Kevin bought me a small box in the shape of a golden crown. On the inside of the box is a tiny nativity with Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus in a manger. The box is a perfect reminder of the King of the Universe who was willing to lower Himself to become a baby clothed in flesh.
I wonder how the angels felt the first time they saw Jesus on earth. They had seen Him in all of His glory in heaven. Suddenly, He looked like an ordinary baby sleeping in a feeding trough. They could recall Him being more brilliant than the sun and more expansive than heaven’s throne room. In the manger, He needed a light to shine on Him to be seen and He was measured in inches. What did the angels think about such an event as this?
While the angels witnessed this phenomenon of glory being clothed in flesh at the birth of Jesus, the disciples saw the reversal during the ministry of Jesus over thirty years later.
Matthew 17:1-2
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
Peter, James, and John are the first humans to see the outward flesh of Jesus being transformed into light. They witnessed the inward deity of Jesus impacting the physical realm of Jesus. The glory was so powerful that His skin was changed to such a brilliant light that it was compared to the sun. The impact, whatever may have been taking place even at a cellular level, was so powerful that the garments on His body transformed as well into what could only be described as white light.
The gospel of Luke compared the transformation to a powerful force in the sky.
Luke 9:28-29
About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.
A flash of lightning holds over a billion watts of energy! His brilliance would have been so spectacular! I think it could only be seen in short glimpses for it would actually hurt physical eyes, just as direct viewing of the sun and lightning do to us today.
What the angels had witnessed of Jesus before He came to earth, the disciples experienced in reverse. The angels viewed glory clothed in flesh; the disciples saw flesh give way to glory.
Luke 9:34-36
While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.
The brilliant light was veiled again in flesh. The disciples now had gone through what the angels had felt decades before. Glory was dimmed by being contained in skin. However, what they had briefly seen, they would never forget. Later, they would share the experience with others as witnesses of when His flesh gave way to His inner light.
This Christmas may we be reminded of the gift of God, the glory of God, wrapped in human flesh. The disciples saw the gift unwrapped on a mountain. The angels saw the gift wrapped in a manger. Jesus is truly the gift of God, the glory of God, to us.