If you ever want to get your head round
all the different groups there are in Christianity, try the following
exercise. Look at any church stream and try to gauge which part of
the life of the Lord Jesus is the main inspiration of its followers.
It will either be His birth, His death, His resurrection or the
sending of His Holy Spirit. (There may be groups that focus on the
Ascension or on Jesus’ earthly life, of course. But these and any
others will probably be subsumed under one or other of the Big Four.)
Of course, spokespersons for each
church stream will be careful to insist that Jesus’ birth isn’t
everything (nor His crucifixion, nor whatever else it happens to be).
To hold that opinion would, they realise, be heresy and error. Heresy
actually means “picking and choosing” – highlighting the
doctrines you like and ignoring the rest. That will not do for any
church that places itself in the Christian mainstream. A church with
an “incarnational” mindset, in whose eyes Christmas is the time
of year when we really get into the heart of God, will be very
careful to give Good Friday, Easter and Pentecost due weight as well.
Typically this point of view would be held by Catholics and by many
in the Church of England.
Yet somehow those stressing the
incarnation always come back to the amazing truth that God was born
as a human being – that He became incarnate in our world. It is,
they affirm, an amazing condescension on the part of the everlasting
God that He should voluntarily limit Himself to the straight-jacket
of our time and space. Though His existence is from all eternity and
to all eternity, He let Himself be tied down to a precise period in
human history. An ancient statement of Christian belief states that
Jesus Christ “suffered under
Pontius Pilate”. Pilate
is a real historical figure. We have specific dates when he was in
charge of Judaea: 26-36
AD.
Whatever
part of Jesus’ career we lay stress on, we can all agree that His
incarnation is a comfort beyond measure. For many of us, time hangs
heavy. The frail elderly person in slow decline, battling pain and
loss of powers, may long for her release from this earth as day
follows uncomfortable day. The addict may wonder how many more days
and nights he will have to endure where he must stifle his craving.
The long-term prisoner dare not mark the passage of time overly
closely; it is too depressing to think about. Time is a pitiless
master.
Now
I agree that the Lord Jesus did not have to endure suffering in quite
the same ways or for quite the same extended periods as the people I
have mentioned above. As far as I know, He had no catastrophic
illness, no addiction and no lengthy imprisonment. He died in His
prime, like the casualties of war who grow “not old as we that
are left grow old;/age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn”.
Yet His sufferings were
on a divine scale. I cannot begin to imagine what an infinity of
suffering went into those three hours on the cross. He absorbed
suffering not just as man but as the God who could take charge of any
and every situation in the universe if He chose. To refrain from
retaliating, moment by moment, takes a humility and a self-restraint
that I cannot fathom.
The
letter of Hebrews puts the implications across in superb fashion:
“Since then we have a
great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son
of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high
priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who
in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us
then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may
receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews
4:14-16).
Perhaps
the late Poet Laureate John Betjeman captures the incarnational
spirit as well as any mortal can, in his Christmas poem:
…
And is it true,
This
most tremendous tale of all,
Seen
in a stained-glass window's hue,
A
Baby in an ox's stall?
The
Maker of the stars and sea
Become
a Child on earth for me?
And
is it true? For if it is,
No
loving fingers tying strings
Around
those tissued fripperies,
The
sweet and silly Christmas things,
Bath
salts and inexpensive scent
And
hideous tie so kindly meant,
No
love that in a family dwells,
No
carolling in frosty air,
Nor
all the steeple-shaking bells
Can
with this single Truth compare -
That
God was man in Palestine
And
lives today in Bread and Wine.
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