Text: John 1:1-14
The prophet Isaiah painted a curious picture: 7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, (Is 52) Think about that picture for a moment. For those watching and waiting and hoping for good news, even the worn and smelly feet of the messenger are a welcome sight. And when we see him, we might ask, What news do you bring? Tell us now. What’s the good word?
But the good WORD for Christmas is not so many words spoken by a messenger. No, the good Word for Christmas is a person, a person like no other, a person who is God’s message to us. So we look to this gospel lesson and say:
What’s the Good Word for Christmas?
I. Meet the tiny infant who created the universe
II. Meet the bright Son who shines in the darkness
III. Meet the glorious Son who came to live among us
Our church in San Jose put on a very impressive living Manger scene this year. It’s a good way to help us picture that first manger scene. We look at Joseph and Mary and the twists and turns their lives had taken. We think of the place we would never choose as a birthing place. Then we fix our eyes on the child. What comes to mind? If we didn’t know any better, we might say: How soft. How helpless. How fragile that small bundle of life. He is flesh and blood like you and me.
If that is what we picture this morning, a little baby, , a fresh new life, we’re picturing right. But that is only part of the picture. We need to see more. But this we can only see through the eyes of faith, eyes that can see in the Christ child what God reveals to us here through the Apostle John. Here is the first thing. This tiny infant, born to Mary is the eternal Son of God who made me and all things.
The Son of God is not named here as he was by the angel who spoke to Mary. John instead calls him the Word. It sounds kind of strange at first, but it makes sense. What do words do for us? They describe. They tell us about someone or something. Well Jesus Christ, the Son of God is that Word who makes God known to us.
Listen to what John says about the Son. In the beginning was the Word,… The very first words of John’s Gospel are the first words of Genesis. In the beginning. It’s no accident. This takes us back to the dawn of creation. Before anything was made, the Son of God was there. He existed.
John then continues. and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. That places us right in the middle of a divine mystery- the Holy Trinity. For the Bible clearly says there is one God. And yet there at creation was the Son who is true God and at the same time was with God. My Jewish friend says that’s nonsense. And I admit. This is not something I can understand. But that doesn’t make it any less true. The Son is God who was with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit and yet they are not three gods, but One.
3 Through him all things were made; He made the solar system that only now are we beginning to explore. He made this unique planet called earth, an oasis of life in a parched desert of lifeless planets. It was all made through him. The earth was placed in its orbit around the sun. It was set on its axis so that we have the seasons we do. Without him nothing was made that has been made.
Think about that as you picture the child of Mary. Usually we stand, looking down at babies. We can’t help it. We are big. They are small. But don’t let this Child’s size fool you. Meet the tiny infant who created the universe. Meet the Word, the Son God, who became flesh. Then come. Come like the shepherds who came that first night. Come like the magi who came later. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. (Ps95:6)
Have you ever witnessed the power of a laser beam? I once lived near White Sands Missile Range. There they developed a laser with light so strong it could knock a missile out of the sky. A laser can also pierce that long stretch of darkness between here and the moon and shine a light on its surface. But a laser cannot compare with this Child born to Mary. He would shine a better and brighter light. So what’s the good Word for Christmas? Meet the bright Son who shines in the darkness.
There was a time when the only darkness experienced came when the sun set in the sky and Adam and Eve rested from their work in the Garden. But when sin entered our world in that same Garden, a not so welcome darkness came upon us all. The prophet Isaiah spoke of it: See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples. (Is 60:2) We once lived in that darkness if you can call it living. That darkness ruled our hearts with sin and unbelief. It cast a terrible shadow of hopelessness and death on us all.
There is only one light that could ever pierce that kind of darkness. John the Baptist, pointed Him out to the people of his day. Jesus, the son of Mary, the Son of God is that light. He is that light that shines in the darkness.
But the darkness has not understood it. The darkness of unbelief is blind to it. It is utter foolishness to the world. The Christopher Hitchens try to extinguish the light and yet the Son still shines. The Son shines in heaven and on earth in the hearts of million s of people. The darkness of evil and the evil one have tried to overcome it. Sometimes by attacking the truth. Other times by attacking God’s people. But the Son still shines.
He shines He sines Hon a world lost in darkness, looking everywhere for God, in nature, inside themselves, in man-made religions, but not finding him. The Son lights the way. For He is the Way to God. He is the way to know God, to know his mercy and forgiveness. And he is the way to life To a world dying and decaying, a world so full of violence and hatred, he brings life, real life, life with God, the hope of eternal life. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
So what’s the good word for Christmas? Remember what we sang on Christmas Eve by candlelight. Radiant beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace. So what’s the good word for Christmas? Meet the bright Son who shines in the darkness.
A boy heard a knock on the front door on. He ran to the door as children are prone to do. Who could it be? It was his dad, finally home from the war. That boy did not say, what did you bring me? Instead he wrapped his arms around the greatest gift his dad could bring: himself. His father had come home to live with his family once more. And here again let’s think about the good Word of Christmas. For here we meet the glorious Son who came to live among us.
This Child is one of a kind. He is God, the Father’s one and only Son. And John tells us here. We have seen his glory. That glory that was his from all eternity. The Apostles saw it when he changed the water into wine, when he raised the widow’s son back to life, when he stood on that mountain transfigured before them, They saw his glory when he conquered death and ascended to the right hand of God.
Well this glorious Son came to live among us. The Word became flesh, Jesus, our Immanuel. God with us. And he came full of grace and truth. For this we cannot thank the Lord enough. For like him, I was born a child. But not holy like him. Sinful. And once more this season we’ve proved it to be the case. I don’t have to point it out. You know and so do I. We know the kind of words, the kind of thoughts that can show up in our lives.
But he is full of grace, not half full, but full to overflowing. He is full of that grace that would move him to make that life’s journey from a manger to a cross to die for us all. He is full of grace, full of God’s amazing love that would move him to wear my shame, my sorrow, my guilt. And why? So I could wear his perfect robe of righteousness and sit at the wedding feast of heaven.
And he lives among us now. Think about it. When the Israelites made their way across the desert, God promised to be with them. If you could not sleep at night, you could always step outside your tent and look to the tent of tabernacle. There you would see that pillar of fire. Yes, God is still among us. In the daytime, if you wondered where this day would take you, you could always look up to that pillar of cloud out front above the tabernacle. It’s Ok, God is leading us.
But God promised his people something far better than a pillar of blazing fire. He promised them something far better than a tent in which he promised to dwell. He promised a child, born of a virgin, Immanuel, God with us, the Word now become flesh. And so how can he not be with us? In fact, how can God draw any closer to you and me? For the Son of God has become our brother. What a friend we have in Jesus. What a friend as we begin a new year.
So what’s the good word for Christmas? An iPad, a bike, a pretty piece of jewelry, an engagement ring? All those things are nice, even exciting but none can compare with the good WORD that God gives. Hail, hail, the Word made flesh, the babe, the Son of Mary. AMEN.