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Home - People of God - Incarnation - Kingdom of God - Salvation - Sanctification - Trinity - Creation - Prayer - Consecration - Tradition - Saints - Heaven and Hell - Visitors Centre - Site Map The Incarnation
Introduction Orthodox Christianity, both in its teaching and practice, is based on the belief that Jesus Christ is God himself in the flesh. There are many people who have affection and respect for Jesus outside of Christianity - which is to be welcomed - but for Christians, Jesus can never simply be a prophet, a teacher, a "good man." The Christian good news is that in Christ, God himself has come in love to save us from the corrupting power of death and all the sins and evils that disfigure humankind and not only us but the Cosmos as well. Some have wondered if God would have come amongst us if he had not needed to restore a broken world. Many have said "yes" to that on the grounds that it is within the loving nature of God to have a close personal relationship with his world and his people. Be that as it may, the reality of our human predicament is such that God longed to set us free from death and sin. This entailed receiving our human nature, willing offered by the Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary and joining it to his own divine nature in the one Person of our Lord and God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. And so it was that the Word became flesh, full of grace and truth. It for this reason that the gospel reading appointed for the Orthodox Paschal (Easter) Liturgy is that great affirmation of the Incarnation in John 1:1-17; therefore, not such a surprising choice after all. Resources Scripture "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14 (New King James Version) "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." John 1:18 (New King James Version) And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” John 20:28 (New King James Version) "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." Matthew 11:27 (New King James Version) "By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God." 1 John 4:2-3 (New King James Version) Fathers and Saints St. Athanasius "On the Incarnation" (the classic work) St. Gregory the Theologian on The Incarnation "The very Son of God, older than the ages, the invisible, the incomprehensible, the incorporeal, the beginning of beginning, the light of light, the fountain of life and immortality, the image of the archetype, the immovable seal, the perfect likeness, the definition and word of the Father: he it is who comes to his own image and takes our nature for the good of our nature, and unites himself to an intelligent soul for the good of my soul, to purify like by like. He takes to himself all that is human, except for sin. He was conceived by the Virgin Mary, who had been first prepared in soul and body by the Spirit; his coming to birth had to be treated with honour, virginity had to receive new honour. He comes forth as God, in the human nature he has taken, one being, made of two contrary elements, flesh and spirit. Spirit gave divinity, flesh received it. He who makes rich is made poor; he takes on the poverty of my flesh, that I may gain the riches of his divinity. He who is full is made empty; he is emptied for a brief space of his glory, that I may share in his fullness. What is this wealth of goodness? What is this mystery that surrounds me? I received the likeness of God, but failed to keep it. He takes on my flesh, to bring salvation to the image, immortality to the flesh. He enters into a second union with us, a union far more wonderful than the first. Holiness had to be brought to man by the humanity assumed by one who was God, so that God might overcome the tyrant by force and so deliver us and lead us back to himself through the mediation of his Son. The Son arranged this for the honour of the Father, to whom the Son is clearly obedient in all things. The Good Shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep, came in search of the straying sheep to the mountains and hills on which you used to offer sacrifice. When he found it, he took it on the shoulders that bore the wood of the cross, and led it back to the life of heaven. Christ, the light of all lights, follows John, the lamp that goes before him. The Word of God follows the voice in the wilderness; the bridegroom follows the bridegroom’s friend, who prepares a worthy people for the Lord by cleansing them by water in preparation for the Spirit. We need God to take our flesh and die, that we might live. We have died with him, that we may be purified. We have risen again with him, because we have died with him. We have been glorified with him, because we have risen again with him." Contemporary "Christ, True and Perfect Man" (Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh) Articles "The Incarnation" (Fr. Thomas Hopko) "She in Whom Salvation was Begun" (Matthew Steenberg) Exploration Pascha Cycle - "Who do you say that I am?" Pentecost Cycle - "Councils and Controversies" Holy Cross Cycle - "What's in a name?" Nativity Cycle - "We shall be as He is"
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