The Christmas season reminds us that the incarnation redefines power. Power has been grossly misrepresented by fallen humanity. Power has become a very human thing. The way in which humanity has mis-represented power through the years has created a situation where people run from the concept of God as the concept itself is inseparable from power. Not only this, the times in history where the perversion of power was justified by religion makes the situation even worse. In order for the concept of a sovereign God to become appealing whatsoever, there must be a redefinition of power. This is where Jesus comes in.
In Jesus, we see power is washing people’s feet. In Jesus, we see that power is meeting people’s needs. In Jesus we see that power is actually servanthood and submission to the needs of others. In Jesus we see that power is in a little baby. In Jesus we see that power is suffering and dying alone on a Cross. This is true power.
This is one of the purposes of Jesus’ life: to testify to the kind of God who rules over the cosmos. This God does not resemble Caesar, Alexander, The Hun, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, or any other fallen human being. This God looks like Jesu; the one who gives up privileges to be made one with those who need him most (incarnation). The one who suffers and dies with the isolated so as to obliterate isolation.
Jesus is power. This is the power of the resurrection.
Tim Keller says this: “When Jesus was with the Pharisees on the Sabbath he said, “I am not just someone who can instruct you to take rest; I am rest itself.” Now by his actions here Jesus is demonstrating, “I am not just someone who has power; I am power itself. Anyone and anything in the whole universe that has any power has it on loan from me.” (Jesus The King: Understanding the Life and Death of The Son of God (New York: Riverhead Books, 2011), 55.
