God Came in Human Flesh

Over the centuries, multiple efforts have been made to document, confirm, support— and sadly, vilify— the birth of the Son of God. Ultimately, only God’s Word is the source to which we can turn for the truth regarding the birth of Jesus Christ.

“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18).

Nothing more can be added to the truth of this statement. God’s Word is final whether a person chooses to believe it or not.

Nevertheless, as humans, we never stop trying to understand the omniscient mind of God. When it comes to the birth of Jesus Christ, many have experienced some element of success in explaining this world-changing event. Of the many such successes it might seem strange for me to focus on Paul Harvey, the man who is known for the statement: “And now you know the rest of the story.” The following is a quote from his writings that tell the story of Christ’s birth in a modern parable. Through his giftedness in story-telling, we meet a farmer who was a religious skeptic.

One raw winter the man heard an irregular thumping sound against the kitchen storm door. He went to a window and watched as tiny, shivering sparrows, attracted to the evident warmth inside, beat in vain against the glass.

Touched, the farmer bundled up and trudged through fresh snow to open the barn door for the struggling birds. He turned on the lights and tossed some hay in a corner. But the sparrows which had scattered in all directions when he emerged from the house, hid in the darkness, afraid.

The man tried various tactics to get them into the barn. He laid down a trail of cracker crumbs to direct them. He tried circling behind the birds to drive them toward the barn. Nothing worked. Appearing as a huge alien creature, he had terrified them. The birds couldn’t comprehend that he actually desired to help.

The farmer withdrew to his house and watched the doomed sparrows through a window. As he stared, a thought hit him like lightning from a clear blue sky. “If only I could become a bird—one of them—just for a moment, then I wouldn’t frighten them so. I would show them the way to warmth and safety.”

At the same moment, another thought dawned on him. He had grasped the reason Jesus was born!

The whole idea of God coming to us in human flesh was—and still is—too much for some people to believe. But how else could God truly communicate with us?

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.”
Luke 2:11

“And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6