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“THE INCARNATION FROM A
JEWISH PERSPECTIVE”
(Image: Crucifixion, by Marc Chagall)
As we approach the time of the year when Christians remember
the birth of the Messiah, it is worth taking the time to consider the fact
that this subject constitutes a major divide between Christianity and
Judaism. The incarnation is understood as God taking upon Himself
human form and dwelling in His fullness within a physical body. The
Gospel of John says of Jesus that He “…became flesh, and made his
dwelling among us.”
In a broad sense, it is accepted that Judaism believes that God can
never be represented in human form, and this remains a major obstacle
for Jewish people accepting Jesus. Judaism recognizes that human
beings are created in the image of God, and that God is present in the
world and the nation of Israel. However, Christianity’s claim that Jesus
is God is simply not within the realm of Jewish thought. Yet the concept
is not foreign to mainstream and historic Judaism. Judaism believes that
the Torah was created before the world, thus historic Judaism came to
accept that the Word (The Torah) can be legitimately viewed as a form
of incarnation. Some Jewish scholars will argue that even the nation of
Israel is an incarnational process, and that Ezekiel 37 speaking of the
“dry bones” addresses this.