John 1:1-14 December 25, 2016 A+D
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
+ Amen +
Our text for the Nativity of Our Lord is from The Holy Gospel according to St. John, chapter one verses one and fourteen:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the God was the Word. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
So for our text.
Merry Christmas! John’s Gospel begins like no other. No wise men. No shepherds. No angels. No Mary and Joseph. No decree from Caesar Augustus. No list of genealogy. John's nativity account is like nothing else in all of Scripture. They are perhaps the most beautiful words ever written, the most elegant of the Scriptures. Martin Luther said that “This is the highest of all Gospel readings, and yet it is not, as some think obscure or difficult... There is no need of much pointed and sharp consideration, but only of plain, simple attention to the words.”1 Listen to how John’s Gospel begins by returning to the creation and summarizes in just a few lines who Jesus is, what He is, and what He has done. John's Gospel of the birth of Jesus Christ not only shows us the redemption of creation but reaffirms the goodness of creation2. Be still, and listen to the Voice of God:
In the beginning... In the beginning, there was nothing. No matter, no energy, not even a vacuum. Void. Not even emptiness – there wasn't anything to be empty. Nothing. And God said, “Let there be light!” In the beginning, there was the Word. The Word was with God, and God was the Word. Through speech, the universe came into being. Sun, moon, and stars. Millions upon millions of plants and animals. All that creeps, all that crawls, all that flies and swims. Also, a pair of caretakers to be stewards of His creation. “Everything He created worshiped Him and what was written was fulfilled, that He had created all things for His glory”. That voice, the Word, is eternal, uncreated. He made everything. That light shines on, even though we humans do not understand it. Theologians have written stacks of books that would fill this sanctuary trying to explain it.
Even so, light shines on, even when darkness tried to steal it from us. When the world fell into sin, when those first caretakers fell from grace, the devil stole it. And the Lord God pondered how to restore the birthright of His children that Satan had taken. “He allowed centuries to pass, and stayed silent in the mystery of his majesty”3, until the time he ordained came, the time we celebrate today.
On this day nearly two thousand years ago, the Word that spoke creation into being became a little baby, totally at the mercy of those His Father chose to care for Him. The Word became flesh. He walked our earth, he breathed our air. He went to church. He ate and drank, he slept. He cried. He grew up, physically and mentally. He learned to be a carpenter. Perhaps he even hit his thumb with the hammer as he learned. Maybe He even said “ouch” when He did it. He entered His creation and lived like one of His created, but with one enormous difference; He did it perfectly, without sin. Jesus did this because he was born that beautiful baby boy in the manger for one reason. To die.
How very human; after all, we live and we die. But that isn’t how it was supposed to be. When God looked over what He created, he called it “very good”. We were very good. We were perfect. But we lost our way, we turned away from the light, not knowing that the light was life – finding the dark to be much more enticing. Sin was so very easy. It still is. But do not be afraid of the dark. Do not be afraid because even though the punishment for our sin is eternal death, God’s gift is that little baby, born to die for you. Because Jesus did what we couldn’t, and paid the price on the cross, the gift of eternal life is yours. The gift of salvation is yours. Jesus is for you. No mere human is he, however. From the beginning, He is also true God from true God.
God loves His creation. That is why He made a promise for all mankind immediately after the fall. Satan would not be the victor. The devil cannot have you! The devil is powerless over you. God is no thief – he doesn't steal back in the night what was taken from Him. God paid the ransom demanded by the prince of lies’ deception and our unfaithfulness. You might even say that the ransom was too high, the price demanded by the original terrorist of old too great! Make no mistake – the devil didn’t make us do it, but he told us what we wanted to hear, and we bought into the lies. Nevertheless, the price had to be paid. But God did it gladly out of love. Love for you. “As He was ushering His firstborn into the world, He spoke 'All the angels shall adore Him.' If the angels for whom He did not die worship Him, what then shall we do, the ones for whom He died?”4 We fall on our knees, and we do only one thing.
