Uncommon Jesus
This past week, our one-year-old son Luke has been sick. His proclivity to dance every time he hears music has been reduced to the faintest head bob. He’s spending more time sitting in our laps than he is chasing balls around the house. But every once in a while, he will do something like hold out a pretzel for me to eat, only to take it away at the last second and say, “No!” with a slight smile and then try the same trick again. These moments bring me joy as I see glimpses of the Luke we know and love. One of the joys of having children is watching their personalities blossom. It’s like slowly unwrapping a gift to see more of what’s inside.
Jesus also had a personality. When we think of Jesus, we tend to think of him in terms of his work. His work as Savior, his work as Intercessor, his work as Redeemer. Jesus’ work is of utmost importance, but we cannot separate his work from his person. The salvation Jesus offers is not a software update we set to install overnight. No, Jesus’ salvation is intimately connected to his personality; only he had a personality capable of saving us. Since it is humans who sin, the penalty for that sin must be borne by a human; in order to provide a sacrifice of infinite value, he must also be God.
These two natures have, in the words of the Council of Chalcedon been, “inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly and inseparably” united into one person, Jesus. To put it crassly, Jesus has the most interesting personality of anyone! One of the strengths of reformed theology is the belief that salvation is not just a decision we made; it is union with Christ himself. Calvin says, “[Christ presents] Himself to us and invites us into such a relationship that truly we are united to Him, that He dwells in us in such a way that everything that belongs to Him is ours.” Salvation is you becoming inseparably united to the person of Jesus so that his righteousness and holiness become yours.
Some two thousand years ago God took on flesh. That embryo inside Mary’s womb contained within it not just human life, but the life of God through whom all things were made. He broke the fourth wall. Jesus stepped into his own creation. He came as God, but at the same time as a fertilized egg. Mystery of mysteries! How can the God who sustains all things be held in the arms of one of his creatures?
Mary spent countless hours holding her young son. And I’m sure like many of us do, she would gaze into his eyes and discover the delight of his first smile and start to see his personality develop. This Christmas let’s not forget that our salvation is rooted in a flesh-and-blood person. For our advent series, we are going to be looking at the person of Jesus and why his personality matters. Please join me this year in proclaiming the mystery of our God:
Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see;
Hail, th'incarnate Deity:
Pleased, as man, with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel!
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new-born King.
In Christ,
Pastor Jon