The Music of Christmas, Day 25

 Crescendo of Man

Read Luke 2:39-52
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

 

 

Our children were born at the dawn of the digital and social media age. From the time they were young, we took pictures of them with electronic devices, stored them on “the cloud,” and shared them with family on social networks. While there is plenty to criticize about modern technology, one thing we’ve enjoyed is the daily memories pop-up on our social feeds. Every photo taken on that date from previous years is replayed. This virtual memory loop reminds us of how quickly our kids have grown, how fast time passes, and just how old we’ve grown.

 

While much has changed since the birth of Jesus, the basic development of a child has not. The rate of a child’s physical and cognitive development is astounding. Kids take in millions of pieces of new data and are continuously learning and processing information. Luke points out how Jesus was no different from any other child in that way. He was born, grew, and developed as does every human. This may seem too obvious to mention, but the transformation of the unchanging, one true God is worth mentioning. He did not remain in the manger forever and neither did He stay in the grave.

 

Of the four Gospels, the account written by Luke is the only one to mention the physical growth and development of the Christ child. This isn’t surprising since Luke was a physician by trade. I’m guessing he was intrigued by Jesus’ physical existence. The details of His immaculate conception, the reality of His physical and cognitive development, and later, the nature of His resurrected body, are all part of the narrative the good doctor weaves together.

 

And obvious as it may seem, the simple reality—that Jesus grew and developed or that He was both fully man and fully God—has confounded theologians for centuries. For Jesus to be fully man, He had to grow, develop, mature, and learn like any child. For Jesus to be fully God means He is infinite, self-existing, without origin, immutable, unchanging, and self-sufficient. If you have raised a newborn, you likely know his or her origins and parentage. You understand that the child will grow and change, and may have prayed that certain stages of life would pass more quickly than others. Certainly, you did not expect your child to be self-sustained from birth. Let’s be honest, you may wonder if your kids will ever move out and become completely self-sufficient. How could Jesus be both, a fully-human-fully-God paradox? To deny that He grew and learned is to deny His humanity. To accept that He experienced the natural development of a child seems to question His divinity. 

 

It is a paradox to be accepted more than a riddle to be solved. One of the important realities of the Incarnation (God taking on flesh) is how it proves God’s sacrificial love for us. He was willing to limit Himself to all the frailties and weaknesses of a human body to live among us and to walk beside us. Our limitless God accepted many limitations to free us from the one insurmountable limitation of the human condition: sin. 

 

The humanity of Christ is an example, too. The Bible teaches that no temptation we face defeated our Lord. He overcame them all. When God created the first man and woman, they were perfect in design and flawlessly made. And only humans are made in His image. Humanity is the pinnacle of God’s creation. Remember, God looked over Adam and Eve and said, “It is very good.” (see Genesis 1:26-31) But sin left scars and distorted God’s perfect creation. We have never been as fully human as we were before the fall of man. The world has never seen humanity as it was intended. Not until Jesus came and modeled it for us. The growth and development of the human body and mind are not evidence of our weakness but proof of God’s design. Jesus did not come to make himself like us. He came to make us like Him.

 

This brings us to the whole point of Christmas. Jesus is the crescendo of humanity. What was diminished by sin, Jesus has restored through His birth, life, death, and resurrection. When we surrender our lives to Him – when He is born in us – we become more human than we have ever been. The divine image is restored as Jesus lives in and through us. Christmas was the beginning of a revolution. Not a digital revolution but a revolutionary transformation of humanity. What began as one small cry in a manger is now a growing chorus of believers being transformed into the image of Christ. 

 

 

Abba,

Thank You that in Jesus I can see an example of what it means to grow in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and men. Give me the courage to seek those places where, through Your strength, I might continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of Your Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.

The Music of Christmas is available in print or digital formats.