Jonah and God Changed His Mind (2)

Are Christmas and Good Friday special cases of how God normally works in the universe or exceptions to the rule?

Often times we act like the Incarnation is a one and one time only event. We deal with it in a way that it is so unique as to almost be considered 'out of character' for God. Much of that has to do with our efforts to defend Christianity's (and Jesus Christ's) unique status. One wants to make clear that Jesus is the One and Only. But what if we are missing out on the wider truth, that the Incarnation is, in fact, the most perfect and beautiful example of God's ongoing and regular mode of dealing with His creation?

Ancient Israel is replete with stories of God's visitation. Sometimes personally (cf. Abraham or Moses) and sometimes for the community (cf Exodus, Joshua). God is manifest in our midst in a variety of ways, fire being one, but also in human form (the angelic visitors to Abraham). The texts do not clearly differentiate between angels and God when they do. We also know that "the Word of God" seems to have a substantial existence. We are told it does things, like come, and it impacts the Prophets. The presence of God's Word within the prophet (or at other times the Spirit) is certainly on the border line of incarnation. After all, it is God speaking in our language. It is God limiting Himself to the constraints of spoken words.

Mystics encounter God in and through the world around us. God interacts with the human mind and human heart. God breathes His life into us. God is associated with the cult, the King, the prophet, the people, etc. He forms partnerships with individuals and also with the entire People of Israel (you will be my people and I will be your God). The depth and intensity of this particular relationship is most resoundingly expressed in the marriage covenant and Father-daughter language we hear time and again in the Scripture.

There is something about creation which is open to God's presence in our midst. In fact, one might say that the ontology is sacramental, that the actual existing world is intended to serve as a vehicle, in which and through which, the invisible God is manifest. That He can be seen, touched and encountered in the stuff of every day life. In particular, this is true of humans who are the most complete image and likeness of God.

With that in mind, the incarnation of Jesus, God become Man, is in fact consistent with how God has acted throughout time and in space.

It is that willingness of God to empty Himself which makes the Cross possible. In renouncing His power to control, and in investing Himself in relationship to His creation, God, in some real sense, has madeit possible to be rejected, and even, hurt. The book of Genesis says that we broke God's heart. Surely one must be careful to not overstate the case of divine passion. Surely. Yet, is it not equally dangerous to ignore such a thing entirely. To pretend like God is above it all, when perhaps, He has chosen to enter in our midst. Maybe the Cross of Jesus is, rather than an outlier, the symbol of all God has done since He made us. Perhaps, in embracing us, He has also embraced limitation and loss. If such is the case, and it seems to be [once again, as God encounters us in the dimension of time and space] then perhaps it may also be the case that God has not only relinquished (some) control, but that He also has partnered with us and has placed a great deal more into our hands than we are prepared to think.

Of course, when one is talking about the infinite God, it is important to remember , there is always much more to the story. Even so, this angle seems to me, to be Scriptural and worthy of thought.