human being, in order to save all people.

God became a man, a human being, in order to save all people.

The hymn “O Holy Night” laments in one verse, “Long lay the world in sin and error pining.” The world and the people of the world had been waiting and watching, groaning beneath the weight of sin and their separation from the God who created them.

They had been hoping for the promised Savior. And then, He grew in the womb of a virgin, entering into the world in a humble stable, laid in a trough, perhaps soothed to sleep by sounds of barnyard animals and a new mother’s lullaby. The heavenly host appeared to announce His birth and shepherds sought Him out to worship their Deliverer.

Immanuel. God with us.

Is it even possible to comprehend the Christmas story? John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” And the Word became flesh … the same Word, meaning Jesus Christ, that John 1:1 says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Jesus was more than just a man, a teacher, a prophet. Jesus is God. He has always been, according to Genesis 1:1, He created the heavens and the earth. And He became flesh.

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The soft, delicate newborn flesh of Christ was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. He was held and comforted. That flesh presumably became calloused as He trained with Joseph in the family business of carpentry. That same flesh touched the eyes of a blind man and gave him sight, defied the natural laws by walking on water, and called Lazarus back from the dead.

That flesh was beaten and bruised, whipped and torn, and ultimately nailed to a cross. His heart stopped beating as He gave up His spirit and paid the price for my sin, and the sin of the world. His body was taken down and laid in a tomb, wrapped once again in cloth covering His flesh, just as it was on the night of His birth. Surely the earth moaned as it accepted the flesh of its Creator.

And then as miraculously as God conceived the flesh of Christ in Mary, He revitalized the same flesh in the grave. The scars were left as proof of His validity as the resurrected Savior, but His flesh was restored to life.

Symbolically, but in the same way, our flesh is restored to life. Until reconciliation through Christ, we lay dead in our sin, broken apart from God. And then, we are raised to new life, forgiven, and restored. We may carry the scars of our past, the wounds of our mistakes or the mistakes of others, but we are alive in Jesus.

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I love the traditional Nativity scene, thinking about the wonder of a newborn baby. I picture the angels praising God, celebrating the fulfillment of His promise and sending the shepherds to worship the Good Shepherd.

But just as Jesus is more than just a man, the peace of Christmas is more than the sweet picture of a starlit night over a new family. Instead, the peace of Christmas is the gift of God through the flesh of His one and only begotten Son. No longer do we have to owe a debt that can’t be paid because Jesus paid it all. He is the atonement that is required for eternal peace with God.

Celebrate the familiar scene of Bethlehem this year. Cherish its serenity and meditate on those who were present more than 2,000 years ago. But don’t treat it as nothing more than a traditional Christmas story, a fable to enrich what has become a materialistic holiday. Instead, consider the significance of the coming of Jesus in the body of a man. Remember that He came into the world to save the world. And rest assured that this Christmas, He has the power to save any of us who accept Him as Lord and Savior.

Katie Nations has been married for 15 years and is a working mother of three young children. She lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.