THE INCARNATION There was a King. His Grand Vizier was a learned and saintly man. When traveling in Palestine, the Vizier was deeply moved as he heard about Christ and became a Christian. When he returned home he told the people that he was a Christian and that he believed in the Saviour who came to this world to save sinners. The King said to him : ‘ If I want anything to be done, I tell my servant and it is done. Then why should the King of Kings who is able to save men by a word come to this world Himself and become incarnate?’ The Vizier asked for a day of grace before giving his answer to the question. He sent for a skilled carpenter and asked him to make a doll and dress it up exactly like the one-year-old son of the King and to bring it to him the next day. The next day the King and his Minister were in a boat together and the King asked him for an answer to his question. At the same time the carpenter came and stood on the shore with his doll. The King stretched out his arm to receive the child who, he thought, was his own child. According to instructions previously given by the Vizier, the carpenter let the doll fall into the water. The King at once jumped into the water to rescue the drowning child. After a while the Vizier said: ‘King, you needed not to leap into the water. Was it not enough to bid me do it? Why should you yourself jump in?’ The King reflected: ‘It was a Father’s love.’ - Sadhu Sundar Singh in a Sermon in Tamil