He is the Word, not only words on a page, but a living Word that continues to be given to you every day. We in our arrogance think there has to be something we need to do, but there isn’t. God even took care of that for you – the ability to believe. When the Word enters you, you do only one thing. “Be still, and know that I am God”5…
Therein lies our mistake. So often today, we try to make God’s Word a user's manual for self-improvement; how does the Bible relate to me, apply to me, what affirmations can I take away today that will get me through the week? What do I take home from all this? That is not how this works. No. Instead, we must let the Word recreate us. “And you shall call his name Emmanuel which means ‘God with Us’”6. With you, in the sense of in you, a part of you. God in His wisdom shows us how His Word, Jesus, God with Us, is relevant today, relates to you today and is receivable by you each and every day. In the gift of baptism, He makes us His children because He loves us, and wants us to be His own. In the Lord’s Holy Supper, we receive the gifts of renewal and forgiveness of our sins, just because He loves us and knows we will stray like the children we are. Therefore He strengthens and nourishes us with the medicine we need to fight the temptations of the world, the power of the devil, and our own sinful nature. And as our Father, he forgives when his children stumble. When you read His Word and hear His good news proclaimed, He gives you His Holy Spirit to keep you in the true faith all the days of your life. He holds you, and he turns on the light, chasing away the shadows and banishing the nightmares.
Every day, you stubbornly cling to the darkness. Every day you put Jesus in a drawer, or in a box. Maybe you take Him out once a year and dust Him off. Thanks, but I got the same gift last year. Maybe you think you cannot be worthy of God’s mercy, and the gift cannot possibly be for you. Be still…
Be still and know He is God! To those who believe on His name, our Gospel says, he gives the power to become the children of God. Every day your loving Father picks up that gift and puts it in your hands again. When you leave the gift behind and it winds up in the lost and found, God picks it up and puts it in front of you again. No matter where we turn, there the gift lays to be picked up and opened over and over again. And we will need it often. Daily. Constantly. For all our days. Through His gift, Jesus prepares His Bride the Church to join him in eternal life in heaven, and finally a new earth where things will once again be as they were when God saw that His creation was “very good”. Walking the streets of the new Jerusalem, John tells us in Revelation, we will eat again of the fruit of the tree of life, and drink from the river of living water. Jesus says to you this day, “Behold, I make all things new”.7 The Sun of Righteousness will light our path for all eternity.
Yet there is still more for you in this life! But it is not what our reason tells us it should be. It rises above our feeble attempts to understand it. Contrary to our sinful desires, we learn that it is not all about you. It is about Christ for you. As we receive the Word and the Sacraments they recreate us. While we remain dead in our sin, we are made new. Jesus came to baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit. Fire burns down the overgrown forest, getting rid of the dead things in us so that new growth can occur. As our deadness begins to be cleared away by the Holy Spirit, the new growth becomes visible to those around us in our own words and deeds. It is not our doing, but the natural consequence of God’s great love for us. “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” as St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians.8 We become a further instrument of the light so that all mankind might come to know Jesus as their Savior. Beloved brothers and sisters, Jesus is for you. Thank you, Father – it's the same thing you got me last year, and it's just what I needed. “Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth to men of good will!”9
+ Amen +
And now may the peace which surpasses all human understanding keep your hearts and your minds focused on Christ Jesus. Be still, and know He is God!
+ Amen +
1LW vol. LXXV, Church Postil I, p.277
2Petersen, David H., God With Us, Emmanuel Press, Ft. Wayne, 2007, p.88.
3Löhe, William. The Word Remains, Fort Wayne, Emmanuel Press, p.9.
4Löhe, William. The Word Remains, Fort Wayne, Emmanuel Press, p.9.
5Psalm 46:10 ESV.
6Matthew 1:23 ESV.
7Revelation 21:5 NKJV.
8I Corinthians 13:13 NASB.
9Luke 2:14 NKJV.