Chapter 27 — Of the Incarnation of the Word as handed down in Sacred Scripture

In speaking of the divine generation we observed that certain things are befitting the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, in respect of his divine nature, and others in respect of his human nature, by taking which in time the eternal Son of God wished to become incarnate. Therefore, we must now proceed to treat of the mystery of the Incarnation. Of all the divine works this surpasses reason more than any, since one cannot imagine God doing anything more wonderful than that God the Son, true God, should become true man. And because it is the most wonderful of all, it follows that all other wonders are directed to faith in this, the greatest of all wonders, since in every genus, what is greatest is the cause of the rest.

Our faith in the Incarnation is based on divine authority. For it is said: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14); and speaking of the Son of God, the Apostle says: Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men (Phil 2:6–7).

The same is clearly indicated by the words of our Lord Jesus Christ himself, since at times he ascribes to himself lowly and human things that belong to him in his assumed human nature; for instance: For the Father is greater than I (John 14:28), and: My soul is very sorrowful, even to death (Matt 26:38). But sometimes he says of himself sublime and divine things, such as certainly belong to him in his divine nature: for instance, I and the Father are one (John 10:30), and: All that the Father has is mine (John 16:15).

The same is shown by the very things he is related to have done. That he feared, grieved, hungered, died, are things pertaining to his human nature; that by his own power he healed the sick, raised the dead, commanded the obedience of the earth’s elements, that he cast out devils, forgave sins, raised himself from the dead when he willed, that at last he ascended into heaven—all these things point to a divine power in him.