The Christology of the Incarnation as the center of Christian life

To speak of the Incarnation is to enter into the center of Christian life. Not in a myth, but to encounter a person, Jesus Christ. God's participation in history as man, the High Priest who has shared all our weaknesses except sin (cf. Heb 14:15).

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn 1:14). He is the nucleus of our salvation, the Verb enters history, he did not take a body, but assumed a human condition in its fragility and totality, he is totally man, many questions arise from the doctrine of the Incarnation, what is certain is that the condition of God is not lost, it is shown to be human, a love in its maximum expression, no longer as an accumulation of ideas or epistemological concepts, but as a person. 

"Who, though he was in the form of God, did not eagerly retain his equality with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being made in human likeness" (Phil 2:6-7). The Kénosis Jesus' self-emptying, his likeness to men, without losing his divinity, makes him a total response that God wants the salvation of mankind. But did God "divest himself" of his condition by becoming man? Certainly Christ's choice to show his full divinity was not at all as would be expected of a god, but rather of a slave. Some of the translations of this letter, the term "servant" appears, but the condition of Jesus on the Cross showed more than a servant, it showed not a simple approach to the human condition, but a true abasement, "even unto death, even death on a cross" (Phil 2:8).

Participation in the Incarnation introduces us as children of God not only in a simple historical event where the natural and the divine meet, but we also find ourselves on the way to reach grace. In this, St. Athanasius tells us: "The Son of God became man in order to make us God" (De Incarnatione 54,3). To elevate man's nature to such a point so that he may attain perfect communion with God is not that man is God by his mere condition of man, but that the Father has been revealed through Jesus Christ and in Him and through Him, humanity is revealed as God. diviniza.

"The Son of God became incarnate to make us partakers of the divinity" (Summa Theologiae, III, q. 1, a. 2). St. Thomas emphasizes that the divinization of man cannot be understood as a human reward, but as a fully gratuitous gift that comes only from the Incarnation. It is only because God became man that man can participate in the divinity of God. As an antithesis we discover the words of the Evil One, "you will be like gods" (Gen 3:5), the deception still present, which suggests that fullness is attained without divine help, is the core of the fall of human beings: to place themselves as a measure of themselves. The Incarnation, on the contrary, reveals an authentic way of life for each person to reach God.

The mystery of the Incarnation can only be understood in the light of the Trinity. It is not a solitary event of the Word, but of the Trinity, because "the Incarnation reveals to us the true face of God. The eternal Son, who proceeds from the Father, becomes man through the work of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Here the mystery of the Trinity is manifested: the Father sends, the Son receives and becomes incarnate, the Spirit acts as a bond of love" (Benedict XVI, Homily on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, January 1, 2008). The sending of the Son also reveals his utmost obedience to the Father, since by assuming human nature he submits himself to the mission entrusted to him: "The Word became incarnate to bring about our salvation by human nature" (CEC 461). In this way it is understood that the Incarnation is not an isolated event, but the concrete expression of the unity of the divine persons. Therefore, not only is God's closeness to mankind evident, but also the internal dynamic of the Trinity, where love sustains the work of redemption from its origin.

Mary and the Incarnation

In the design of salvation, God wanted to count on a creature, a young girl from Nazareth. "The Incarnation of the Son of God is the source of Mary's freedom. God wants to become man by counting on the free 'yes' of his creature" (Benedict XVI, Homily on the Solemnity of the Annunciation, March 25, 2006). The fully realized freedom of Mary, who places her freedom for grace to act, for the Will of God to be done in her, that "openness to the divine plan" (cf. Lk 1:38). Mary places her will at the service of the salvation of the world, she becomes an active part of the whole salvific mystery, her yes does not become a simple formalism, or just another response, but a response on which the whole of humanity depends.

Now, this raises another question: God acts as the one who commands the Son, the Son is begotten in Mary (cf. Jn 1:14). And the Spirit? If we look at the angel's dialogue, Mary asks the question: "How can this be, for I know not a man" (Lk 1:34) and immediately receives the answer: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you" (Lk 1:35). The expression "to cover with the shadow" is found in the Old Testament (cf. Ex 40:34), the tent of meeting what was covered with the shadow of God is filled with his spirit, "Mary is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, the 'tent of meeting' where the glory of God dwells" (CEC 2676), the Ark that carries the Covenant is now Mary. If we think of the salvation of humanity without human cooperation being present, we would fall into the belief of a God who only acts brutally, without counting on acceptance and freedom.

The Incarnation and the Eucharist 

Let us now think of two acts that are distant in time: the Incarnation and the Eucharist. The body of the Lord that is incarnated in the womb of Mary is the same that is made present in the bread and wine, the body and blood of the Lord. The Incarnation reaches its margin in the Eucharist, the prolongation of Grace becomes present in every Mass. The Holy Spirit, the same Spirit who covers Mary in her generous "Yes", is the same Spirit who covers the species to become the body of the Lord. He becomes man in the Incarnation, and becomes food in the Eucharist, the real presence of Christ in these two events of faith, a real presence, tangible and always close. St. Augustine says about this: "Recognize in the bread what he hung on the cross, and in the chalice what flowed from his side. The same Christ who was born of the Virgin Mary, who was crucified, buried and rose again, is the one who is contained in these mysteries" (Homily on the Gospel of John 26:13).

As St. Josemaría used to say: "In the Eucharist, as in the Bethlehem portal, he gives himself to us without defense, defenseless, out of love". (It is Christ who passes, n. 87) and since then, the Lord has wanted to remain close to men, he continues to give himself and the Spirit continues to act for the salvation of men; it is now up to us to let ourselves be loved in order to know true and pure love, it is necessary, "God, who created you without you, will not save you without you" (St. Augustine, Sermon 169, 11,13). It is to let the kingdom of God, which we ask so much every day to come upon us, find us with an open heart to welcome and love Him.