“Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, … was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.”
1 Timothy 3:16
Theologian, philosopher, and Bishop of Hippo, Augustine, 354-430 AD:
“Man’s Maker was made man, that … the Bread might be hungry, the Fountain thirst, … that the Truth might be accused by false witnesses, the Judge of the living and the dead be judged, … Justice be sentenced by the unjust, the Teacher be beaten with whips, the Vine be crowned with thorns, the Foundation be suspended on wood; that Strength might be made weak, that He who makes well might be wounded, that Life might die.
“He was made man to suffer these and similar undeserved things for us, that He might free us who were undeserving. And He who on account of us endured such great evils, merited no evil; while we who through Him were so bountifully blessed, had no merits to show for such blessings…. He who before all ages and without a beginning … was the Son of God, saw fit in these latter days to be the Son of man; and He … was made in the mother whom He had made, that He might be born here on earth of her who could never have been anywhere except through Him.”
“Man’s Maker was made man, that … the Bread might be hungry, the Fountain thirst, … that the Truth might be accused by false witnesses, the Judge of the living and the dead be judged, … Justice be sentenced by the unjust, the Teacher be beaten with whips, the Vine be crowned with thorns, the Foundation be suspended on wood; that Strength might be made weak, that He who makes well might be wounded, that Life might die.
“He was made man to suffer these and similar undeserved things for us, that He might free us who were undeserving. And He who on account of us endured such great evils, merited no evil; while we who through Him were so bountifully blessed, had no merits to show for such blessings…. He who before all ages and without a beginning … was the Son of God, saw fit in these latter days to be the Son of man; and He … was made in the mother whom He had made, that He might be born here on earth of her who could never have been anywhere except through Him.”
Scripture Focus
Hebrews 2:14-18
Insight
“There’s a tumult of joy/ o’er the wonderful birth,/ for a virgin’s sweet boy/ is the Lord of the earth.” (Josiah G. Holland, 1872)
Bible In A Year
- Micah 5-7
- Proverbs 23
- Revelation 1-2