Once the hoopla and confusion of Christmas fades and the wonder of Christ’s birth fades, Christians consider the harder questions that arise from the Incarnation-questions such as “Why did God have to come to us in this way?” and “Was it necessary for Christ to suffer during His life and especially in His death?” The short answer is that Jesus came not only to show God’s love and presence with us, but He also came to bear our mortality so that He could die to save us from our sins. God is revealed in the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. That’s the irony of the Incarnation-that God is revealed only in human vulnerability.