Who would send a baby to fix a broken world? Only God. Only God would come Himself, in the flesh, to undo the sin of the world. Why is this important? Because Jesus, the Son of God, knows what it is like to be human. He knows what it is like to be born and to live and to die. He understands human joy, and human sorrow, growing up and working a job, and facing temptation and problems. We pray to Someone Who knows us, better than we know ourselves.
God is a fixer. There is no problem we face for which God does not have a solution. Teaching and volunteering with young women in crisis pregnancies, I know their problems are like Mary’s, the earthly mother of Jesus. Young, engaged to be married, and God sends her a miracle pregnancy, the Holy Spirit overshadows her and she is: with child. For Mary, this was a huge problem. She could be stoned to death as an adulteress, her fiancé, Joseph, could abandon her, she could be destitute and on the streets. But God knew what He was doing, He was saving the world. And He was doing it by: becoming one of us. Incarnation is a fancy word meaning: God comes in the flesh. Romans 5:12-15 tells us that when the first Adam messed up, Jesus, the second Adam, fixed everything. And this Incarnation solution was predicted by the prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament: For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6. And instead of just making another Adam and popping him onto the planet, Jesus chose to come into the world the way we do: But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4,5. God chose a woman, chose a family, to bring His Son into the world so we call could become part of His Kingdom, part of His family. Mary’s problem becomes God’s solution, not just for her, but for all of us.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for coming to our world, and sharing our human condition, so that we could be saved into Your Kingdom, into Your family. We praise You for the gift of Yourself. In Your name we pray, amen