Why Did Jesus Become a Man?

Image curtesy of John Dillion (CC) 2015

Why was Jesus born as a baby in Bethlehem? This Christmas season, enjoy a story illustrating the answer.

Today in church, our pastor shared a Christmas story to illustrate a point in his sermon. As I listened, I realized the story was a powerful answer to the question, “Why did Jesus become a man?”
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Perhaps you already have an answer. Maybe you’ve heard but are not satisfied with doctrinal explanations such as, “Jesus had to be a man because only a human sacrifice could take away the sins of humanity.” While such statements may be true, the following story illustrates God’s reasoning in a vivid and relatable way. I hope you enjoy it. (To the best of my ability, I will quote my pastor directly.) The original story came from a local minister, Paul Harvey.

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Years ago, there was a man who was more or less an agnostic. His wife and children believed, but he didn’t. He had a problem with the virgin birth, among other doctrines. However, he didn’t share his opinions with the community because he didn’t want to offend anyone. He was a good man.

One Christmas season, his wife and children went to their church’s Christmas play. The church was right down the road from their house. The man didn’t want to go because he didn’t want to look like a hypocrite: he didn’t believe and didn’t want to pretend that he did.

So he stayed home.

Before long, a terrible snowstorm descended. Not just a light snow—a serious storm. As he sat in his house, he kept hearing banging on his large picture window, as though someone was trying to get inside. Curious, he went to the living room. Two sparrows pecked at the window. They felt the warmth inside and wanted to come. They knew they would perish in the storm.

​The man had compassion for the birds. He said, “I will shovel away the snow, open my barn door, and let them in so they don’t freeze to death.”

​He did just that. However, when he opened the door, the sparrows didn’t come inside. They continued to peck at the window. So, the man fetched some bread crumbs and laid a trail to the barn. Still, the birds didn’t come. Next, the man tried to shoo them to safety, but he only scattered them. They didn’t understand that he was trying to help them or that he had a safe place prepared for them.

"Sparrow Resting" by Unsplash (CC) 2016

Frustrated, he asked himself, “What else can I do?”

A thought came to him. If only he could become a bird. Then he could speak their language, tell them about the barn, and lead them to safety.

As soon as this thought struck him, the church bells rang. Then, and only then, did the man understand why Jesus came to Earth as a man. He came to speak our language, tell us about the place God has prepared, and lead us to safety.

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I hope you were touched as I was by this story. Have a merry Christmas!