Messiah Yeshua's Incarnation

While the greatest celebration for Christians is "Resurrection Sunday" (Easter) where Yeshua triumphed over injustice and Death, never to die again, another historic moment in his life, commonly referred to as Christmas or the Incarnation, is honored by his followers as they mark the historic moment of his fleshly presence entering our earth-time continuum.

For perhaps the uninitiated and for the encouragement of fellow Christians, allow me to assay the Scriptures' account....


When Adam, the father of the adamah race, chose to become a red-handed mutineer, Adonai-God in His judicial sentence announced both cursing and hope; while cursing the occultic Seducer, He vowed: And I will put enmity between you [Seducer] and Isha (woman), between your seed and hers, he [Woman's Seed] will crush your head, and you [Seducer] will strike his heel.

The woman's seed. An enigma and paradox. How could woman, who had a womb but no "seed", produce a male descendant to crush the Seducer of humans?

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Wave after wave of conquering foreign invaders swept through the land of Israel, first Assyrians, then Babylonians. In one of the Babylonian sweeps a Jewish thinker, born of a priestly line, was swept away with his fellow exiles to the shores of the Kebar River. Philosopher-monarch Solomon's united kingdom had existed over 300 years ago; now it was in shambles, destroyed by internal rot and corruption as much as invading armies from the East.

Ezekial, born of the priestly class, would never again see the Jerusalem Temple, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Or would he? Almost a millennium before Ezekial's time, God's Sh'kinah, His glorious visible Presence of light, had accompanied the Jewish nation, as they fled Egyptian slavery. The Sh'kinah accompanied them in their desert wanderings. The Sh'kinah condescended to dwell in their midst, hidden behind artful tapestry in a skein-lined tent harboring the Mercy Seat. After the Jewish nation grew restless and pined for a human monarch, the Sh'kinah warned King David his hands were too bloody to build a Temple upon Mt. Moriah; his son, Solomon, a man of shalom-peace, not war, would complete his father's vision for a golden Temple to harbor the Sh'kinah. Dedication Day coincided with the Rosh Hashana festival that commemorated Israel's years of living in nomadic desert booths. The sober nation and king watched the Sh'kinah enter the Holy Place as a dark cloud, filling the Temple.

Israel. Sh'kinah. Sh'kinah, Israel. God's glory and His people belonged together. Ezekial, now a Babylonian exile, suddenly felt a heavy hand upon his shoulder. He fell face down before the radiant Sh'kinah. A voice spoke, supernatural strength flowed through him, and he was granted prophetic sight. The inconceivable was happening: Israel's Sh'kinah was dwelling, if only briefly, on Babylonian (Iraq-Iranian) soil, near the Kebar River where Ezekial's fellow countrymen were bitterly complaining of God's injustice toward them. Commanded to meet the Sh'kinah on the plain alone, Ezekial departed their company and was given detailed instructions about how to live as a moral conscience amongst his bitter brethren. In Scripture, those believers who are tasked with duties that cause persecution are first strengthened with Heaven's supernatural miracles to help them endure. Ezekial was no exception. Tradition says he was put to death approx. 570 B.C.E. by fellow Judeans who hated his preaching.

One of Ezekial's visions involved the disturbing picture of the Sh'kinah abandoning residence in Jerusalem (not a popular theme amongst the exiles). The final glimpse Ezekial had of the Sh'kinah is of it pausing at the Eastern gate, before ascending from the Mount of Olives and departing. Ichabod: "the glory hath departed." Within a few short years, King Nebuchadnezzar's troops would sack and burn Jerusalem, and it would be 70 years before Medo-Persian King Cyrus would authorize Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem's shambles.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One hundred,


( 10 decades )


two hundred,


( ~ 1,752,000 hours )


three hundred,


( ~ 109,500 days )


four hundred,


( how many tears of anguish and dashed hopes? )


five hundred years passed. Half a millenium.



