In the last Beacon of Hope I touched on the incongruity of the Almighty God, Creator of the universe, the all powerful great I AM, becoming a fragile helpless and totally dependant baby. The Word became flesh, The Word who spoke creation into being was so utterly dependant on others for his survival. It’s one of those paradoxes that can give you a headache if you think about it too much, and yet one of those amazing things that makes the Christian faith so incredibly wonderful. I have thought a lot this week about the fragility of babies.
We have a 16 month old, she is learning to stand up by herself. She gets up, looks at us and grins, then loses concentration and flops over, often onto her bottom which is fine. Sometimes she falls onto her knees to mixed reactions, on rare occasions she topples and bangs her head or gets a shock and she crys. With encouragement and a cuddle she is up for another attempt. I marvel at the fact that Jesus did just that. Mary would have watched him out of the corner of her eye as he stood up, clapped himself and toppled over in excitement. He would have tried again and again to learn the new skill. Who knows, maybe he fell and bashed his head on some of Joseph’s tools. Jesus would have been dependant on Mary and Joseph’s love, care, encouragement and provision in order to grow up and become the functioning adult that he was.
What has kept me pondering all this is really difficult news that I have seen and heard through the media in the UK. Recently there have been a number of really upsetting cases of children being abused and murdered by those who were supposed to protect them. It is heartbreaking to hear about. One of the recent cases was a little girl a similar age to Zoe. I have struggled to comprehend how the parents of this little girl could be so cruel and harsh to her resulting in her death. What amazes me is Jesus put himself in a position where that could have been him, he was so utterly dependant on other humans for his care and upbringing. He didn’t come to earth as a super strong completely independent man who was 7 feet tall and built like a tank. He came as a tiny 7lbs (maybe?) baby born in a stable to a teenage, first time mum. In a book I have been reading the author says, “Jesus is mighty, not because of his capacity to overcome hardship but because of his willingness to go through human hardship, like we have to do”.*
Jesus was willing to go through the learning processes from walking and talking to potty training and how to share his toys. He would have gone through puberty and all that comes with that. He lived 33 years on this earth willing to go through everything any other human had to go through and eventually he accepted the trial of a criminal and death of an outcast…why? To defeat the enemy with love. To be mighty through vulnerability and humility. The author of the book goes on to say, “May we not see this vulnerability [the trials we currently face] as the place of failure because of our inability to overcome it, but as the very invitation to partner with Mighty God through it”.
What vulnerabilities do you need to partner with God through? If you need help with this, we would love to connect with you. Contact our prayer team using the button below.
* © Honest Advent by Scott Erickson
Rachel is an Inspire Missioner based in the UK. Along with her husband, she co-directs the Inspire GB Core Team.
