St. John 1:1-14 Dearly beloved,
We have arrived to behold Christmas morn. The quiet of the morning envelopes us. The altar is adorned in white, symbolizing the holiness and purity of the church because the child of the earth has come. The God of heaven has taken His place among us. Today we celebrate on this high feast the blessings which have come to mankind. St. John records for all to hear and ponder the mystery that the almighty God would descend the heavenly throne to reside in a virgin and be born a babe in a manger. How humbling our Lord is that He is of such a nature that nothing can contain Him. Time and space cannot hold Him. Yet, He allows the flesh of a baby to contain Him for us. One would think that every human being would come running to this baby, to God in the flesh, to marvel and to worship. But the Scriptures, doing as they always do, present for us a contrast. God always brings contrasts. On the one hand God cannot be contained by space and time. Yet, the flesh, the womb of the virgin, the body of Jesus contains Him. God, who shines in such imminent glory that no one can stop it, has His very flesh hide His glory in order for sinful mankind to see Him, touch Him, and hear His voice and be saved. A marked contrast is heard in St. John’s opening words of His gospel, as well. “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not”(St. John 1:5). Darkness represents being forsaken; condemned; delivered to hell. The darkness is that side of the contrast that is at enmity with God. The world, due to sin, was living this way. Suddenly, Jesus is incarnate and born into the world. Jesus is the light: “I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life”(St. John 8:12). In His face is the light of salvation. Truth, mercy, love, forgiveness, holiness, and righteousness come together in this one historical reality. Yet, we are told by St. John that “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not”(St. John 1:10). There exists a contrast. We are even told that “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” The signs were abundant. The prophecies were everywhere in the Old Testament. There are types of Christ all throughout the scriptures. Light is a symbol in the Old Testament for Jesus, the Savior. What evidence do we have for this? The love and consideration of God is seen in the burning bush as the Lord speaks to Moses in the bush as it burns without consuming the bush. On the Exodus, the people of Israel find God residing in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. There we see a type of the journey of the church in Israel’s exodus, led by the light of God illuminating the path. Israel gathers on Mount Horeb to meet God and the Lord speaks in a fire that descends and covers the entire mountain. God likes to speak in light, because this light symbolizes the face of the child born in Bethlehem. Truth emanates from this face, as the voice speaks from the radiance of God’s presence and love, albeit hidden under the flesh of Jesus. St. John relates this by saying, “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth”(St. John 1:14). This light of Christ is the gospel. It shows the favor and love of God for you and for all who would hear and come to believe. This light spills forth. The light of Christ, the truth that comes from Him, does what light does to darkness....it removes the darkness. The darkness gives way to illumination. This happens in the hearts of those who hear the gospel and receive it. St. Paul speaks concerning this: “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”(2 Cor. 4:6). The light of Jesus does not come and make a church and then leave the church in the darkness once again. The truth of Jesus stays and shines in the hearts of the saints. Just as Jesus says of Himself, “I am the light of the world,” in like manner Jesus says of the apostles, “You are the light of the world.” This is because the apostolic ministry gives Jesus to those hear. Preachers, pastors, and apostles go forth with the gospel, preaching and absolving sins and doing what Jesus did during His earthly sojourn. Therefore, the pastor stands as one who dispels the darkness through the doctrine and preaching handed down. And the saints, you, His blessed children are forgiven of your sins. Through the preaching you are enlightened by the words of Jesus. The darkness of sin is removed from your heart through the gospel. Through absolution you are cleansed, as Jesus proclaims His love through holy absolution. This spills over from the Lord’s hand and into your lives. St. Paul reminds the Thessalonian church, “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. You are all children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness”(1 Thessalonians 5:4-5). The coming of Jesus in the flesh in order to die on the cross does not paint a pretty Christmas picture, but it does put things into perspective. Jesus comes and changes everything. All sins, even the most horrible, are forgiven in Christ. Jesus comes to dispel not just some of the darkness but all of it. Jesus comes to forgive not only some of your sins but all of them. The pillar of light never ceased to be an aid when Israel was journeying out of Egypt. We take this to be for us, as well. As you journey in this wilderness, the light of Christ will never cease to shine on your path. As you journey to the promised land of heaven, Jesus shall lead you by His pillar of light through the gospel. The words of truth and favor that come from above still descend into your midst through preaching, baptism, and Lord’s Supper. Such descending and blessing of the Lord in our midst is a mystery of great magnitude. The church, therefore, is the new Bethlehem, or, “house of bread,” which beholds Christ in the bread and the cup. Behold the great mystery: Jesus comes to you and makes you holy. Amen. -- Rev. Chad Kendall Trinity Lutheran Church Lowell, Indiana www.trinitylowell.org
