Incarnation, Crucifixion & Resurrection
The Incarnation
The incarnation is the Christian belief that God became human in the person of Jesus Christ. The word literally means “made flesh.” Christians believe that Jesus was not just a good teacher or prophet — he was God the Son taking on a human body to live among people on Earth.
John 1:14 states: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” This connects directly to John 1:1, which says the Word was God. So the Word (God the Son) who created all things became a human being — Jesus of Nazareth. This is one of the most important beliefs in Christianity.
Christians believe Jesus is both fully God and fully human. He was not half-God and half-human, nor God pretending to be human. He experienced everything humans experience — hunger, tiredness, pain, temptation — while also being divine. This is affirmed in the Nicene Creed: “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God.”
Jesus as the Son of God
Christians call Jesus the Son of God, meaning he has a unique relationship with God the Father. This is not meant literally — God did not have a child in the human sense. Rather, it means Jesus shares God’s divine nature and has existed with the Father for all eternity.
Several events in the Gospels confirm Jesus as the Son of God:
- At Jesus’s baptism, a voice from heaven said: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
- At the transfiguration, God’s voice again declared: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” (Mark 9:7).
- Jesus performed miracles — healing the sick, calming storms, raising the dead — demonstrating divine power.
The incarnation is significant for several reasons. It shows that God loves humanity enough to become one of us. It means God understands human suffering from personal experience. It also means that Jesus’s teachings carry the full authority of God — when Jesus speaks, God speaks. Finally, it was necessary for salvation: only someone who was both God and human could bridge the gap between a holy God and sinful humanity.
The Crucifixion
The crucifixion refers to the death of Jesus on a Roman cross. Jesus was arrested, tried, and sentenced to death by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. He was nailed to a cross and died on a Friday, now commemorated as Good Friday.
Christians believe the crucifixion was not simply a tragic execution — it was part of God’s plan to save humanity from sin. Jesus willingly gave up his life as a sacrifice. Before his arrest, Jesus prayed: “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42), showing he accepted his suffering as the Father’s will.
Christians believe Jesus’s death on the cross paid the price for human sin. Because Jesus was sinless, his death was a perfect sacrifice that restored the relationship between God and humanity. This is why the cross is the most important symbol in Christianity.
The Resurrection
The resurrection is the belief that Jesus rose from the dead three days after his crucifixion. On Easter Sunday, women visiting Jesus’s tomb found it empty. An angel told them: “He is not here; he has risen!” (Matthew 28:6). Jesus then appeared to his disciples over 40 days.
The resurrection is the most important event in Christianity. St Paul wrote: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile” (1 Corinthians 15:17). Without the resurrection, Christianity falls apart.
It proves Jesus is the Son of God. Only God could conquer death. The resurrection confirms that Jesus truly was divine.
It shows God’s power over death. Death is not the end — God has the power to raise the dead. This gives Christians hope that they too will be resurrected.
It confirms the promise of eternal life. Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25).
It is the basis of Christian worship. Christians worship on Sunday because it is the day Jesus rose. Easter is the most important festival in the Christian calendar.
The Ascension
Forty days after the resurrection, Jesus ascended (went up) to heaven. Acts 1:9 describes how “he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.” Two angels then told the disciples that Jesus would return in the same way.
The ascension is significant because it shows Jesus’s mission on Earth was complete. He returned to the Father, where Christians believe he sits “at the right hand of the Father” (the Nicene Creed) — a position of honour and authority. The ascension also prepared the way for the Holy Spirit to come at Pentecost, empowering the disciples to spread the Christian message. Christians believe Jesus will return from heaven at the end of time to judge the living and the dead.
The events of Jesus’s life form a connected sequence: the incarnation (God becomes human), the crucifixion (Jesus dies for sin), the resurrection (Jesus conquers death), and the ascension (Jesus returns to heaven). Each event is essential to the Christian understanding of salvation.