Christmas Day – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. John 1:1-14 “The Word Became Flesh”
December 25, 2024 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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The Exordium
There are many Christmas movies out there that will tell you this is the season of miracles. It is a time of hope and joy. Well to say this is the season of miracles, then we must acknowledge why this is the season of miracles. We must go to the correct source to find the answer. Otherwise, why would this season have any more joy than any other season? What makes the season of Christmas truly special is something outside of us. This was the moment in time God decided His plan of salvation would now begin to unfold. It started off on a day, not special from any other day. A young couple began a journey from one end of the country to the other because it was the law. This young couple had not done any great deeds themselves. What made them special was hearing and believing God would keep His promise to them and now it was obeying what God had told them as He keeps His promise.
What did this promise and miracle entail? The angel had come to Joseph and said to him, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us) (Matthew 1:20b-23). The birth of a child, but not just any child. The birth of the Savior, God made Man has come. With great joy in God doing the impossible, please rise, as we sing Hymn # 142. Rejoice, Rejoice This Happy Morn.
Rejoice, rejoice this happy morn!
A Savior unto us is born,
The Christ, the Lord of glory.
His lowly birth in Bethlehem
The angels from on high proclaim
And sing redemption’s story.
My soul,
Extol
God’s great favor;
Bless Him ever
For salvation.
Give Him praise and adoration!
The sermon text for today is taken from the 1st chapter of the Gospel according to St. John. We read the verses once more in Jesus’ name:
The true Light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. 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. 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 Pray: LORD God, gracious Father, who in the fullness of time sent Your Son to assume our flesh and become our Brother, we thank You for Your truth and fatherly goodness in giving us this Savior, by whose birth we are delivered from sin, death, Satan, and hell; and we humbly ask You, keep us until the end in true knowledge of our Redeemer, that, with all the holy angels, we may rejoice at His nativity and behold Him, together with You and the Holy Spirit, in glory and majesty, now and forever. Amen. (The Lutheran Liturgy, companion altar book for The Lutheran Hymnal, p. 57)
The birth of the Christ child is one of the greatest mysteries. The people of Israel did not know what the coming of the Christ would entail. With clarity St. John records, “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 any thing made that was made.” The people did not understand that the Christ was from ancient days. The Son of God was there at the beginning. As creation unfolded, the Word of God, God’s Son, spoke the world into existence. As He makes all life, He is not going to sit by and not take care of it. “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.” As the Word makes life, John also writes why the Word is light. The world is in darkness and the Prince of darkness is its ruler.
As God’s people went through hard times, it looked as though the darkness was going to win. We even stand at the end of Scripture, and we have a hard time believing the darkness has been defeated. To prepare hearts for God’s great mystery and to put an end to the darknesses hold on the earth, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the Light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the Light.” With a road not easy to travel, John preaches repentance. John points sinners to the law. While many will try to avoid the law, to avoid hearing they have done wrong, John witnesses to the light because it is through the light that anything in our lives can change.
“The true Light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him.” Many will say it is unfair that God would allow such a rejection. Here is our free will at work. When we cave to what we desire, here is our rejection. As we pray that God would forgive us and save us, Isaiah says, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone (Isaiah 9:2). In the season of Christmas, the darkest time of the year, you are sitting here today with hope, because the light has shone on you and shines in your hearts.
It would not be as simple as shining His light in our hearts to get us out of the bind we are in. We have done so much wrong that we need someone to completely take our place. We need someone to be our substitute. The people in Jesus’ day also knew this. They knew that their fathers had not kept all of God’s laws. God uses His Word to clear their minds and to prepare them. Through prophesies they heard more and more about who the Christ would be. They would see that while the Christ would be able to do many amazing things, but even so He would be a suffering servant. As many of His own people would reject Him, there would be a remnant, who would receive Him and His work. “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.” He changed their hearts and to care for His people, we begin to see how the Son was able to accomplish His saving work.
The Son is going to have to do something special for man to become God’s children. God must come down from His throne room. While the Word of God changes hearts, the Word must come down to carry out the Father’s will. The question is, why would God want to come down in the flesh? Doesn’t this seem like the Word becoming flesh gets a down grade. We see from Scripture how mighty the preincarnate Christ was. The Angel of the Lord was able to go and do great and powerful things. For the love of what He had created in the beginning, the Lord did the unimaginable. By taking on the form of a servant, not making full use of His divine powers, by putting on the flesh of His creation, He understood what was needed for His creation’s protection. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8b). To put an end to His power, He must exchange His life of rule in heaven for the complete life of man on earth.
“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.” While many have forgotten why Christmas comes, there are a few who know that Christmas does not revolve around what children will find under the tree. The Word of God truly became alive. As God spoke life into His creation, so He then comes down from heaven with life, breathing as a little child in a manger. This is the glory of God, full of Grace and truth. As a baby, He didn’t look like a great mystery. To His enemies, He looked like an easy target. This is a gracious work as God did not have to take on this chore. Yet, in the humble stable bed, there was laid the truth. The truth is that man cannot do anything to save himself from the dangers of the darkness. Here the light shines through, so in the darkness, there is no place for evil to hide.
As the evil cowers in fear, at times, it will do its best to jump out on the attack. As temptations lurk around every corner, it is in our dangers and trials we see the joy of baby in the manger. If the Word had not come down in the flesh, His glory would have been the radiant glory that shone in the Old Testament where the people couldn’t even look at it. We would only see our sins. In the Word made flesh, in the baby in the manger, now we can look at the face of God and live. He comes and takes care of our problems, for some it will be physical ailments. For all people it will be their spiritual problems. Jesus would grow and go to battle against the darkness and win on the cross. He would not sin and instead provide forgiveness of sins on His wings. This would be later as the name of the Word made flesh would come to fruition in the name “God saves.” The true mediator on man’s behalf comes down from heaven as the writer to the Hebrews writes, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world” (Hebrews 1:1-2). The Word still speaks, and the message is still the message that we want and need to hear. The baby in the manger takes on our sin and death so we take on His eternal life.
As you hold on to the precious child’s eternal life and love, the Word made flesh is made flesh for the world. He saves the world from their sins. Like the Psalmist we can rejoice because of the Word’s continued activity in the world to change hearts. “Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The LORD has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations….Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD! (Psalm 98:1-2, 4-6). This great holiday continues to be a holiday of celebration. It is a celebration because if it was left in our hands, we would be lost in the darkness. In the darkness shines a bright light, the Word made flesh has come. The Word made flesh is the true gift of the season and as He comes into our hearts through the Means of Grace, you breathe in the sweet gift of life forever. Merry Christmas! Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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