When you think of power, what do you think of? What image is reflexively conjured by that word? Whatever it may be, it is likely not the image of a wiggling baby. The most vulnerable creatures amongst us, and it is the same form God took on to manifest His divine power and love.

The maddening paradox of the incarnation is that the power of the triune God was most supremely exemplified in an infant, and this was love. The Nativity possesses profound implications, yet we have construed the infant Christ as a means to the goal of the adult ministry of Jesus, wherein true glory is displayed. We pre-maturely depart from the Nativity to pursue divine power and love in the healings of the sick or the raising of Lazarus. We have thus reduced the infant Christ to a moment instead of the whole story. Yet, the entire incarnation is contained in the Nativity.

We may miss the view of power the wise men had in these words: “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?” (Matt. 2:2). A baby–is born–king. How masterfully does this reconfigure the idea of power? St. Gregory of Nyssa in The Great Catechism said, “God’s transcendent power is not so much displayed in the vastness of the heavens, or the luster of the stars, or the orderly arrangement of the universe…[but] in his condescension to our weak nature.” St. Gregory is inverting our view of power, not so much found in God’s cosmic heavy-lifting, but in the lowliness Christ made for Himself. Likewise, Martin Luther beautifully explicates the Nativity as follows, and I will leave you with these solemn words. Hear what divine power and love Luther proclaims is in the Nativity: “Look at the Child and forget all other thoughts…Watch him springing in the lap of the Virgin. Laugh with Him. Look upon this Lord of Peace and your spirit will be at peace…You cannot fear God, for nothing is more appealing to us than a babe. Are you frightened? Then come to Him, lying in the lap of the fairest sweetest maid…The power of sin…is overcome if you come to adore this gurgling Babe, and believe that He is come, not to judge you, but to save you.”