Every year we pause and reflect on the miracle of the incarnation at Christmas time. It is one of the most important elements of the Christian faith, and is foundational to understanding the gospel and salvation. Entire books have been written seeking to explain the numerous details or implications of the incarnation. My goal is not to explain it fully here. But I do want to highlight one very important point about God’s entrance into the world, and that is how he came- as a child.
In my previous post, we read the prophecy concerning the virgin giving birth to a son in Isaiah 7. Just a few chapters later in Isaiah, we are given more information about The Son that will be born. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be on his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness, from this time forth and forevermore” (Isa 9:6-7).
“For to us a child is born.” The Son of God who upholds the universe by the word of his power (Heb 1:3) could have entered the world in any way he wanted. He could have come as a thirty year old man ready to begin ministry. Just as God created Adam as an adult, he could’ve allowed his Son to become man by simply fashioning a body out of dust for him.
As God took Elijah up into heaven, he could have sent his Son in human form down from heaven. Jesus could have come in a grandiose way where he would be seen and known instantly. Or he could have mysteriously come as Melchizedek does in Genesis 14. But he didn’t. He came as a child. As an infant. As a fetus. As an embryo.
Jesus of Nazareth was born to a poor family traveling to Bethlehem. The offspring that was promised to Eve, Abraham, David, and Israel was finally here. And as all offspring comes, he came as an infant, fully dependent on his mother’s sustenance and care. The nature of his coming is important. If he didn’t come this way, all of the offspring promises could not have been fulfilled in him, because he would not have been anyone’s offspring!
Christians often say that Jesus was fully God and fully man. But there was a time in his life when he was fully God and fully child. Luke tells us that he “grew and became strong” and “increased in wisdom and stature” (Luke 2:40, 52). He grew up as other children did, in their homes and in their communities, learning, playing, eating, and celebrating. He spent time with siblings, cousins, and other neighborhood kids. He did kid things. But there were signs that he was different.
Continue reading “Kids & Kingdom- Children in the Gospels: The Christ Child”
JARRETT FLETCHER 