The Mystery of Incarnation: God Becoming Human

At the heart of AWE is mystery—the kind that cannot be solved but only contemplated and wondered about. Nowhere is this truer than in the mystery of the Incarnation: the Divine becoming human. It was the substance of ancient myths and at the heart of the Jesus story. Rather than making Jesus easier to understand, the Incarnation plunges us deeper into wonder.

Living five centuries after Christ, Dionysius the Areopagite wrote: 

“For the mystery of Jesus remains hidden. No reason and no intelligence have fathomed his essential nature. In whatever way he is understood, he remains utterly mysterious.” (Letter 3 to Gaius) 

My favorite early mystic, Maximus the Confessor, went even further: 

“The Incarnation is a mystery more inconceivable than any other. By taking flesh, God makes Himself understood only by appearing still more incomprehensible… Even when manifest He is always the stranger.” (Ambigua) 

The opening verses of John’s Gospel draw me into this paradox with a seemingly bottomless simplicity: 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh.” (John 1:1, 14) 

No passage is more resistant to flattening into a tidy explanation than the prologue of John. Each phrase opens a new door into wonder. John continues, “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.” This is Emmanuel, God with us. 

Why am I so drawn to this mystery? Perhaps because Incarnation reveals a God who does not remain distant but enters our story, choosing vulnerability over invincibility and humility over superiority. St. Paul describes this divine self-giving: 

“He existed in the form of God, yet did not consider equality with God something to cling to. Instead, He emptied Himself… He became human. He humbled Himself and became vulnerable.” (Philippians 2:6–8, TPT) 

Or perhaps I’m drawn to the Incarnation mystery because it shows that God and humanity are not separate. As Gregory of Nyssa wrote in the 4th century: 

“The Word, in taking flesh, mingled with humanity so that humanity might be deified by union with God.” (Against Apollinarius) 

Religion often tries to answer every question, codifying mystery into certainties. But Incarnation defies reductionism. It invites us not to explain, but to wonder with AWE. What does it mean for God to be human? For human to be God? Emmanuel? 

Aware. Be still and notice the incarnate presence of God with you and in you.
Wonder. Let the enormity of God’s humility and love stretch your imagination beyond comprehension.
Embrace. Allow the reality of Incarnation to settle into your heart and shape your life. 

In the mystery of Incarnation we discover this profound truth: God did not come to condemn humanity, but to inhabit it—and fill it with light. 

(Incarnation, by author with ChatGPT, 2025)

• St. Augustine: “God became man so that man might become God.” (Sermon 192) 
• Thomas Aquinas: “The incarnation is the perfect union of divinity and humanity, revealing God’s love for the world.” (Summa Theologica) 
• Julian of Norwich: “God became present in the world not as a distant king but as a friend and companion.” (Revelations of Divine Love) 
• Rumi: “The Beloved took on form so that the formless could be known and loved.” (The Essential Rumi, paraphrased) 
• The Upanishads 3.5.1: “The Infinite enters the finite, making the divine known in all things.” John 1:14: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (NIV)

AWE 
Aware.  Which quote speaks to you? 
Wonder.  Contemplate what this means to you. 
Enjoy/Engage/Experience.  What is your next step?

• St. Francis of Assisi: “God is present in the smallest of creatures and the humblest of tasks.” (Sayings of St. Francis) 
• Simone Weil: “The incarnation shows us that God is not far but present in the ordinary moments of life.” (Gravity and Grace) 
• Kahlil Gibran: “God listens not to your words save when He Himself utters them through your lips.” (The Prophet) 
• Rumi: “Do not seek the divine in distant places; it dwells within the moment you are in.” (The Essential Rumi) 
• Tao Te Ching 67: “The Tao is present in all things, from the smallest grain to the vast heavens.” Colossians 1:19-20: “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him…” (NIV)

AWE 
Aware.  Which quote speaks to you? 
Wonder.  Contemplate what this means to you. 
Enjoy/Engage/Experience.  What is your next step?

• St. Teresa of Ávila: “The incarnation is the ultimate gift of God’s presence, drawing the soul into His love.” (Interior Castle) 
• Rabindranath Tagore: “The divine is present in all beauty, calling us to see with eyes of wonder.” (Gitanjali) 
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “God became human so that humanity might share in His divinity.” (The Cost of Discipleship) 
• Rumi: “The Beloved hides in plain sight, longing for you to see and know.” (The Essential Rumi) 
• Matthew 28:20: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (NIV)

AWE 
Aware.  Which quote speaks to you? 
Wonder.  Contemplate what this means to you. 
Enjoy/Engage/Experience.  What is your next step?

• St. John Chrysostom: “The incarnation is the ultimate humility of God, who took on our frailty to bring us to glory.” (Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew) 
• Henri Nouwen: “In the incarnation, God chose vulnerability, showing us that love is found in humility.” (The Return of the Prodigal Son) 
• Albert Schweitzer: “Reverence for life is the response to the divine in all that lives.” (Reverence for Life) 
• Rumi: “God entered the world as a servant, teaching us that greatness is in humility.” (The Essential Rumi) 
• Rig Veda 10.72.3: “The Eternal humbled itself to create, becoming small to embrace all.” Philippians 2:6-7: “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” (NIV)

AWE 
Aware.  Which quote speaks to you? 
Wonder.  Contemplate what this means to you. 
Enjoy/Engage/Experience.  What is your next step?

• St. Irenaeus: “The incarnation is God’s love made flesh, a bridge between heaven and earth.” (Against Heresies) 
• Maximus the Confessor: “Through the incarnation, the divine and human are united, revealing God’s plan for creation.” (Ambigua to John) 
• Walt Whitman: “If anything is sacred, the human body is sacred.” (Leaves of Grass) 
• Rumi: “In every face, see the Beloved’s face; in every heart, hear His call.” (The Essential Rumi) 
• The Upanishads 3.2.1: “God is not separate but dwelling within, a spark of the Eternal in all beings.” Galatians 4:4-5: “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” (NIV)

AWE 
Aware.  Which quote speaks to you? 
Wonder.  Contemplate what this means to you. 
Enjoy/Engage/Experience.  What is your next step?

• Rumi: “The Beloved took on form so that the formless could be known and loved.” (The Essential Rumi, paraphrased) 
• Simone Weil: “The incarnation shows us that God is not far but present in the ordinary moments of life.” (Gravity and Grace) 
• St. Teresa of Ávila: “The incarnation is the ultimate gift of God’s presence, drawing the soul into His love.” (Interior Castle) 
• Henri Nouwen: “In the incarnation, God chose vulnerability, showing us that love is found in humility.” (The Return of the Prodigal Son) 
• Maximus the Confessor: “Through the incarnation, the divine and human are united, revealing God’s plan for creation.” (Ambigua to John) John 1:14: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (NIV)

AWE 
Aware.  Which quote speaks to you? 
Wonder.  Contemplate what this means to you. 
Enjoy/Engage/Experience.  What is your next step?