Jesus came forth from the grave still bearing our humanity. The Incarnate One is still incarnate. He is “not ashamed to call us brethren.” God entered into eternal solidarity with us as a model for the church entering into solidarity with the world as the real power of the gospel to win our hearts.

The birth of Christ in Bethlehem is the most scandalous thought imaginable because it contradicts all our notions of how power ought to behave. The idea of “God” equates in our minds to omnipotence, or the highest form of power. The idea of a “baby” equates in our minds the ultimate weakness and vulnerability. The fact that God shows up as a baby completely re-frames our notions of power. The fact is, vulnerability is the most powerful power of all.

The cross of Christ was shock therapy for a world addicted to violence, war, and retribution methods for conflict resolution. By voluntarily subjecting Himself, without retaliation, to the violent impulses of humanity, Jesus was demonstrating that the only way to establish lasting peace is by breaking the cycle of violence through forgiveness.

Israel's messianic hopes took on the form of political and military aspirations. By the time Jesus came, nobody expected a suffering Messiah who would advance an agenda of enemy-love in place of enemy-conquest. Jesus dashed their expectations of a military empire in order to rebuild in their hearts a different kind of hope for a different kind of kingdom, one established on love and not violence.

Old Testament prophets foretold that the Messiah would come as a deliverer of the captives and a mender of broken hearts, to establish a new kind of kingdom: “The government shall be upon His shoulders.”