REFLECTION ON THE INCARNATION

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

                                                                           ~ John 1:14

               “And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”  Luke 2:6-7.  I love this verse of Scripture.  I love the traditional image of the nativity, with Christ in the manger, Mary and Joseph keeping close watch over Him, magi offering their gifts, shepherds approaching, and sheep, oxen, cows, donkeys, and camels calmly looking on.  Here, at the very start of the story of Christ, the animals take their place among the witnesses of God made flesh, among the first to be blessed by the presence of Christ.  The story starts with the Word of God in the presence not just of humans of low and great estate, but also in the presence of a variety of animals. 

               Of course scripture doesn’t actually tell us that any animals were present in the stable at the time of Christ’s birth, but there is no disputing that Christ makes his initial appearance as flesh in a place where animals live; his crib is a trough where the animals feed.  Long-standing tradition has the animals firmly in place (nor, it seems to me, is there any reason to think the animals were not present in this, their dwelling place).

               There is symmetry here: the beginning of Christ’s life is with animals while angels herald His arrival in song, and the beginning of Christ’s ministry is with animals while angels tend to him.  There is also foreshadowing here: He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey in His moment of triumph, and it is as a sacrificial lamb that Christ goes to the cross.  If we have but eyes to see, Christ’s life in flesh, while human in form, is intertwined from beginning to end with the animals. 

               So it should come as no surprise, really, to think of the implications of the incarnation as being far-reaching enough to encompass those very animals who are with Him at so many pivotal moments of His life.  The church’s focus has traditionally been on the fact of Christ’s human form; indeed, for much of its history, the emphasis has been on Christ’s male human form.  So, in the Nicene Creed, we recite that “For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.”  Churches choosing more inclusive language, will often say, “For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became human.”  But, while it is true that Christ was both male and human, the gospel tells us more broadly that Christ became flesh.  The Greek word in the Gospel of John is sarx, a word that refers to both human and non-human animal flesh.  David Clough has explained, “God became a Jew rather than a Gentile, a man rather than a woman, an inhabitant of Palestine rather than one of South America, a creature alive in the first century AD rather than the twenty-first, a human being rather than a dog” (On Animals, p. 83).  We do not suppose, however, that God’s saving work is restricted to Jews, to men, to Palestinians, or to those alive in the first century AD.  There is no reason, therefore, to suppose it is restricted to human beings.  This is particularly true in view of the breadth of the language of the gospel (“the Word became flesh”) and in view of scripture’s insistence on the cosmic significance of work of Christ, who rules over "all things" (Ephesians 1:9-10 and 1:22, Hebrews 1:2-3, 1 Corinthians 8:6, John 1:3) and for whom the whole creation "waits with eager longing" (Romans 8:18).  Thus, as Clough explains, “The fundamental New Testament assertion concerning the incarnation, therefore, is not that God became a member of the species Homo sapiens, but that God took on flesh, the stuff of living creatures” (p.85). (I discuss Clough’s views more extensively in this earlier post.) 

William Greenway, in his book, For The Love Of All Creatures: The Story of Grace in Genesis, posits the incarnation as reaching so far as to encompass even that most sinful of all creatures, the creatures therefore furthest from God: humans.  “In thus proclaiming divinity’s most intimate unifying embrace of the furthermost limit of creation, humans, the doctrine of the incarnation proclaims that all the rest of creation, which is relatively near, lies within the all-encompassing embrace of divine grace” (p. 96).  Daniel K. Miller, in Animal Ethics and Theology: The Lens of the Good Samaritan, reflecting on John’s pronouncement that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, assures us that “by drawing near to animal life in this way, Christ’s incarnation and resurrection provide the basis for our own drawing near to animals as neighbor” (p. 96).

               It is, in the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, “a kind of theological folly to suppose that God has made the entire world just for human beings, or to suppose that God is interested in only one of the millions of species that inhabit God’s good earth” or, I would add, to suppose that God’s incarnation matters only to humans. 

               During this Christmas season, let us celebrate the extraordinary love of God in Christ, let us recognize the depth, breadth, and extravagance of this love, which reaches to all of creation, and which will not let even one sparrow fall without Him (Matt. 10:29).  Let us stand near the manger in wonder, together with the sheep and the oxen, and let us seek to love and care for what He loves and cares for, in gratitude for the love and care we have received.   Merry Christmas. 

Photo credits:
All creche photos via Wikimedia Commons, 
1. "Weihnachtskrippe 2008" by L.Kenzel - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
2. "Presépio no Santuário de Fátima" by No machine-readable author provided. Juntas assumed (based on copyright claims). Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 
3. "StWendelKrippeMissionshaus" by Lokilech - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 

Cat in Christmas tree is my own photo.