<\/p>
INTRODUCTION
One of the earliest Christological controversies in the church was provoked by Nestorius, who denied that Mary was the \u201cGod-bearer\u201d (Greek, theotokos). The controversy was not about Mary, but about the nature of Christ: Was the eternal Son of God born as a baby? Unbelievable as it was, the orthodox answered Yes. God didn\u2019t merely become \u201cman\u201d or \u201cflesh\u201d; God became a baby. <\/p>\n
THE TEXT
\u201cAnd it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city . . . .\u201d (Luke 2:1-52). <\/p>\n
CHRIST THE LORD
Who is the baby born to Mary? According to Luke, this baby is Mary\u2019s \u201cfirst-born son,\u201d whom she brought forth (2:7). Yet, when the angels announce that Jesus is born, they tell the shepherds that the one born is \u201cChrist the Lord\u201d (2:11). Throughout the first two chapters of Luke, he has used the title \u201cLord\u201d to refer to the God of Israel (1:9, 11, 15, 16, 28, 32, 38, etc.). Elizabeth recognized that the baby Mary carried was the same Lord, calling Mary the \u201cmother of my Lord\u201d (1:43). The baby born in Bethlehem is the Lord, and Mary is the mother of our Lord. <\/p>\n
The details Luke records emphasize the true humanity of God. He is wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid to sleep in a manger (Luke 2:7). The Lord who delivered the law came to be \u201cunder\u201d the law, submitting to circumcision and joining Mary and Joseph in their trip to Jerusalem for purification (Luke 2:21-24; cf. Leviticus 12). The Lord submitted to his human father and mother, fulfilling the fifth commandment (Luke 2:51). This submission is not alien to His nature as God. Rather, Jesus\u2019 submission reveals that He is the true Son of His heavenly Father. <\/p>\n
GROWING
Twice Luke reminds us that Jesus was a normal human boy, growing through various stages of life (2:40, 52). These verses allude to 1 Samuel 2, emphasizing that Jesus is a new and greater Samuel (1 Samuel 2:21, 26; cf. Luke 1:80). But these verses also show that the Lord submitted to human existence in its entirety. He did all this, the Bible tells us, so that He could save us, so that He could be a faithful high priest, \u201cmade like His brethren in all things\u201d (Hebrews 2:17). God the Son learned to turn over and crawl; He cried when He was hungry; He learned to walk on human feet; He learned to speak the language of His parents; He went through puberty, and no doubt his legs and arms were gangly for a time. Our God is not a distant God who has no idea what being a human is like. He knows what it\u2019s like from the inside. <\/p>\n
CONCLUSION
Jesus said that unless we become like little children, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. The incarnation provides the deep reason for that: Unless we become like little children, we have not become like the God who is King in His kingdom, the God who became a baby. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
INTRODUCTION One of the earliest Christological controversies in the church was provoked by Nestorius, who denied that Mary was the \u201cGod-bearer\u201d (Greek, theotokos). The controversy was not about Mary, but about the nature of Christ: Was the eternal Son of God born as a baby? Unbelievable as it was, the orthodox answered Yes. God didn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-nt-luke"],"yoast_head":"\n