Exodus 40:17-21, 34-38; Titus 3:4-7; St John 1:1-18
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
St John’s Gospel doesn’t record the birth of our Lord. Instead, St John starts with his famous prologue about the Word becoming flesh. It is not the Gospel for Christmas Eve. That is Luke 2, And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed (Lk 2:1). John’s prologue, In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God (Jn 1:1) is the Gospel for Christmas Day.
And that works out well for modern piety. Usually Christmas Eve is the big service. That’s when the relatives come, the adult children who still live here but haven’t attended in years. Its a time when nostalgia pulls hard at the heart strings. Even a few of our neighbors - not many, but a few - wander in for a glimpse of the reason for the season; for something akin to a Charlie Brown Christmas. For the candlelight and carols. God bless them for that! We shouldn’t disparage them. They need to know the story, the details, of our Lord’s suffering birth and the gift that God gave to men that they might have peace with him.
But Christmas Day (if celebrated at all by some churches) is a much smaller service. Neighbors and house guests tend not to come. They are busy with gifts and big meals and their own family celebrations. Those who come on Christmas Day tend to be the better catechized and more demanding of preaching, hymnody and liturgy. We’ll, you did get DS III, so Merry Christmas for that.
But St John’s Gospel serves well not just for Christmas, but for always, because its not meant to stand alone. It is a supplement to the other Gospels, written after them and, in a way, dependent, upon them. Even after and upon most of of the New Testament, and, as you heard from the first reading, upon the imagery of the Old Testament! John’s purpose is to explain, often through detailed miracles and long conversations, what the other Gospels and the rest of the Scriptures showed. He doesn’t go into the whole Bethlehem bit because he expects you to already know it. His Gospel is more theological and many of our favorite passages are from it.
Catechized as you are, how jarring it is, each Christmas, to hear, And the Word became flesh. If not jarring for you it certainly was so for the first Christians to hear. Consider what Scripture has to say concerning the flesh up to this point: The Lord said, “My Sprit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh” (Gn 6:3). God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth (Gn 6:12). All flesh would perish together and man would return to dust (Job 34:15). And as you heard during Advent, All flesh is grass and all its beauty like the flower of the field. The grass withers and the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass (Is 40:6-8).
Long lay the world, in sin and error pining; imprisoned to the perverse and wicked desires of the flesh, living in hostility toward God, unable to please Him; railing against the Spirit, rebels and haters of the kingdom of God.
All flesh is grass. The grass withers, but the Word of the Lord remains forever. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Christmas is God coming into our world through the Virgin, taking up our frail and fallen flesh into Himself and assuming our cause and our curse under the Law.
The Word became flesh means that God now has hands that can be pierced for our transgressions. The Word became flesh means that God now has feet and a heel that can come down atop the head of the serpent. The Word became flesh means that God now has blood that can be poured out for the forgiveness of sins and the ransoming of many. The Word became flesh means that God as man was once laid to rest in a manger so also was He laid to rest in a borrowed tomb. But no more. He is not a baby and He is not dead. The Word made flesh sits at the right hand of the Father. That flesh does not rot or turn to dust. That flesh endures.
The Word became flesh and the Word endures forever now means that your flesh and blood shall endure. That the Son of God has assumed your humanity into His divinity means that even after your skin has been thus destroyed, yet in your flesh you shall see God, whom you shall see for yourself, and your eyes shall behold, and not another.
The Word became flesh. Thus the corruptible becomes incorruptible and the mortals become immortal, and we are saved. This will abide. This will last. Even after all the glitz and schmaltz and the crowds at the mall are gone, the Word they still shall let remain. They may not care for it. They may hate it. But it matters not, for it is the Word that none can deny or mistake. He endures forever.
And so has He, the Word made flesh, washed and regenerated you with His watery hand. He has poured out His Holy Spirit richly upon you. You are begotten from above. You are justified. You are children. You are heirs. You are His. Your frail flesh shall soon leave behind the corruption of this present age and be like the angels in heaven - holy, alive, and good, full of pious mirth - because the Word became flesh and now flesh endures. Your flesh, after His flesh, will receive His reward in due time. In the meantime you wait and are at peace.
And here, beloved, is His fullness - His humanity and His divinity - His Body and Blood, grace upon grace, overflowing to you. Here, at His Altar, is your Bethlehem, your House of Bread. For He who was once placed into a feed trough for beasts, has made Himself food for men who became beasts by their sin. For the Word became flesh. It did what He was sent to do: He was made man in order to make men His again. He has called you back. He speaks you clean. He forgives your sins and gives you faith and eternity together with His Father by His Spirit, who with the Son, be glory now, as it was in the beginning, world without end. Amen.
