Why did God come as baby Jesus?
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I’m writing this blog post on a December 26th. For the last few days, families have gathered to celebrate, people have decorated their homes with lights, which symbolize hope, carolers have sung songs of joy, and even in war-torn Ukraine, people gathered to sing around a Christmas tree underground to be safe from bombs. What are we celebrating with so much joy? We are celebrating something inconceivable. God, who created a universe spanning 46 billion light years across, who created trillions of stars, and all that it is and will be, became one of us. God the creator, moved by infinite love, incarnated as a little and helpless baby, baby Jesus. Joy to the world!
But why? Why did God come to a humanity that had rejected him over and over? A humanity that so many times broke away from him to worship idols? A humanity that broke all previous covenants? There are several reasons:
Jesus, fully human and fully God, taught us how to live according to God’s will. He taught us to love God with all our mind, our soul, our heart, and our might and to love one another as ourselves. He gave us the beatitudes in the sermon on the mount that were totally countercultural: Blessed are the meek, those who mourn, those who hunger, the merciful, the pure of heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted, and even those who insult us. He performed signs and wonders that to this day, strengthen our faith. Was that it? Did God come to earth to teach us? No, there’s more. Father John Riccardo explains it really well in his book “Rescued”; I will paraphrase in the following paragraphs.
Jesus was a redeemer. The Hebrew word for redeemer is “goel” and it describes the family member responsible for freeing family members in trouble or to avenge their murder. Jesus was not only a humble and loving teacher, he was powerful. He cast out demons, healed people, multiplied fish and loaves, calmed the storm, walked on water, and brought people back from the dead. This powerful redeemer also came to rescue humanity from thousands of years in bondage under satan, ever since the fall.
By willingly and humbly submitting himself to suffering, death, and resurrection, Jesus performed both the role of the high priest, and the role of the unblemished sacrificial lamb. This divine lamb was sacrificed to atone from the sins perpetuated against God over thousands of years. He acted as high priest offering a sacrifice to God of himself to restore the relationship that had been broken between God and humanity. This also sealed a new covenant between God and people, a covenant of love. We still need to atone for our own individual sins, but he made that possible on the cross.
But this went further. Through Jesus, the Kingdom of God came to attack the kingdom of satan, to set us free. Jesus destroyed the only two powers that satan had to hold us captive: the power of sin and the power of death. Jesus, fully human, resisted the temptations of satan and died without ever committing a sin. Sin no longer has power over us, members of the triumphant Christ, if we live in union with God and claim his power to defeat satan. Jesus also defeated the power of death. He entered the realm of satan after his death and defeated him there, freeing the captives from Sheol, and opening the gates of heaven for us. Through his resurrection, Jesus defeated the power of death. We no longer fear death, as we are now co-heirs with Jesus, and aspire to an eternity in heaven in the presence of God. The almighty Lord abides in us, and we abide in him.
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;”
A defeated satan since the resurrection of Jesus is working hard to keep as many souls from eternal life as possible before Christ’s second coming. But we know he doesn’t have real power. With the grace of God, we work equally hard to multiply the billions of souls that will experience the beatific vision in heaven for eternity. Teach us oh Lord, how to lead all souls to heaven.
In the words of St Anthony of Padua,
Behold, the Cross of the Lord! Begone, all evil powers! The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered! Alleluia, Alleluia!
