The Mystery of the Incarnation: Part 3

 

The mystery of the Incarnation—known as Tewahedo (ተዋሕዶ) in the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition—stands at the very heart of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo faith. It invites us to raise a profound question: how can the infinite God truly become a finite man? Before the union (tewahedo), divinity and humanity existed as distinct realities—each in its own essence, yet both came together in the one Person of Christ. This essay explores how the eternal Word assumed human nature without altering His divinity, how the human nature retained its humanity, and how the two natures were perfectly united in one Person. Through the lens of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the teachings of the Church Fathers, we observe a union that is real, inseparable, and profoundly life-giving for humanity.

How Did God Become Man - አምላክ እንዴት ሰው ሆነ?

Before the Tewahedo (Incarnation), there were two natures (ሁለት ባሕርያት) and two persons (ሁለት አካላት): the divinity (መለኮት) and humanity (ትስብዕት / ሰው) . God the Son, one in nature with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is the Creator— infinite (መጨረሻ የሌለው), omniscient (ሁሉን አዋቂ), omnipotent (ሁሉን ቻይ), eternal (ዘለዓለማዊ), omnipresent (ሁሉም ቦታ ያለ), and supreme (የበላይ). As one of the three divine Persons, He is the Maker of all things. “በመጀመሪያው ቃል ነበረ፥ ቃልም በእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ ነበረ፥ ቃልም እግዚአብሔር ነበረ። ይህ በመጀመሪያው በእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ ነበረ። ሁሉ በእርሱ ሆነ፥ ከሆነውም አንዳች ስንኳ ያለ እርሱ አልሆነም። በእርሱ ሕይወት ነበረች፥ ሕይወትም የሰው ብርሃን ነበረች።” (John 1 : 1-4), The Scripture also states  “በእርሱ የመለኮት ሙላት ሁሉ በሰውነት ተገልጦ ይኖራልና።” (Colossians 2:9).

In contrast, humanity (ትስብዕት / ሰው) possesses four natures of flesh (አራቱ ባሕርያተ ሥጋ)—dust (አፈር), wind (ነፋስ), fire (እሳት), and water (ውኃ)—and three natures of soul (ሦስቱ ባሕርያተ ነፍስ): heart (ልባዊት), speech (ነባቢት), and spirit (ሕያዊት). Created in the image of God, the human person is finite (ውሱን) and subject to weakness (የሚደክም), hunger (የሚራብ), thirst (የሚጠማ), sickness (የሚታመም), sleep (የሚያንቀላፋ), and death (የሚሞት).

The "Two" Before the Union

The Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.) affirmed that, before the Incarnation (Tewahedo), we can distinguish between the Divinity and the Humanity. We recognize that there are two "realities" (Divinity and Humanity) coming together at the incarnation. Without these two distinct realities before incarnation, there could be no true "Union" at incarnation, for something that is already one cannot be truly united with itself.

Tewahedo (the Incarnation) is the mystery by which from two persons one person comes (ከሁለት አካል አንድ አካል) and from two natures, one nature comes (ከሁለት ባሕርይ አንድ ባሕርይ). By saying from “two persons one person” (ከሁለት አካል አንድ አካል), we mean that the divine nature retains its subtle (ረቂቅ) reality, and the human nature retains its physical reality—without one becoming the other. That is, the human person does not transform into divinity, nor does divinity become flesh; yet, by mutually waiting for each other  (በመጠባበቅ - በተዐቅቦ), they are united in one person.

