Lutheran Bishop Stephen Bouman tells of standing behind an altar in a small crypt chapel of the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, the Holy Land, the place where Mary heard that she was going to have a baby. He saw some Latin words carved into the altar:  Verbum caro factum est, “The Word was made flesh.” But then he noticed that there was one other little word in Latin. That word: h–i–c. Hic. “Here.” Verbum caro hic factum est. “The Word was made flesh here.” Probably whoever authorized that inscription meant it to refer to that specific location, implying that it was on that exact spot that the incarnation took place. While I have not been to the Holy Land, I’m told there are a lot of places that claim to be the exact location of important stories from the Bible. But I’m not sure we can know with any degree of certainty the exact physical location of any event in Scripture.

What we do know is that it happened. God became flesh here, on earth, for us all. I guess we can speak of the “hicness” of God, the nearness of God, that He was here with us in the flesh. It was here that He lived, here that He suffered, here that He died and here that He rose again for our salvation. Right here amongst us.

In Ezekiel 37:27 God promised His chosen people: “My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

Paul spoke of that promise being fulfilled in 2 Corinthians 6:16  “As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’”

John tells us there will be an even greater fulfillment of that promise in the New Jerusalem:  “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” (Revelation 21:3)

John had also written about this in His Gospel: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14)

The Good News is that even though He ascended bodily into heaven after His work here was done, and He is not with us physically as He was prior to that, He is still here.

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified … for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Matthew 28:20 “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Right Here. Now and forever. Amongst us.