A new Temple dominated Jerusalem's skyline, thanks to the political aspirations of the "king of the Jews", Herod. Ironic, really, since he wasn't Jewish, but Idumean, and Idumeans were traditionally Israel's enemies. The Herod dynasty would be akin to a 3-generation Hitler or Stalin regime. Nevertheless, Marc Anthony had granted Herod his title; to retain his Rome-delegated powers and appease the unruly Judeans, King Herod -- when not murdering wife, sons, and critics -- bribed the Judeans by infusing the 2nd Temple coffers with generous new building funds. Outwardly, the Temple complex was much larger than the original. Scripture never indicates what happened to the Temple's most sacred contents, the Ark of the Covenant, after the Babylonians sacked it 500 years earlier, but some historians speculate the Sh'kinah's Holy of Holies' contents had been buried deep beneath the original Temple, eluding barbarian capture. Did the Herodian Temple's Holy of Holies remain empty of furnishings? Sure, ritual sacrifices were made, but the sacerdotal caste was too often corrupt, too ready to ignore Torah regulations and offer blemished animal sacrifices to the Most Holy. No Scriptural nor extra-biblical account (of which I'm aware) records the Sh'kinah during that 500-year Jewish Dark Age visibly returning from the East to once again reside in Jerusalem.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Virgin conception. Believe it or not, "for nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37). Miriam believed the angel's good news. Yoseph, after divine confirmation, believed as well. Sarah, Rachel, Rebecca, Hannah, Manoah's wife -- all barren women whose plights had but hinted at this historic moment. Yet in the end, each barren womb had been made alive by the natural seed of a man.

Not this time. The Seed of the woman's conception, gestation, and birth was a sui generis, supernatural, non-repeatable event. Messiah would put right what Adam had gotten so wrong.

God's greatest revelation of Himself was Himself. In past times He'd spoken to men in dreams and visions, whirlwinds and burning bushes; in these last days He would speak "in Son".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God.

And the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.

All things came to be through him,
and without him nothing made had being.

In him was life,
and the life was the light of mankind.

The darkness light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not suppressed it....

The Word became a human being and lived with us,
and we saw his Sh'kinah,

The Sh'kinah of the Father's only Son,
full of grace and truth.

(Gospel of John 1:1ff, Complete Jewish Bible version; written by Yeshua's closest disciple John, or one of John's disciples in Ephesus, circa 90 C.E.)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the countryside nearby were some shepherds spending the night in the fields, guarding their flocks, when an angel of ADONAI appeared to them, and Sh'kinah of ADONAI shone around them. They were terrified; but the angel said to them,"Don't be afraid, because I am here announcing to you Good News that will bring great joy to all the people. This very day, in the town of David, there was born for you a Deliverer who is the Messiah, the Lord. Here is how you will know: you will find a baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a feeding trough. Suddenly, along with the angel was a vast army from heaven praising God:

"In the highest heaven, glory to God!
And on earth, peace among people of good will."

(Gospel of historian Physician Luke 2:8ff, CJB); tradition says his primary source was Miriam, Yeshua's mother, prob. recorded 30-50 years after Yeshua's death/resurrection)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From the East they trekked West, until they reached the city of David. Magi. Wise men from beyond the Kebar River. They aroused great angst in paranoid King Herod's court with a bizarre narrative about certain wonders signaling a new Jewish dynasty and a future Jewish king's long-awaited royal birth. The magi had followed a star-like radiance that moved across the heavens, pioneering a path to Israel. Had the Sh'kinah, last seen by Ezekial in Babylon, rewarded these goyim in their studious quest for the Hebrew prophets' Messiah? Were the Magi familiar with Daniel's ancient prophecies, written on scrolls in Babylon, about "one like a son of man" ruling all nations with justice, sovereignty, and all glory? Had they read Ezekial's accounts of the Sh'kinah's presence in Babylon?

There had been "Ichabod" in Jerusalem for over 500 years. Who knew the Sh'kinah would would return incognito, voluntarily tabernacling in flesh and blood?

Believe it or not.


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"The Innkeeper" by John Piper, 1986
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Poems/ByDate/1353_The_Innkeeper/

Heard John Piper read his poem the other day on Xian radio.... really worth closing your eyes and listening to it being read (vs. silently reading the words on the page yourself).