In Amharic, it reads:

ተዋሕዶ ከሁለት አካል አንድ አካል፣ ከሁለት ባሕርይ አንድ ባሕርይ የመሆን ምስጢር ነው፡፡ ከሁለት አካል አንድ አካል ሲባል ረቂቅ መለኮት ርቀቱን ሳይለቅ፣ ግዙፍ ሥጋ ግዙፍነቱን ሳይለቅ ማለትም ግዙፍ ሥጋ ረቂቅ መለኮትን ግዙፍ ሳያደርገው፣ ረቂቅ መለኮት ግዙፉን ሥጋ ሳያረቀው በመጠባበቅ (በተዐቅቦ) ተዋሐዱ ማለት ነው፡፡

Similarly, the union, from two natures into one nature (ከሁለት ባሕርይ አንድ ባሕርይ) means that the divinity assumed the nature of humanity, which previously was not its own, and the humanity received the nature of divinity, which previously was not its own. In this way, at the Incarnation, they became perfectly united.

Amharic :

ከሁለት ባሕርይ አንድ ባሕርይ ማለት ደግሞ መለኮት የእርሱ ያልሆነውን የሥጋ ባሕርይ ባሕርዩ አድርጎ፣ ሥጋም የእርሱ ያልሆነውን የመለኮት ባሕርይ ባሕርዩ አድርጎ ተዋሐዱ ማለት ነው፡፡

Saint Theodosius taught, “After the union, we do not say two natures; rather, like our fathers, we say that Christ (divinity and humanity) exists in one person, without a second—‘ከተዋሕዶ በኋላስ ሁለት ባሕርይ አንልም፤ እንደ ንጹሐን አባቶቻችን ክርስቶስ (መለኮትና ትስብዕት) በአንድ አካል ሁለተኛ የሌለው አንድ እንደሆነ እንናገራለን እንጂ፡፡’(Haimanote Abew of Saint Theodosius 82:37 - ሃይማኖተ አበው ዘቅዱስ ቴዎዶስዮስ 82፡37)

God became man without change (ያለመለወጥ / ዘእንበለ ውላጤ). This mystery is not comparable to the water being changed into wine at the wedding of Cana of Galilee. In the Incarnation (Tewhaedo), the divine Person assumed human nature without altering His divinity, and the human nature was united to Him without being transformed into divinity. Neither nature was changed into the other; rather, in the one Person of Christ, true God became true man, and man was glorified through union with God.

Gregory of Nyssa, while teaching that God is immutable (የማይለወጥ), explains that the Word who created all things before becoming man remained the same after His Incarnation and birth from the Holy Virgin Mary. He is ever one and the same God the Word. His divine nature did not change into His human nature, nor did His human nature change into His divine nature. The Virgin Mary bore Him as one incarnate reality, and the Magi (ሰብዓ ሰገል) worshiped Him as one. Saint Gregory of Nyssa writes: “ሁሉን የፈጠረ ነው፤ ሰው ከመሆኑ አስቀድሞ፤ ሰውም ሆኖ ከቅድስት ድንግል ማርያም ከተወለደ በኋላ እግዚአብሔር ቃል ነውና እርሱ መቸም መች አንድ ነው፤ የመለኮቱ ባሕርይ ወደ ሰውነቱ ባሕርይ አልተለወጠም፤ የሰውነቱ ባሕርይም ወደ መለኮቱ ባሕርይ አልተለወጠም፤ ደንግል ማርያም አንድ አካል ሆኖ ወለደችው እንጂ፤ ሰብአ ሰገልም አንድ ባሕርይ ሁኖ ሰገዱለት እንጂ፡፡” (Haimanote Abew of Saint Gregory Nyssa 60:17 - ሃይማኖተ አበው ዘቅዱስ ጎርጎርዮስ ዘኑሲስ 60፡17))

The union of the divine and the human is without return (ያለመመለስ / እንበለ ሚጠት). When Moses’ rod became a serpent and then returned again to a rod, there was a reversal (ሚጠት). But the mystery of Tewahedo admits no such return. Once the Word became flesh, the union is everlasting and irrevocable.

This union is also without mixture (ያለመቀላቀል / ዘእንበለ ቱሳሔ). It is not like milk and water blending to produce a third form. Rather, the divinity and the humanity are united in mutual preservation (በመጠባበቅ / በተዐቅቦ), each safeguarding its natural properties without confusion or alteration.

