Love Incarnate: The Tangibility of Jesus

I continue to be amazed by the incarnation and what it actually means. In the time of Artificial Intelligence and Chat GPT, where everything is at our fingertips and is faster and more efficient, the incarnation hits differently because it was anything but that. The cost was also so much greater than the time and ease of typing a question into the chat. By coming that first Christmas, Jesus “emptied himself” (Philippians 2:7, ESV) or “gave up divine privileges” (Philippians 2:7, NLT) in order to “move into the neighborhood” with us (John 1:14, The Message). God’s love for us was so great that his rescue plan included being with us, walking with us, and modeling what it means to wear God’s image. Jesus was willing to get into the muck and the heartache; into our confusion and selfish will; into the diseases of our hearts, minds, and bodies. Surely, in God’s endless creativity, another way could be possible, but this was the way God chose. Proximity is a key component of God’s love, and Jesus’ sacrifice changed everything.

Besides the tangibility of God’s plan, the timing is also important. Between Adam’s fall in Eden and Jesus’ arrival took most of human history. That Jesus grew in Mary’s womb and subjected himself to a human childhood required time. The thirty years that passed between his birth and his public ministry had some wondering if Jesus would finally get going. I’m sensing a theme here, aren’t you? Perhaps love is demonstrated consistently over time.

At Christmas, we can pay attention to how God chose to love and rescue us in order to remind us how to be human and to love: be pr

esent and go slowly. The temptation to do more and to do it faster is real, especially at Christmas. The routine use of AI from customer service to homework help—activities that would typically bring us into proximity with other people—creates distance between us as we become more dependent on technology, not as a tool but as a replacement for needing other people. Christmas helps us pause and reconsider where we might be going. Christmas can be a time to reorient ourselves to God and how God loves. We can give up ease, speed, and efficiency to be connected, present, and sacrificial. Doing so might give us opportunities to bear God’s image well and ground us in God’s love. This Christmas, may we be present and go slow; may we experience God’s love fully and extend it to others.