“We know that there are three comings of the Lord… In his first coming, our Lord came into our … weakness; in His middle coming, He comes in spirit and power; in the final coming, He will be seen in glory and majesty.” - St. Bernard of Clairvaux
When St. Bernard wrote this, he no doubt understood the glory of the incarnation. When the Word first condescended (and I use this word in the truest sense of it, not as an act of looking down in scorn, but as an act of ultimate love and sacrifice: that the creator of the heavens and the earth would become one of us) into the human form, it was more than a mere act of love and kindness or a way of redeeming just our souls.
It was a redemption of the body in its entirety—a reclaiming of our human form. It was more than a redemption of our souls, however significant that is in our quest to become one with the One, because it was a reclaiming of our form, a sanctifying of what was corrupted by sin. We are in the image and likeness of God, so of course He would descend and make us new.
I am, of course, drawing largely from St. Athanastius’ work On the Incarnation, which covers in more detail what I am badly explaining, and from discussions with my peers in seminar to attempt to make a point that I have been thinking about for a year, whether consciously or unconsciously.
Roughly speaking, God had to redeem our bodies because of the nature of what they are: they are His image, His creation, wholly His. If we are co-creators with Christ, co-heirs in His creation, it would not make sense to have us still be low, sinful beings.
In no way am I saying we are not sinful beings now, I am in fact saying the opposite. The significance here is both in the purification as it is in the necessity of it. I am, in short, trying to talk about the significance of the redemption of the body.
Yes, I know of several Medieval (and modern) theologians who would argue with me over this, but I think Athanasius has the right of it. There must be something important about the act of the Word becoming one of us, for God to still love us enough to give us his Son that we might be able to become one with Him.
We are low, sinful creatures, but through the Incarnation we are able to be redeemed, body and soul. That would make it a very Merry Christmas indeed. Happy holidays, friends.
