The Incarnation: Why Does It Matter?

by Steve Lemke, Provost, Professor of Philosophy and Ethics, McFarland Chair of Theology, and Director of the Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

As we celebrate Christmas, we focus on one of the most important Christian doctrines — the incarnation. The incarnation means that Jesus truly took on human flesh. Jesus was “Emmanuel,” meaning “God with us” (Isa. 7:14, 8:8; Matt. 1:23). The incarnation is a significant part of the larger doctrine of Christology – the doctrine of who Jesus Christ is and what He has done. The Chalcedonian Creed (affirmed by the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD) affirmed that Jesus was both “truly man” and “truly God.” He was not half-human and half-divine, but fully God and fully human. So why is the doctrine of the incarnation so important?

(1) The incarnation matters because it reminds us that the body is not evil. God created the physical world, including the human body, and He described it as “good” (Gen. 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). The Bible’s affirmation that the body is not inherently evil is underscored powerfully in the incarnation when the Word (Jesus) “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

One of the most dangerous heresies confronting the early church was Gnosticism. The Gnostics tried to merge Christianity with Greek philosophy, which taught that the body and all physical things are evil, but the spirit and soul or good. They had no trouble believing that Jesus was divine; their problem is that they could not believe he was a real human being. Many Gnostics had docetic beliefs about Jesus. The word “docetic” comes from the Greek word dokeo, which means “to seem” or “to appear.” So, the Docetics believed that Jesus only seemed or appeared to be human, but actually was an apparition or spirit. Therefore, the docetic Gnostics denied both the incarnation and the bodily resurrection, since they required Jesus to have a real body.

The Apostle John opposed those docetic beliefs when he wrote those inspired words that in Jesus “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14). John even wrote that the reality of Jesus’ physical presence was verified by the fact that the eyewitnesses of Jesus had heard, seen, and even touched Him (1 John 1:1-3). John even went so far as to assert that these heretical Gnostics were false prophets in the spirit of the antichrist when they denied that Jesus had “come in the flesh” (1 John 4:1-3). Having a body is not evil. It is the way God made us, and how Jesus came among us.

(2) The incarnation matters because it allows Jesus to identify with and understand us. Jesus was born into the same sort of earthly circumstances in which we find ourselves – “born of a woman, born under the law” (Gal. 4:4, HCSB). In fact, since He lived in the First Century, in which there were no modern conveniences, His life was probably much harder than ours. Jesus experienced the challenges of growing up (Luke 2:42) and of being tempted (Matt. 4:1-11, Heb. 4:15). He experienced public ridicule and shame (Matt. 27:26-44, Heb. 12:2). He knows what it means to be hungry (Matt. 4:2, 21:18; Mark 11:13; Luke 4:2) and thirsty (John 4:7, 19:28). He got tired and weary (John 4:6). When he hit his finger with a hammer or chisel in the carpenter shop, He really hurt. Certainly, He suffered unbearable pain on the cross. Jesus even experienced death (Matt. 27:50, 1 Cor. 15:3-4). Therefore, Jesus understands and can “sympathize with our weaknesses” (Heb. 4:15, HCSB).

(3) The incarnation matters because it makes Jesus the perfect Mediator for our prayers. Jesus is our Great High Priest (Heb. 4:14), and He has the supreme advantage of knowing exactly what we’re going through. He’s been there. Jesus was “tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). Someone suggested to me that when Jesus was grieved and distressed while praying at Gethsemane, that He was just pretending to do so for the disciples to see. I don’t believe that for a minute. The Bible describes Jesus as being in great agony and distress in Gethsemane as He accepted God’s will for Him to go to the cross (Matt. 26:37-39, Mark 14:33-36). Luke’s account speaks of him sweating profusely as though it were sweat drops of blood (Luke 22:44, although some manuscripts omit this description). Clearly, the Bible describes this as a genuine struggle of the soul for our Master. Sometimes in the midst of a crisis, someone may tell you that they know how you feel, but in truth it is difficult for them to feel exactly like you feel until they have “walked a mile in your shoes.” Jesus took on human flesh and walked in our shoes. So, when we pray, we have a uniquely qualified Great High Priest who truly knows what human struggles are like. Therefore, we can have confidence to pray in His name.

(4) The incarnation matters because it makes possible the forgiveness of our sins. The remission of sin requires a sacrifice of blood (Heb. 9:22).  Blood comes only from real flesh and blood creatures. If Jesus were only divine, or like an angel, He would not be flesh and blood. Only because He took on human flesh could He be the sacrifice to atone for our sins (Matt. 26:28, Acts 2:38, Heb. 10:1-22). Why was Jesus being human so important for our salvation? As an early church father, Gregory of Nazianzus, said, “That which was not assumed is not healed.” By that, he meant that had Jesus not taken on (assumed) human flesh, our sins would not be forgiven (healed). Because Jesus did take on human flesh, lived a sinless life (Heb. 4:15), and offered his sinless life on the cross of Calvary, He can provide forgiveness, atonement, salvation, and eternal life for us (Matt. 26:28, Rom 5:1-21).

(5) The incarnation matters because it makes our resurrection possible. The Bible teaches not just the immortality of the soul, but even more importantly, the bodily resurrection. The Greek philosophers on Mars Hill in Athens already believed in the immortality of the soul, but when the Apostle Paul proclaimed the resurrection, they began to mock him (Acts 17:18-20, 30-34). Paul made it very clear in 1 Corinthians 15 that the resurrection of Jesus is the most important of Christian doctrines. If Jesus were not truly raised from the dead, Paul said, we are still in our sins, our faith is in vain, and our preaching is in vain (1 Cor. 15:14-15, 17-18). In fact, however, Jesus has became the first fruit of those who are resurrected, and thus we can have confidence in the forgiveness of our sins and in our own resurrections (1 Cor. 15:20).

So, for all these reasons, we celebrate at Christmas not just that Jesus came as the baby of Bethlehem, but that He was God in fleshly form. These points make it clear why the doctrine of the incarnation is so important — to understand the goodness of our own human bodies, to know that Jesus knows how we feel, to have confidence in prayer through our Great High Priest who sympathizes with our human weaknesses, to pay the price in atoning for our sins, and to make possible our bodily resurrection. We must challenge those who deny Jesus’ humanity today just as the early church challenged the false prophets who denied the incarnation in their day. The incarnation really matters!

This is an expansion of “The Incarnation: Why Does It Matter?” published in the December 16, 2011 issue of the Baptist Messenger of Oklahoma.  An audio podcast about the article (with Dr. Lemke being interviewed by Messenger editor Brian Hobbs) is linked at the end of the article. To hear the podcast, click on “Play in new window” or “download” below the article, or click http://baptistmessenger.com/?powerpress_pinw=8869-podcast.

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