The Mystery of the Incarnation: Part 4

 

The Church confesses that our Lord Jesus Christ is both perfect God and perfect man, united without confusion, change, division, or separation. In Him, the divine and human realities meet in a unique and wondrous way for the salvation of humanity. Through the testimony of Holy Scripture and the witness of the Fathers of the Church, this essay explores how Christ reveals both His true divinity and true humanity.

Jesus Christ is Perfect God and Perfect man

Our Lord Jesus Christ, who became incarnate, is fully God and fully man.

His divinity is revealed in His divine works when:

• Turning water into wine: “ኢየሱስ ይህን የምልክቶች መጀመሪያ በገሊላ ቃና አደረገ፤ ክብሩንም ገለጠ፥ ደቀ መዛሙርቱም በእርሱ አመኑ።” (John 2:11)
• Calming the storm on the sea: “እርሱም፦ እናንተ እምነት የጎደላችሁ፥ ስለ ምን ትፈራላችሁ? አላቸው፤ ከዚህ በኋላ ተነሥቶ ነፋሱንና ባሕሩን ገሠጸ፥ ታላቅ ጸጥታም ሆነ።” (Matthew 8:26)
• Giving sight to the blind: “ይህን ብሎ ወደ መሬት እንትፍ አለ በምራቁም ጭቃ አድርጎ በጭቃው የዕውሩን ዓይኖች ቀባና። ሂድና በሰሊሆም መጠመቂያ ታጠብ አለው፤ ትርጓሜው የተላከ ነው። ስለዚህ ሄዶ ታጠበ እያየም መጣ።” (John 9:6-7)
• Forgiving sins with authority: “ኢየሱስም እምነታቸውን አይቶ ሽባውን፦ አንተ ልጅ፥ ኃጢአትህ ተሰረየችልህ አለው።” (Mark 2:5)
• Appearing through closed doors after the Resurrection: “ከስምንት ቀን በኋላም ደቀ መዛሙርቱ ደግመው በውስጥ ነበሩ፥ ቶማስም ከእነርሱ ጋር ነበረ። ደጆች ተዘግተው ሳሉ ኢየሱስ መጣ፤ በመካከላቸውም ቆሞ፦ ሰላም ለእናንተ ይሁን አላቸው።” (John 20:26)

His divinity is further confirmed by the testimony of God the Father, the Holy Spirit, angels, and men (Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 17:5; Luke 2:11; Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 2:11).

Through all these works, we see that Christ became man to glorify humanity, yet He did not cease to be God. Concerning this mystery, Saint Theophilus explains:

“He was born of a virgin as a man; He became like us, doing all our works except sin; and He glorified the nature of man by appearing in a unique and wonderful way when He became man.”
“ሰው ሆኖ ከድንግል ተወለደ፤ ከኃጢአት በቀር የኛን ሥራ ሁሉ በመሥራት መሰለን፤ ልዩ ድንቅ በሆነ ባሕርይ ሰው በሆነ ጊዜ በመታየቱ የሰውን ባሕርይ አከበረ፡፡” (Haimanote Abew of Saint Theophilus 69:7 - ሃይማኖተ አበው ዘቅዱስ ቴዎፍሎስ 69፡7)

His perfect humanity is also clearly revealed in :

• His birth as an infant in the manger:
  “ወደ ቤትም ገብተው ሕፃኑን ከእናቱ ከማርያም ጋር አዩት፥ ወድቀውም ሰገዱለት፥ ሣጥኖቻቸውንም ከፍተው እጅ መንሻ ወርቅና ዕጣን ከርቤም አቀረቡለት።” (Matt. 2:11)
• His falling asleep in the boat:
  “እነሆም፥ ማዕበሉ ታንኳይቱን እስኪደፍናት ድረስ በባሕር ታላቅ መናወጥ ሆነ፤ እርሱ ግን ተኝቶ ነበር።” (Matt. 8:24)
• His spitting on the ground and making clay— spitting is a human act:
  “ይህን ብሎ ወደ መሬት እንትፍ አለ በምራቁም ጭቃ አድርጎ በጭቃው የዕውሩን ዓይኖች ቀባና…።” (John 9:6)
• His being invited to and attending a wedding:
  “በሦስተኛውም ቀን በገሊላ ቃና ሰርግ ነበረ፥ የኢየሱስም እናት በዚያ ነበረች፤ ኢየሱስም ደግሞ ደቀ መዛሙርቱም ወደ ሰርጉ ታደሙ።” (John 2:1-2)
• He was seen in a small house— being limited to a place is a human attribute:
  “ከጥቂት ቀን በኋላ ወደ ቅፍርናሆም ደግሞ ገብቶ በቤት እንደ ሆነ ተሰማ።” (Mark 2:1)
• His eating after the Resurrection:
  “እነርሱም ከተጠበሰ ዓሣ አንድ ቁራጭ፥ ከማር ወለላም ሰጡት፤ ተቀብሎም በፊታቸው በላ።” (Luke 24:42-43)

