Exodus 40:17-21, 34-38; Titus 3:4-7; St John 1:1-18
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
The antiphon for the Introit for the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass makes this promise: Today you shall know that the Lord will come and deliver you; and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord. And today, this morning, you see the glory of the Lord in the remembrance and celebration of the birth of your Savior.
This antiphon is based on Exodus 16 when the Lord God gave the wandering Israelites, whom He had just freedom from slavery and gave them save passage through the Red Sea on dry ground, now He gives them manna, bread from heaven, as their food. The Lord’s glory is seen when He does something for His people. When He is dwelling among them, for them. When He is being their God.
Even greater then, for the Israelites, was when the glory of the Lord entered the tabernacle. Moses sent up the tent as God has commanded him. The Ark of the Covenant, God’s throne, was carried into the Most Holy Place behind the veil. There the Lord God of heaven and earth took up residence. Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.
In the midst of the Israelite camp, dwelling among His people, God set up His tent. He who led by cloud during the day and fire during the night, from the time their Egypt all the forty years in the desert, dwelt among them, in their midst, in their camp. The glory of the Lord was with them and He was for them.
He was on their side. He was their God and they were His people. He would fight for them against their enemies. He would forgive them and make them a holy nation, a kingdom of priests, set apart from all others, as a beacon and light in the darkness. Through sacrifices of meat, grain, oil, and wine the Lord would provide meals for them, communing with them as they have fellowship in His holiness.
Still, they could not see God. Most of the people were kept in front of the veil, outside the Most Holy Place. Only Moses could go behind the veil and speak with God. Then also the High Priest could venture into that sacred space, but only once a year, carrying the blood of the sacrifice. Even then Lord God was hidden by the cloud. No sinner could see God face to face and live.
St John makes this point in His Gospel: No one has ever seen God; the only God, He who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known. This is the Word who was in the beginning with God, the Word that is God, the Son of the Father’s love begotten. He is the One who has made God known. 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.
What we read so simply as “dwelt” is gloriously more. The Word became flesh and εσκηνωσεν, enskinned among us. The Word set up His tent of skin among us. He tabernacled among us. He no longer dwells in a tent of cloth and animal hides. The Lord who once dwelt with Israel in the desert now tabernacles in human flesh. The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us as a Man.
And we have seen His glory, writes St John. Not in a cloud or fire, but in the face of a Man named Jesus.
Oh, that birth forever blessed,
When the virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
Bore the Savior of our race,
And the babe, the world’s Redeemer
First revealed His sacred face
Evermore and evermore (LSB 384:2)
Far more glorious than the cloud and fire of the tabernacle was the face which Mary and Joseph and the shepherds saw, peeping out from the swaddling clothes, peering up at them from the manger. Hence Gerard van Honthorst’s Adoration of the Shepherds on your bulletin. The brilliancy of the Christ Child is set against the deep black all around. For there they saw the glory of the Lord. There God was made known. Jesus is God with us and God for us. With us to die and rise as One of us. For us to die and rise in our place.
For like Israel of old, yet even better, we see His glory when He is doing something for us. He is our God and we are His people. He is on our side. He fights against our enemies of sin, death, and the power of the devil. He forgives us and make us His holy people, His New Israel.
You see His glory, beloved, when He sets up the new and everlasting tabernacle, not made with hands, and enters the Most Holy Place through the veil of His own flesh. It is written, Christ has entered, not into holy place made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf (Heb 9:24). The Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the true glory of the Father which reveals the fullness of His grace and truth.
Moses set up the tent of meeting according to the Lord’s instruction. But commenting on this text from Exodus in his Great Works of God series, Valerius Herberger instructs us, “Now the ‘glory of the LORD’ is our Lord Jesus Christ. He, our Savior Himself became the consecrating bishop [of the tabernacle], stooping with His aspergillum, His pillar of cloud over the tent of institution; for He wished to consecrate it with the holy water of His grace and presence, cover it with His love, fill all hearts that prayed inside it with His comfort, and gracious visit it with His generous presence” (GWG: Exodus, p591).
He goes on to say, “Such is God’s old manner of bestowing grace that He fills first man’s ears with clear, comforting words and the preaching of the Gospel, and then his eyes with pleasant encouraging tokens of grace in the use of the most worthy Sacraments, that his heart made be filled with consolation and satisfied” (Ibid, p592).
Just as it was for Moses and Israel, so for you. From this Sacrifice our Lord provides a meal for you, communing with you by which you have fellowship in His holiness. From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Grace and truth, forgiveness and salvation, life and victory, these are the gifts He gives to you when you trust in Him. This is how you see His glory.
