Christmas Day
Jn
1:1-14
12/25/22
The pastoral
ministry deals with life and death. The
longer I serve in the Office of the Ministry, the more I am struck by
this. Pastors deal with life as it
begins. The second floor at Memorial
Hospital in Carbondale is the only part of a hospital in our area that I like
to visit, because that is where babies are born. I recently visited there as I saw Austin
Mallow and his new born son. I was
reminded again about how tiny human beings start out as I looked at little
Grayson.
Much of the
ministry deals with death. Pastors care
for people in the midst of physical conditions that bring the threat of
death. We usually stay very well
informed about the situation of members with a serious illness like
cancer. Because the wages of sin is
death, we know that apart from the return of Christ, these congregation members
will eventually die. It is not a question of if, but rather when. Often the pastor is there at the end, or very
close to it. Then the final act of
pastoral care takes place in the funeral service and the committal at the
cemetery.
At the same
time, pastors deal with life and death in another way. We encounter people who are dead – they are
spiritually cut off from God. Through
the word of God and the waters of baptism they receive new life. They are born
again. And then on the other hand, we see people who have received new life in
Christ slip back into spiritual death as they cease to be fed with the Means of
Grace and adopt the world’s view of Christ.
The Gospel
lesson for Christmas Day speaks about life and being born as a child of
God. It also speaks about those who do
not receive Christ and believe in him. These are people who are trapped in
death. As we celebrate the birth of
Jesus, John tells us the incredible truth about the baby in the manger. He teaches us to recognize that how we view
this child – who he is and what he has done – is a matter of life and death.
Our Gospel
lesson begins with the words, “In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. All
things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was
made.” John starts the Gospel with words the recall Genesis chapter one. He speaks about the second person of the
Trinity and refers to him as “the Word.”
This is a term that has a rich background in the Old Testament for it
describes God’s powerful self-expression in creation and revelation. At the
same time, it was a word that was used in the Greek world to describe the ordering
principle of the universe.
John
says that this One was in the beginning and was with God. More than that, he
was God and all things were created through him. John’s language brings us into the mystery of
the Holy Trinity, because we learn that there is a complexity to God. There is
only One God, and yet we hear about relationships within God himself. John can
refer to the Word separately, and then at the same time tell us the Word is
God.
Then
the apostle tells us, “In him
was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness has not overcome it.” In the
Word we find life. He has brought life as the Creator. We learn in the Gospel
that he also brings life as the One who rescues us from the devil and sin. This life is described as a light that shines
in the darkness.
John
says in our text that, “The true light, which enlightens everyone,
was coming into the world.” That is what
we celebrate today. The Word – the true light that brings life – came into the
world. Yet he did it in the most mysterious and unexpected way, for John tell
us at the end of our text: “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.”
We learn
that the Son of God – the Word who made the creation – entered into that
creation as he became flesh and dwelt among us.
In these words, the Holy Sprit expresses the mystery of the incarnation. God is spirit. And yet, God took on flesh – he became man
without ceasing to be God. The baby
lying in the manger on Christmas morning was not just a baby. He was the Creator of the universe.
The Son of
God did this to rescue us from the devil and sin. He did it to rescue us from death. The Father sent forth the Son to be incarnate
by the work of the Holy Spirit in the virgin Mary. He acted in this way because
of what sin had done to us. Jesus says
to Nicodemus in chapter three, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see
the kingdom of God.” Nicodeus is confused and asks, “How can a man be born when
he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus
answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of
water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of
the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Flesh
here does not refer to created humanity as it does in our text. Instead, set in opposition to Spirit, it
means the sinful, fallen nature. Sinful
fallen people give birth to sinful fallen people. This means that all people are born as slaves
of sin. All people are trapped in death because of that sin. The only thing that can change this is new
birth – new life that comes from God.
That
is why the Son of God entered into the world – why he became flesh. He was in
the world in order to rescue us from sin, the death, and the devil.
Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to
you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain
in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you
free, you will be free indeed.” Jesus
was in the flesh in order to be the sacrifice that has won forgiveness for
us. John the Baptist declared when he
saw Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the
sin of the world!”
The Son of
God became flesh to be nailed to a cross. Our Lord said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever
believes in him may have eternal life.” Lifted up on the cross in the flesh the Word
that created the world – who created life – died in order to free us from
sin. He died to make real life - life in
fellowship with God - possible.
Dead
and buried in a tomb, on the third day Jesus rose from the dead. Crucified in the flesh, he rose from the dead
in the flesh. The risen Lord invited
Thomas, “Put
your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my
side.” Because of his death and resurrection, Jesus is now the source of life.
He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word
and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into
judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
Because of
Jesus we already have eternal life now instead of God’s judgment. John’s Gospel states in chapter three, “Whoever
believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall
not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” And we will also have resurrection life on
the Last Day. Our Lord declared, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is
coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son
of God, and those who hear will live.”
You are here
this morning because God has given you new life through Christ. John says in our text, “He came to his own, and his own
people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who
believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of
God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh
nor of the will of man, but of God.” God
has made you the children of God. He has called you as his own. This had
nothing to do with your own reason or strength.
Instead, it is God who did this.
He gave you new life as you were born again of water and the Spirit.
Because
this is true, we are able to say the words from First John at the beginning of
the Divine Service with confidence: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive
our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We live in the assurance that our sins are
forgiven and that we have eternal life with God. We have a life that not even
death can stop. And we also know that we
will have the final and complete life God intends on the Last Day, for Jesus
said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever
believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who
lives and believes in me shall never die.”
This
is the love that the Son of God has revealed for us. He was willing to enter our world and become
flesh. He was willing to take our sin, and to suffer and die as the sacrifice
for us. He served us. And now he calls us to share this love with
one another – especially with fellow believers.
Our Lord said, “A new commandment I
give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you
also are to love one another. By this
all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one
another.”
Love – caring for others and putting their needs before our own becomes the defining feature of our lives as Christians. As John states in his First Epistle: “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
On this Christmas Day
we give thanks for the baby in the manger.
He is the Word – the Son of God who created the universe. But he is the Word become flesh, for he has
taken on humanity, and is true God and true man. He became flesh to give us life by his death
on the cross and resurrection from the dead. Because of this, we are now able
to be the children of God. We have been
born of God as we were born again in Holy Baptism. Forgiven and having received life from God,
we have eternal life now, and the assurance of sharing in Christ’s resurrection
on the Last Day. Because this is so, we
live in the present sharing the love of Jesus Christ with those around us.
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