Therefore, through these and many other acts, we confess and recognize that Jesus Christ is truly God incarnate, perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity.

Saint Ephrem the Syrian wisely expresses this mystery:

“He whose flesh is without beginning took a beginning; the divinity that is beyond the counting of years was counted in time for our sake. The Unknown was revealed; the Invisible was seen; the Son of the living God truly became man.” “ጥንት የሌለው ሥጋ ጥንታዊ፣ ቀዳማዊ ሆነ፤ ዘመን የማይቆጠርለት መለኮት ዘመን ተቆጠረለት፤ የማይታወቅ ተገለጠ፣ የማይታይ ታየ፤ የሕያው የእግዚአብሔር ልጅ በርግጥ ሰው ሆነ፡፡” (Wednesday Wudassie Mariam - የረቡዕ ውዳሴ ማርያም)

Jesus Christ is God in nature/essence – የባሕርይ አምላክ ነው

The Holy Scriptures clearly affirm that Jesus Christ shares the same divine nature as the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul attests to Christ’s perfect divinity, saying, “ክርስቶስ በሥጋ መጣ እርሱም ከሁሉ በላይ ሆኖ ለዘላለም የተባረከ አምላክ ነው” (Romans 9:5).

St. John likewise affirms, “…እውነተኛም በሆነው በእርሱ አለን፥ እርሱም ልጁ ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ነው። እርሱ እውነተኛ አምላክና የዘላለም ሕይወት ነው።” (1 John 5:20). Even Thomas, who initially doubted His resurrection (ትንሳኤውን), confessed Christ’s divinity, exclaiming, “ቶማስም፦ ጌታዬ አምላኬም ብሎ መለሰለት።” (John 20:28).

Saint John also declares, “…ያለውና የነበረው የሚመጣውም ሁሉንም የሚገዛ ጌታ አምላክ፦ አልፋና ዖሜጋ እኔ ነኝ ይላል።” (Rev. 1:4–8), confirming the Lord’s own words in Matthew 22:31, “እኔ የአብርሃም አምላክ፥ የይስሐቅም አምላክ የያዕቆብም አምላክ ነኝ የሚል ከእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ ወደ እናንተ የተባለውን አላነበባችሁምን?”

Epiphanius of Salamis explains that Christ is fully God while also truly man, perfect and without change:

 “Although He is said to be God in nature, He truly became man; and since He is God, no one can fully know Him; “የባሕርይ አምላክ እንደሆነ ቢነገርም በእውነት ሰው ሆኗል፤ አምላክ በመሆኑም ያውቀው ዘንድ የሚቻለው ሰው የለም” (Haimanote Abew of St. Epiphanius 54:21 – ሃይማኖተ አበው ዘቅዱስ ኤጲፋንዮስ 54፡21).

Conclusion

The testimony of Scripture and the teaching of the holy Fathers together affirm one unchanging truth: Jesus Christ is perfect God and perfect man. His divine works reveal His eternal divinity, while His human life demonstrates that He truly shared in our nature. Yet in becoming man, He did not cease to be God. In the mystery of the Incarnation, the Son of God united Himself with humanity, glorifying our nature and opening the way for salvation. Therefore, the Church faithfully confesses that the one Lord Jesus Christ is true God incarnate, perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity, to whom be glory forever.