Last night’s antiphon was not originally about you. In the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord. It was a promise for the old Israel, awaiting their manna from heaven.
But now in Christ that promise is also true for you. This morning the true and living Bread from heaven comes to you. Here you enter into the Most Holy Place, as priests, washed in the regenerating and renewing Holy Spirit by water and the Word in Holy Baptism. This morning you hear Jesus, your Great High Priest, the Word made flesh, as you listen to His Scripture. This morning you behold the glory of the only begotten Son as you eat and drink His Body and Blood. And this is what Christmas is all about.
We might enjoy “tales of Christmases long, long ago” but our Christmas present never seems to live up to the hype. Far better to be satisfied with what Jesus has to give.
We may long to see the glorious sight of the tabernacle, or better yet, the glory of that first Christmas, complete with the shining star and the radiant angels. But the far greater glory of Christmas is seen by faith in the words spoken, the bread broken, and the wine poured. The greatest glory is what the Lord does for you: forgiving your sins.
Why look for glories of the past, when the Lord of glory Himself is right here?
This is He whom seer in old time
Chanted of with one accord,
Whom the voices of the prophets
Promised in their faithful word.
Now He shines, the long expected;
Let creation praise its Lord
Evermore and evermore (LSB 384:3).
You join in that praise with “hymn and chant and high thanksgiving” (LSB 384:5). Yesterday’s antiphon is good: you shall see the glory of the Lord. But today’s is even better: For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given. The Savior has come. Jesus is born. He and His glory are for you.
The angels once sang of this glory over Bethlehem’s pasture. This morning, once again, we took up their song: “Glory be to God on high: and on earth peace, goodwill toward men” (LSB 187). The angels sang of the glory of God being with mankind, found in Mary’s Baby Boy lying in the manger. Today you sing of the glory of God being with us, found in that same Son given for us and coming to us here. Once again, the glory of God is seen when He is doing something for His people.
So, regardless of how merry or blue your Christmas is, whether all your wishes come true or sad memories weigh on your heart, you are here this morning! And by faith in the Son of God, who loves you and gave Himself for you, you see the glory of the Lord. The Word became flesh and still dwells among us, and we behold His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father full of grace and truth. A glorious Christmas to you all.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
The antiphon for the Introit for the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass makes this promise: Today you shall know that the Lord will come and deliver you; and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord. And today, this morning, you see the glory of the Lord in the remembrance and celebration of the birth of your Savior.
This antiphon is based on Exodus 16 when the Lord God gave the wandering Israelites, whom He had just freedom from slavery and gave them save passage through the Red Sea on dry ground, now He gives them manna, bread from heaven, as their food. The Lord’s glory is seen when He does something for His people. When He is dwelling among them, for them. When He is being their God.
Even greater then, for the Israelites, was when the glory of the Lord entered the tabernacle. Moses sent up the tent as God has commanded him. The Ark of the Covenant, God’s throne, was carried into the Most Holy Place behind the veil. There the Lord God of heaven and earth took up residence. Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.
In the midst of the Israelite camp, dwelling among His people, God set up His tent. He who led by cloud during the day and fire during the night, from the time their Egypt all the forty years in the desert, dwelt among them, in their midst, in their camp. The glory of the Lord was with them and He was for them.
He was on their side. He was their God and they were His people. He would fight for them against their enemies. He would forgive them and make them a holy nation, a kingdom of priests, set apart from all others, as a beacon and light in the darkness. Through sacrifices of meat, grain, oil, and wine the Lord would provide meals for them, communing with them as they have fellowship in His holiness.
Still, they could not see God. Most of the people were kept in front of the veil, outside the Most Holy Place. Only Moses could go behind the veil and speak with God. Then also the High Priest could venture into that sacred space, but only once a year, carrying the blood of the sacrifice. Even then Lord God was hidden by the cloud. No sinner could see God face to face and live.
St John makes this point in His Gospel: No one has ever seen God; the only God, He who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known. This is the Word who was in the beginning with God, the Word that is God, the Son of the Father’s love begotten. He is the One who has made God known. 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.
What we read so simply as “dwelt” is gloriously more. The Word became flesh and εσκηνωσεν, enskinned among us. The Word set up His tent of skin among us. He tabernacled among us. He no longer dwells in a tent of cloth and animal hides. The Lord who once dwelt with Israel in the desert now tabernacles in human flesh. The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us as a Man.
