In Acts 14, the people of Lystra believe that Barnabas and Paul are the Greek gods Zeus and Hermes, who have come to visit the people. They exclaim; “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” As Christians, this sounds familiar. It sounds like incarnation language, in the same way Jesus has come to us. Philippians 2:7 states that Jesus was born in the likeness of men. This may raise a question. Does Acts 14:11 then indicate that the Greeks believed in incarnation? Does that somehow lessen the miracle of the incarnation of Jesus? Was Jesus’ incarnation the same thing as what the Greeks believed regarding the pantheon of gods, that the gods of Olympus would occasionally visit people in human form? Is their belief in the visitation of the gods equivalent to our understanding of Jesus as the Word of God became a man? I think the answer is no. And I would differentiate it this way; visitation is not the same thing as incarnation. The Greeks believed gods would come down and simply have the appearance of men. They believed the gods would “wear” humanity as a temporary disguise. In Jesus Christ, we know the Word of God truly became a man. Jesus didn’t just appear as human or put on humanity for a moment, like an actor in costume. Rather, the Word became flesh. It is the difference between wearing a Chiefs jersey and equipment, and actually playing for the Chiefs. One is wearing team gear. The other is actually being on the team. Jesus wasn’t just wearing human gear. Jesus was and is God, and in the incarnation became fully human forever. It is the difference between visitation and incarnation.