One reason I join the group studying the Greek New Testament most Friday mornings is because I love words. I love making connections between words. It’s great fun to learn and think about the roots of words. Etymology as the study of the history of words and evolution of language can be a source of great insight into how cultures make meaning. When I consider particularly theological words, I like to break them down if possible. In seminary one learns all sorts of big words for things that, on their own, just sound pretentious. We don’t often use the words ontology, epistemology or eschatology in everyday conversation. But the way I remembered what these words meant was to break them down; “ology” relates to the study of something. “Onto” = being, “epistem” = knowing, “eschat” = end times.
Incarnation breaks down into “in” and “carnation” (not the flower). Carnation comes from “carne” or flesh. So incarnation simply can mean “in the flesh.” In the person of Jesus Christ we experience God in the flesh. We humans have the need for things we can touch, see, hear, taste and smell. God as an abstract idea doesn’t capture us. God as something we can touch, see, hear, taste and smell grabs us with all of our being.
In these days when we are so limited to who we can see in the flesh, it can be hard to remember that we have been grabbed by God in Christ. We have not tasted God around the communion table or smelled God in the coffee and baked goods of fellowship time in way too long. Yet Christ’s body – the church – continues to draw us in through our other senses. Sometimes we may individually lack a particular function of our bodies. This point in time the body of Christ doesn’t have full function of our whole body. Taking the long view though, across space and time, we see the whole picture of God in the flesh.
Experience parts of God’s body across the country though this collection of Advent video devotionals: https://videoadvent2020.tumblr.com/ (December 3 entry is done by me!)