6th Sunday of Easter, 2023, Mind--blowing Thoughts about the Incarnation

Incarnation – it is the major theme of the gospel of John. In Jesus, God robed the divine self in human flesh. The Word – who was with God in the beginning, who was a face-to-face equal with God, who was God (John 1:1) – became flesh and dwelt among us.

As God embodied in human flesh, in Jesus we catch a glimpse of who God is and what God is like (John 1:14, 18; 14:8-11) – a second major theme of the gospel of John. We learn of God’s grace and faithfulness (John 1:14). More, we experience that grace in our own lives – “From his (Jesus’s) fullness we have all received, grace upon grace,” John 1:16. We live in relationship with God as beloved children (John 1:12-13; 14:2-4 – see again last week’s blog, “A Place for You”).  

After his death and resurrection, Jesus ascended back to the Father. His incarnation did not end with his ascension. He did not set his humanness aside. He did not return to his pre-incarnation status described in John 1:1. Rather, he returned to the Father robed in his humanity. He returned to the Father as he had lived on earth, as God-in-the flesh. The apostle Paul pointed to this mind-blowing truth in the ancient hymn he quoted in Philippians 2:5-11.

            Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

            who, though he as in the form of God,

            did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited (for his own selfish gain),

            but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,

            being born in human likeness.

            And being found in human form,

            he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death –

            even death on a cross.

            Therefore God also highly exalted him

            and gave to him the name that is above every name,

            so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bend,

            in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

            and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

            to the glory of God the Father.

God’s self-emptying in the incarnation was not for the brief span of Jesus’s thirty-three years. It was for eternity.

The writer of Hebrews built his letter upon this great truth (Hebrews 1:9-18). The letter presents Jesus as the great High Priest interceding for us (Hebrews 4:14 – 5:10; 10:19-25). We have boldness and confidence in coming to God because Jesus understands our struggle, offering grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16).

The gospel of John presents another mind-blowing thought about the incarnation. The incarnation did not end with Jesus. Through the Spirit who dwells in us and among us (John 14:17), the incarnation continues. We – the followers of Jesus, in whom the Spirit dwells – are the continuing incarnation of God in the flesh. We – the gathered followers of Jesus, the church – are the new temple, the dwelling place of God on earth (Ephesians 2:11-22).

The Spirit is the continuing presence of Jesus in the world, doing what Jesus did in his ministry on earth. The Spirit is God-with-us (John 14:17-18). The Spirit reveals the Father to us, teaching us the things of God and the ways of God that Jesus taught (John 14:25-26). The Spirit leads us into and empowers us to live out of the peace of Christ (John 14:27). The Spirit empowers us to love as Jesus loved, i.e., keeping his commandments (John 14:15, 21-24). The Spirit empowers us to do the works that Jesus did as well as even greater works (John 14:12) as the Father responds to our requests in Jesus’s name (John 14:13-14).

Through the presence and work of the Spirit in our lives – individually and as a spiritual community – the incarnation continues. We are the continuing incarnation of God in the world.

I wonder, what "greater works than these" (John 14:12) will God accomplish through this on-going incarnation.