Something from ... Luther on the Incarnation of our Lord

It is easy to limit Christmas to something cute and charming.  A young lady holds a new born baby.  Who would snarl at that image?

But Christmas is celebrated because it is far greater, far deeper, far more comforting, far more mysterious, and far more majestic than an ordinary birth.  On the one hand, it is an ordinary birth.  There was nothing about the birth of Jesus which appeared any different than what we see today.  A pregnant lady endured labor, pushed when the child was ready to leave the birth canal, and breathed and sweated through the pains of childbirth.  And the boy, coming out bloody and naked, entered our world.  He was cleaned and wrapped in cloths the keep him warm.  There was nothing usual about this.

But we also know the mystery of Christmas.  This baby who was born is the Lord--God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, through him all things were made.  God, who is not limited by time and space, entered the world in our time and confined himself to human flesh and blood.

God became one of us to redeem all of us.  This is the marvel of the Incarnation of our Lord.  Now, here is one of Luther's reflections on this incarnation.

          "The fact that God, as is stated in the Epistle to the Hebrews (2:16), is concerned with the descendants of Abraham, not with angels, is an incalculably great honor to that wretched mass of the human race.  For it was not difficult or impossible for Him to bring His Son into the world without a mother.  But He wanted to make use of the female sex.

          "He could likewise have formed a body suddenly from a virgin  just as He formed Adam from clay and Eve from a rib of Adam.  He did not choose to do this, but He adhered to the order which He Himself had established.  For a  maiden has been created in such a way that she should conceive, be with child for nine mothers, and give birth.  Therefore He wanted His Son to be conceived, carried and born in the womb of a maiden, not formed from clay and not conceived by a male.

         "It is surely a great comfort that it did not please God that His Son should become man from any other material than the human race.  He wanted His Son to become our brother and to adorn us with the exceedingly great honor of having a God born and made man in our flesh and blood." (pp 161-162, Luther's Works: American Edition.  Volume 4, Lectures on Genesis, chapters 21-25)