Jesus Christ is the only Begotten Son of God. He came to this world in the flesh and was born through Virgin Mary. This truth has been known as His incarnation. Before He was born, an angel announced His name, Jesus, meaning, “He shall save His people from their sins.” His birth was a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 7:14, and His another name is “Emmanuel, “God with us.” Isaiah 9:6 also speaks of the coming birth of Jesus, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” All truths surrounding Jesus Christ are both mystical and mysterious. John 1:14, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” The messianic prophecies in the Old Testament and their fulfillment in the New Testament testify that Jesus is not an ordinary person, but God-man. 

His humanity served as a veil to conceal the brightness of His divine nature. His glorious deity could not be fully concealed in the flesh, and at times there were moments when his glory shone forth like in His Transfiguration event. There is a Latin phrase to refer to Jesus – finitum non capax infinitum. Calvin says it to express the notion of the incomprehensibility of God. It does not mean that God cannot be known at all, but that He cannot be known fully. Thus, the Latin phrase means “The finite cannot grasp the infinite.” Two opposing pictures help us grasp this idea: God dwells in “unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16), and, “Clouds and thick darkness surround him” (Ps. 97:2). These are pictorial ways of saying that God cannot be measured. It points to the limits of our human minds to grasp fully the greatness of God. R. C. Sproul offers the second idea of the phrase that the finite cannot contain the infinite (The Glory of Christ, Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1990, 9). When we apply it to His incarnation, we would say, “though the fulness of the godhead dwelt in Christ bodily, it could not be restricted to His human nature nor held in subjection by it” (Ibid.). As we are thinking about Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ – “God-man,” it is important for us to see it from what the Bible says about it.

The Incarnation is a historical fact. It simply means that His birth, Incarnation, God in the flesh, is not a myth, and it really happened in time and space. After an angelic host had visited the shepherds, they said to each other in Luke 2:15, “And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.” Then, they went to visit the baby Jesus in verses 16 and 17, “And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. ¹⁷ And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.” We find a place of His birth, Bethlehem, witnesses of the angels’ appearance and the birth of baby Jesus, and His earthly parents, Mary and Joseph. None of them is a fiction. It all happened in history, and it was also a fulfilment of a prophecy in Micah 5:2, saying, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”

Incarnation was a beginning of His humiliation. We hear of the lowly aspects of His birth during Christmas season including swaddling clothes, a manger, and poor parents. Jesus willingly emptied Himself of the glory that He enjoyed with the Father from all eternity. Philippians 2:5-11 testifies it, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: ⁶ Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: ⁷ But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: ⁸ And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. ⁹ Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: ¹⁰ That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; ¹¹ And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” It is the basis of a famous hymn, “Ivory Palaces,” written by Henry Barraclough. Each stanza ends with a refrain, “Out of the ivory palaces, Into a world of woe, Only his great eternal love, Made my Savior go.” His glory was hidden beneath the veil of His humiliation. 

Incarnation brought a glorious moment to the shepherds. They were in the fields outside Bethlehem as usual. Then, this particular night, they experienced something very spectacular. All heaven broke loose. Luke tells us of the what happened in Luke 2:8-14, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. ¹⁰ And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ¹⁴ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” This announcement came with the glory of God shone forth. The glory was shining, and it did not belong to the angel himself, but to God. 

By learning of the shepherds’ response to the angel’s announcement of the birth of Jesus, we may know what is expected of us as we celebrate His birth. (1) The shepherds were sore afraid. I wonder if we see the glory of God in His incarnation, or if we are too familiar with Christmas … and its jolly spirit only without the fear of the glory of God. (2) The shepherds heard the message of the Savior. Men and women are pursuing to find some sort of saviour(s). However, there is no other Saviours for us, but Jesus Christ. Do we think of Jesus, our Saviour, during this festive season, or are we swept away by other pursuits? (3) Having seen the light of the glory of God, they came to see the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. The Saviour was in humility and lowliness for us. Christmas is a good time for us to examine ourselves before God and to be humble. (4) The Shepherds shared what they heard and seen with others in Luke 2:17. I have some questions about the subsequent events after they left from Jesus that night. Did they leave their animals in the field? Did they leave their fellow shepherds somewhere? The Bible does not tell us any more in detail. All we know is that they shared the news of the Saviour’s birth. That’s something we must do. 

May the joy of His birth fill your hearts!

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