And we have seen His glory, writes St John. Not in a cloud or fire, but in the face of a Man named Jesus.
Oh, that birth forever blessed,
When the virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
Bore the Savior of our race,
And the babe, the world’s Redeemer
First revealed His sacred face
Evermore and evermore (LSB 384:2)
Far more glorious than the cloud and fire of the tabernacle was the face which Mary and Joseph and the shepherds saw, peeping out from the swaddling clothes, peering up at them from the manger. Hence Gerard van Honthorst’s Adoration of the Shepherds on your bulletin. The brilliancy of the Christ Child is set against the deep black all around. For there they saw the glory of the Lord. There God was made known. Jesus is God with us and God for us. With us to die and rise as One of us. For us to die and rise in our place.
For like Israel of old, yet even better, we see His glory when He is doing something for us. He is our God and we are His people. He is on our side. He fights against our enemies of sin, death, and the power of the devil. He forgives us and make us His holy people, His New Israel.
You see His glory, beloved, when He sets up the new and everlasting tabernacle, not made with hands, and enters the Most Holy Place through the veil of His own flesh. It is written, Christ has entered, not into holy place made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf (Heb 9:24). The Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the true glory of the Father which reveals the fullness of His grace and truth.
Moses set up the tent of meeting according to the Lord’s instruction. But commenting on this text from Exodus in his Great Works of God series, Valerius Herberger instructs us, “Now the ‘glory of the LORD’ is our Lord Jesus Christ. He, our Savior Himself became the consecrating bishop [of the tabernacle], stooping with His aspergillum, His pillar of cloud over the tent of institution; for He wished to consecrate it with the holy water of His grace and presence, cover it with His love, fill all hearts that prayed inside it with His comfort, and gracious visit it with His generous presence” (GWG: Exodus, p591).
He goes on to say, “Such is God’s old manner of bestowing grace that He fills first man’s ears with clear, comforting words and the preaching of the Gospel, and then his eyes with pleasant encouraging tokens of grace in the use of the most worthy Sacraments, that his heart made be filled with consolation and satisfied” (Ibid, p592).
Just as it was for Moses and Israel, so for you. From this Sacrifice our Lord provides a meal for you, communing with you by which you have fellowship in His holiness. From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Grace and truth, forgiveness and salvation, life and victory, these are the gifts He gives to you when you trust in Him. This is how you see His glory.
Last night’s antiphon was not originally about you. In the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord. It was a promise for the old Israel, awaiting their manna from heaven.
But now in Christ that promise is also true for you. This morning the true and living Bread from heaven comes to you. Here you enter into the Most Holy Place, as priests, washed in the regenerating and renewing Holy Spirit by water and the Word in Holy Baptism. This morning you hear Jesus, your Great High Priest, the Word made flesh, as you listen to His Scripture. This morning you behold the glory of the only begotten Son as you eat and drink His Body and Blood. And this is what Christmas is all about.
We might enjoy “tales of Christmases long, long ago” but our Christmas present never seems to live up to the hype. Far better to be satisfied with what Jesus has to give.
We may long to see the glorious sight of the tabernacle, or better yet, the glory of that first Christmas, complete with the shining star and the radiant angels. But the far greater glory of Christmas is seen by faith in the words spoken, the bread broken, and the wine poured. The greatest glory is what the Lord does for you: forgiving your sins.
Why look for glories of the past, when the Lord of glory Himself is right here?
This is He whom seer in old time
Chanted of with one accord,
Whom the voices of the prophets
Promised in their faithful word.
Now He shines, the long expected;
Let creation praise its Lord
Evermore and evermore (LSB 384:3).
You join in that praise with “hymn and chant and high thanksgiving” (LSB 384:5). Yesterday’s antiphon is good: you shall see the glory of the Lord. But today’s is even better: For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given. The Savior has come. Jesus is born. He and His glory are for you.
The angels once sang of this glory over Bethlehem’s pasture. This morning, once again, we took up their song: “Glory be to God on high: and on earth peace, goodwill toward men” (LSB 187). The angels sang of the glory of God being with mankind, found in Mary’s Baby Boy lying in the manger. Today you sing of the glory of God being with us, found in that same Son given for us and coming to us here. Once again, the glory of God is seen when He is doing something for His people.
So, regardless of how merry or blue your Christmas is, whether all your wishes come true or sad memories weigh on your heart, you are here this morning! And by faith in the Son of God, who loves you and gave Himself for you, you see the glory of the Lord. The Word became flesh and still dwells among us, and we behold His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father full of grace and truth. A glorious Christmas to you all.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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