When Severus of Antioch spoke about the mystery of the union (Tewahedo), he affirmed that the faith we confess is neither imaginary nor deceptive, but true and real according to nature through the union: God became man, for He is truly God who became man. “የምናምንባት ሃይማኖት ይህች ናት፤ መስሎ በመታየት በሐሰት አልተወለደም፤ ባሕርይን እውነት በሚያደርግ በከዊን ነው እንጂ፤ ይኸውም በተዋሕዶ እግዚአብሔርም ሰውም መሆን ነው፤ እርሱ ሰው የሆነ አምላክ ነውና፡፡” (Haimanote Abew of Saint Severus 84:13 – ሃይማኖተ አበው ዘቅዱስ ሳዊሮስ 84፡13)

The union of the divinity and the humanity is without indwelling in the sense of one residing inside the other (ያለማደር / ዘእንበለ ኅድረት). It is not as if the divinity were placed into the humanity the way a prayer book is put into its bag. To claim that divinity is inserted into humanity in this way reflects the teaching of Nestorius, which the Church condemned and excommunicated at the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D. Likewise, this union is not like one cloth laid over another, nor like bread placed upon bread. Rather, it is a true and non - overlaping union without superimposition or layering (ያለመደራረብ / ዘእንበለት ትድምርት).

The mystery of the Incarnation (Tewahedo) is not like the temporary union of body and soul on earth, which separates at death; rather, it is an inseparable union (ያለመለያየት / ዘእንበለ ፍልጠት). This profound truth is explained by the fathers as follows:

“We believe that in all the works the flesh performed, the divinity was never separated from it, not for a single hour.  When our Lord and Savior became man, He united His divinity with His flesh. After this union, divinity and humanity were never separated in any work, for they cannot be divided. Just as divinity has no beginning, so humanity has no end after His resurrection.” ሥጋ በሠራው ሥራ ሁሉ መለኮት አንዲት ሰዓት ስንኳን በማናቸውም ሥራ ከእርሱ እንዳልተለየ እናምናለን፤ ጌታችን መድኃኒታችን ሰው በሆነ ጊዜ መለኮቱን ከሥጋ ጋር በተዋሕዶ አንድ እንደ አደረገ እናምናለን፡፡ መለኮትም ከትስብእት ጋር ከተዋሐደ በኋላ ከሥራ በማናቸውም ሥራ አንድነታቸው ፈጽሞ አልተለየም፤ መለየት የለባቸውምና፤ ለመለኮት ጥንት እንደሌለው ከትንሣኤው በኋላ ለትስብእትም እንዲሁ ፍጻሜ የለውም፡፡” (Haimanote Abew of Saint Aikondios 44:4-5 - ሃይማኖተ አበው ዘቅዱስ አዮክንድዮስ 44፡4-5). The Scripture also affirms, “ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ትናንትና ዛሬ እስከ ለዘላለምም ያው ነው።” (Heb. 13:8)

The union of divinity and humanity is not like wood and the axe, which can be joined and later separated; rather, they exist inseparably (ያለመነጣጠል / ዘእንበለ ቡዐዴ). In this, the mystery of God becoming man is truly marvelous; it even surpasses the wonder of His creation: “አምላክ ሰው የሆነበት ምስጢር እጅግ ድንቅ ነው፤ ዓለምን ከፈጠረበት ምስጢርም ይበልጣል,” says scholars. The Scriptures also affirm the same truths (John 1:1-18; John 3:18; 1 Corinthians 8:6).

Conclusion:

The Incarnation reveals a divine marvel surpassing even creation itself: God became man without change, without mixture, and without separation. In Christ, divinity and humanity coexist in perfect unity, each retaining its true nature, yet fully united in one Person. This mystery affirms that through Tewahedo, humanity is elevated and God’s love is made tangible. As the Fathers emphasize, this union is everlasting, inexpressible, and a source of eternal hope: truly, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8).