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The opposite of joy is not sorrow. It is unbelief. ~ Leslie Weatherhead
Picture me with my ground teeth stalking joy--fully armed too, as it's a highly dangerous quest. ~ Flannery O'Connor

[This message was edited by Airedale on 01-03-08 at 08:51 AM.]

"Why, you S.O.B.!!" the lawyers charged the man whom they had cross examined twice, "Are you [Mr. Lowlife] lecturing us [religious elite]?!" ~ Gospel of John 9:34

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.

All things came to be through him,
and without him nothing made had being.

In him was life,
and the life was the light of mankind.

The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not suppressed it....

The Word became a human being and lived with us,
and we saw his Shkhinah,

The Sh'khinah of the Father's only Son,
full of grace and truth....

We have all received from his fullness,
yes, grace upon grace.

For the Torah was given through Moshe;
grace and truth came through Yeshua the Messiah.

No one has ever seen God; but the only and unique Son, who is identical with God and is at the Father's side -- he has made him known.

~ Gospel of John, eyewitness and closest disciple of Yeshua; written ca 90 CE; chapter 1, vss 1-5, 7-11, 14, 16-18 (CJB)

What does the mind of God, tabernacling in flesh and blood, look and sound like? Who are the Holy One's friends? His adversaries? Since Adam's rebellion, only one generation in all the generations of men has lived to experience, empirically, such a miracle. Xians call the advent of His visitation The Incarnation. What does the Incarnation, all grown up, look like?

Eyewitness John in chapter 9 details one fascinating episode of Immanuel's life when His path providentially crossed with a blind beggar's, probably near the Temple entrance. In Jewish society, begging for sustenance was a most undesirable plight; families and clans who had the financial means provided for their own, rather than allow them to beg publicly. The beggar's family, by inference, then, was in dire economic straits.

If Jesus was anything, he was purposely unpredictable when supernaturally healing (his ministry of teaching and healing lasted approx 3 years, from the age of 30-33). For example, one time he might instantaneously cure blindness with a curt command (Mark 10:46ff) while on another occasion, he might choose to slow down the healing process, dividing it into several distinct phases (Mark 8:22ff); this time in John 9 Jesus slathered mud on the beggar's eyes, and commanded the blind man to depart his presence and head for the Pool of Siloam, possibly used for ritual cleansing, to wash the mud off. At which point, the beggar could see for the first time in his life.

When he returned to his neighborhood, those who had intently beheld [so the Greek text] his former blindness began peppering the ex-beggar with questions, some skeptical that he was even who he said he was. "I and I alone am that ex-beggar," he exclaimed.

"How then were your eyes opened?" his skeptical and curious neighbors demanded.

"The man they call Jesus anointed my eyes with mud and told me to go ritually rinse them off at the Pool of Siloam. So, I obeyed him. And now I can see."

"Where is this man?" they asked, prepared to report the "crime" to the Temple police. It was the Sabbath after all, the God of Israel's divinely appointed day of rest, and no work, such as lifting, washing, harvesting, etc. was to be done until the morrow. Religious lawyers over the centuries had forgotten how Moshe tempered Sabbath-keeping with mercy, allowing for certain "works" to be performed when it aided and rescued the lives of animals or people. Every time Jesus healed (worked!) on the Sabbath, the ire of religious lawyers grew ever stronger.

"I don't know where he is." Nor could Mr. Ex-Beggar [hereafter Mr. Ex-B] i.d. his healer out of a crowd, for he had never beheld his deliverer's face. (Not yet anyway....)

His skeptical inquirers brought him to the Temple's religious lawyers for professional cross-examination.

Interrogation #1

Lawyers: How came you to see?

Mr. Ex-B: He put mud on my eyes. I washed it off, and now I see.

Lawyers: Ah ha! He worked in the mud. You worked to remove it. Now, follow our logic:

• Sabbath-breakers are not from God.
  
• This man broke the Sabbath and encouraged you to do likewise.
  
• Therefore, he's not from God.