Merry Christmas, dear Christians.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
St John’s Gospel doesn’t record the birth of our Lord. Instead, St John starts with his famous prologue about the Word becoming flesh. It is not the Gospel for Christmas Eve. That is Luke 2, And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed (Lk 2:1). John’s prologue, In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God (Jn 1:1) is the Gospel for Christmas Day.
And that works out well for modern piety. Usually Christmas Eve is the big service. That’s when the relatives come, the adult children who still live here but haven’t attended in years. Its a time when nostalgia pulls hard at the heart strings. Even a few of our neighbors - not many, but a few - wander in for a glimpse of the reason for the season; for something akin to a Charlie Brown Christmas. For the candlelight and carols. God bless them for that! We shouldn’t disparage them. They need to know the story, the details, of our Lord’s suffering birth and the gift that God gave to men that they might have peace with him.
But Christmas Day (if celebrated at all by some churches) is a much smaller service. Neighbors and house guests tend not to come. They are busy with gifts and big meals and their own family celebrations. Those who come on Christmas Day tend to be the better catechized and more demanding of preaching, hymnody and liturgy. We’ll, you did get DS III, so Merry Christmas for that.
But St John’s Gospel serves well not just for Christmas, but for always, because its not meant to stand alone. It is a supplement to the other Gospels, written after them and, in a way, dependent, upon them. Even after and upon most of of the New Testament, and, as you heard from the first reading, upon the imagery of the Old Testament! John’s purpose is to explain, often through detailed miracles and long conversations, what the other Gospels and the rest of the Scriptures showed. He doesn’t go into the whole Bethlehem bit because he expects you to already know it. His Gospel is more theological and many of our favorite passages are from it.
Catechized as you are, how jarring it is, each Christmas, to hear, And the Word became flesh. If not jarring for you it certainly was so for the first Christians to hear. Consider what Scripture has to say concerning the flesh up to this point: The Lord said, “My Sprit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh” (Gn 6:3). God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth (Gn 6:12). All flesh would perish together and man would return to dust (Job 34:15). And as you heard during Advent, All flesh is grass and all its beauty like the flower of the field. The grass withers and the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass (Is 40:6-8).
Long lay the world, in sin and error pining; imprisoned to the perverse and wicked desires of the flesh, living in hostility toward God, unable to please Him; railing against the Spirit, rebels and haters of the kingdom of God.
All flesh is grass. The grass withers, but the Word of the Lord remains forever. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Christmas is God coming into our world through the Virgin, taking up our frail and fallen flesh into Himself and assuming our cause and our curse under the Law.
The Word became flesh means that God now has hands that can be pierced for our transgressions. The Word became flesh means that God now has feet and a heel that can come down atop the head of the serpent. The Word became flesh means that God now has blood that can be poured out for the forgiveness of sins and the ransoming of many. The Word became flesh means that God as man was once laid to rest in a manger so also was He laid to rest in a borrowed tomb. But no more. He is not a baby and He is not dead. The Word made flesh sits at the right hand of the Father. That flesh does not rot or turn to dust. That flesh endures.
The Word became flesh and the Word endures forever now means that your flesh and blood shall endure. That the Son of God has assumed your humanity into His divinity means that even after your skin has been thus destroyed, yet in your flesh you shall see God, whom you shall see for yourself, and your eyes shall behold, and not another.
The Word became flesh. Thus the corruptible becomes incorruptible and the mortals become immortal, and we are saved. This will abide. This will last. Even after all the glitz and schmaltz and the crowds at the mall are gone, the Word they still shall let remain. They may not care for it. They may hate it. But it matters not, for it is the Word that none can deny or mistake. He endures forever.
And so has He, the Word made flesh, washed and regenerated you with His watery hand. He has poured out His Holy Spirit richly upon you. You are begotten from above. You are justified. You are children. You are heirs. You are His. Your frail flesh shall soon leave behind the corruption of this present age and be like the angels in heaven - holy, alive, and good, full of pious mirth - because the Word became flesh and now flesh endures. Your flesh, after His flesh, will receive His reward in due time. In the meantime you wait and are at peace.
And here, beloved, is His fullness - His humanity and His divinity - His Body and Blood, grace upon grace, overflowing to you. Here, at His Altar, is your Bethlehem, your House of Bread. For He who was once placed into a feed trough for beasts, has made Himself food for men who became beasts by their sin. For the Word became flesh. It did what He was sent to do: He was made man in order to make men His again. He has called you back. He speaks you clean. He forgives your sins and gives you faith and eternity together with His Father by His Spirit, who with the Son, be glory now, as it was in the beginning, world without end. Amen.
Merry Christmas, dear Christians.
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