Why did God send His only begotten Son? Many Christians may respond to this by saying, “To save the world from sin”. This is a very plausible answer, and something which Christ does certainly accomplish. However, is that truly why God became man through the incarnation? For example, is the incarnation contingent on the fall of mankind? If Adam and Eve never sinned, would the incarnation never have happened?

John Duns Scotus was a Franciscan philosopher who lived in the late 13th century. One of his most noteworthy contributions to Catholic theology is his writing on the incarnation. Duns Scotus argued that God becoming flesh was not some sort of option B, once the human race decided to sin and go off track. In other words, he didn’t think it was very similar to the angry flood in which only those on Noah’s Ark survived to start over again. 

Duns Scotus believed that the incarnation was plan A from the beginning. This means, whether Adam (and each of us since) decided to sin or not, that God would take the form of a human. The argument relies on the premise that the incarnation is an incredibly important gift from God. In fact, it must be considered the most important gift from God. 

For Duns Scotus, it all comes down to one word: Love. The incarnation is an act of true love from God the Father. 

For Christians, both Good Friday and Easter Sunday, both the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, must always be on our mind. This holds true even for Christmas, which is the celebration of an infant in the manger. However, seeing the incarnation as strictly a means to the end of the Cross and empty tomb would be doing an injustice to God’s wonderful gift of love in its purest form. 

The incarnation cannot stand as a model to us Christians as an act of redemption from sin. We, as humans, have no right to judge and redeem, for that is reserved only for God. However, the incarnation can stand as a model to love. For, not only do we have the capability to love, but that is what Jesus deemed to be the first and greatest commandment. Therefore, this Christmas, let the incarnation be an inspiration for selfless acts of true love. Actions which require complete surrendering, vulnerability, and an openness to new life. 

This Advent, reflect on how you would respond to the question, “why did God send His only begotten son?” Does your answer begin with a reflection on our sin? Or rather does it begin with a reflection on God’s love?