Other lawyers disagreed with their colleagues: Wait a minute. How can a sinner do such miracles? Miracles are signs; how do we know we're not missing some divine sign?

The bickering lawyers united to ask Mr. Ex-B: What do you say about him? It was your vision he restored.

Mr. Ex-B: He's a prophet. [Miracles are a prophet's "credentials".]

Lawyers: Unbelievable! [To the milling crowd:] Summon the lad's parents to the Temple! [Parents are brought.]...

Lawyer #1: This is your son?

Parents: We know he is our son.

Lawyer #2: Is this the one you say was born blind?

Parents: We know our son, the one standing here, was born blind.

Lawyer #3: How then does he see now?

Parents: How does he see now? We don't know. Nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him -- he's of age and can speak for himself! [The Judean elite had already decided anyone who acknowledged "Jesus is Messiah" would be ex-communicated from the synagogue. The parents were, according to John, fearful of offending legal authorities; in their poverty, they couldn't afford to be cut off from the community.]


Interrogation #2

A second time [religious lawyers] summoned the man who had been blind. ~John 9:24a This verse hints that perhaps the parents and son were separated at the last cross-examination to prevent them, if they were frauds, from getting their stories straight.

Lawyers: Give glory to God [a form of "swearing in court; puts the person under oath]. We know that this man [they can't bear to speak Jesus' name] is a Sabbath-breaker.

Mr. Ex-B: If he's sinful, I don't know it. All I know is this: I was blind. Now? I see.

Lawyers: What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?

Mr. Ex-B: I told you once and you didn't listen [a trait a formerly blind man would especially appreciate]. Why do you want to hear it all again?... Maybe you wish to become his talmidim [disciples-in-training]?

Lawyers: YOU a talmid may be of that man, but WE are talmidim of Moshe. We know God has spoken through Moshe and given us Torah. But this man? We don't know where he's from.

Mr. Ex-B: Now that is remarkable! All you lawyers don't know whether he's from God or not, yet he's miraculously healed my vision. Follow my logic:

• We all know God doesn't listen to sinners; He listens to the godly man who does His will.
  
• In all our nation's history, no one has ever heard of someone restoring the eyesight of a man blind from birth.
  
• Our prophet Isaiah foretold God sending His Servant to "open eyes that are blind" (42:7); His Servant is from God.
  
• If 'this man' Jesus were not from God, he could do nothing.

Lawyers: Why, you S.O.B!! You lecture us? [John records they thrust him out of their presence --and presumably excommunicated him from Temple/synagogue.]

~ ~ End of religious lawyers' interrogations. ~ ~

When the news reached Rabbi Jesus that Mr. Ex-B had been excommunicated, Jesus located him and struck up a conversation. He began by asking, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" ["Son of Man" was the name given by the prophet Daniel for Messiah over 500 years ago.] Mr. Ex-B probably was yet 'blind' to the fact that he was gazing upon his Deliverer.

Mr. Ex-B poignantly answered the question with another question, perhaps somewhat burned by his recent inquisition: Who is he, sir? Tell me so that I may believe in Him.

Jesus: You have seen Him.... In fact, He's the one speaking with you now.

Mr. Ex-B: Lord, I believe! And he fell to the ground in worship.

Jesus: For judgment I came into the cosmos that the ones not seeing may see and the 'seeing' ones [religious legalists] may become blind.

Lawyers who overheard the tete-a-tete: You're not indicting us as blind?

Jesus: If you [lawyers] had no moral light... but you do. Therefore, your sin [of unbelief] remains and you are responsible for your judgment.

What does the mind of God, tabernacling in flesh and blood, look and sound like? Who are the Holy One's friends? His adversaries? Since Adam's rebellion, only one generation in all the generations of men has lived to experience, empirically, such a miracle. Xians call the advent of His visitation The Incarnation. What does the Incarnation, all grown up, look like?

John's eyewitness account in chapter 9 provides answers to those who seek them.

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The opposite of joy is not sorrow. It is unbelief. ~ Leslie Weatherhead
Picture me with my ground teeth stalking joy--fully armed too, as it's a highly dangerous quest. ~ Flannery O'Connor