Thursday, January 3, 2008
The wooden toy, Pinocchio, wants to be “a real boy” of flesh and blood. But have you ever wondered why?
When I was a child I thought it would be more fun to be a wooden toy if, like Pinocchio, I could walk and think and talk. After all, Pinocchio was able to walk on the ocean floor without drowning! Who knows what other amazing things his wooden body might be able to do that my frail one could not?
But Pinocchio lacked one thing. As a boy of wood, he would never truly be a part of those who had flesh and blood. He would not be a real friend of his classmates. He would not
experience what they experienced. More importantly, he would never be one with his maker, Geppetto, as long as he was only made of wood.
Jesus was made of even better stuff than our weak flesh and blood. God’s Son was eternal spirit. Divine and holy, Jesus was separated from us by an eternity of our sin. Like Geppetto’s love for the wooden toy, Jesus loved His creation. But unlike Geppetto, Jesus became like us, flesh and blood, and bore our sin in Himself, so that we might become like Him, holy and perfect.
Jesus became “a real boy” so that we could be, at last, His real sisters and brothers.
Prayer: My dear brother, Jesus, You were infinitely far away from me, but You came close to me through Your birth, life, death, and resurrection. Now let me draw ever closer to You. Amen.
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