"In Him Was Life" The Nativity of Our Lord Christmas Day December 25, 2013 John 1:1–14
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. When a baby is born, that bay has life. That precious little child is able to breathe on his own, to live on his own. He needs to be fed of course, or else he’ll die. But whereas he is connected to his mother in the womb and is living directly from her nourishment, once he is born he has life in and of himself. That little baby is able to breathe on his own. Its little heart is pumping away bringing blood through the body and sustaining life. This is not what John meant in our Gospel reading for Christmas Day when he says of Jesus, “in Him was life.” Jesus was born and so had life. His blood was running through His veins. His lungs were expanding and contracting. He was no longer wholly dependent on His mother for every breath He took. But when John says that in Him was life, he meant that in the baby Jesus who was born there was true and eternal life. His life was life for all people. His life was the Light of all people. In Him was life. No wonder, that baby born in Bethlehem was the Creator of the universe. He brought life into existence. How does John say it? “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” In Him, in this tiny baby born of the virgin Mary, was life. All life was in Him. The one who brought all things into existence held all that life in His precious little body lying there in a manger. When parents see their baby for the first time they marvel at that amazing little life that came from them. When Mary and Joseph looked at the baby Mary gave birth to they could only marvel that this wasn’t just an amazing little life that had just come into the world. This was all life comprehended in the little baby who was crying when He needed to be fed and who cooed when mommy or daddy cuddled with Him and wrapped Him up in warm blankets. I would like to ask Mary and Joseph when I get to heaven, what all was racing through your mind as you beheld the very Son of God in the flesh for the first time? The wonder and the marvel of new life must have been magnified by the wonder and marvel that God chose to come as Savior in the way of being born as a baby. Perhaps we can marvel ourselves that it makes so much sense for God to do this, since being the author of life He Himself embraced it and thought it not beneath Him to be begotten of His Father and conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. You see, it’s not just that Jesus was born. It’s that in Him was life! In Him, in that little baby born in a stable, was the life of men! In Him, in that baby wrapped in cloths and laid in a manger was the life of all people. In Him, in the baby born of a peasant girl was life that is the light of everyone. I imagine also that as John was writing these words he was marveling himself. John had seen Jesus face to face as Mary and Joseph had. John did not see Him as an infant, but he saw nonetheless the truth of these words: “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.” God created light out of darkness. God’s light drives out the darkness. The darkness cannot overcome it. So what does John say? “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.” Jesus, the Light of the World, came into the world as a baby. The Light of God shone brightly at Jesus’ birth not because that star was shining from above, but because the Light of the World was lying in a manger. The Savior of the world was born. In Him was life and that meant life for all people. It meant light shining in darkness. It meant that people not finding their way out of the darkness of their sin being shown a brilliant light that would shine for all eternity. For in Him, the baby born in Bethlehem, the Light of the World, was life. This is the Good News of Christmas. It is the Good News of God. And it would be wonderful simply to bask in this Good News. But the sad news is that some don’t want this life. They don’t want the Light of Christ to shine in their lives. John says of Jesus that “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.” It is one thing to have life, to be born in this world, to live and breathe and have your blood course through your veins. It is another thing to have life, the life that was in Him, the Savior who was born. Life apart from Him is not true life. When you are born in this world you are born in darkness. You do not have true life because you are in sin. Your sin is so pervasive that you cannot see that you are really in death. The only way you can see it is through the true Light, the Light that has come into the world. In Him is life and He is the Light of men. They way John describes this new life is by being born in a different way from your natural birth: “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. Jesus was born of flesh so that you could be born of God. This new birth, this supernatural birth, this birth from above, is birth in the one in whom there is life. You are born of God and so now you are a child of God. You have true life. You are in His true and eternal Light. It would be ironic were it not for God’s plan to bring about salvation in the way He did. Christmas is all about life. It’s about Jesus being born, about Life being in Him. The irony that is really not irony but rather the gracious and merciful will of God is that Jesus was born in order to die. In Him was life, and it wasn’t just that He started living on Christmas Day. It was that the one who was born suffered and died in the place of sinners, we who do not have true life but rather are in death and darkness. It was the darkness of the cross that showed the gravity of our sin and the extinguishing of the life of Jesus on the cross that showed that in Him is true life. This is what John means when He says, “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.” The glory of the birth of Jesus is that in Him was life. The life that is in Jesus is that the Father gave His only Son and in doing so gave us the fullness of His grace and truth. In His life we have life. In His suffering and death life is procured so that we may live forever. John tells us of Jesus that in Him was life. His way of going about it is to show us that the purpose of life being in Jesus is to bring life to us. When you are born you have life. Since you are born in death and darkness because of sin you need new birth. In Him was life, so He gives you His life directly. You are born anew. You are born from above. In Baptism you are brought into the life of the one in whom there is life. In Baptism you die again, but this time to sin and you arise to new life, life in Him. This new life is eternal life. You no longer see yourself simply as a person who lives and breathes and has blood coursing through your veins. You see that you have life that has that and then so much more! You have eternal life and opportunities to live in Christ. Life and Light in Christ is life in service to others, life in which you show, as John did, that in Jesus is true life. Many will miss this real meaning of Christmas, that the baby who was born was born in order to give new, eternal, and Light-filled life. This true life is not curved in on itself but rather shines outward with grace and mercy and love and forgiveness. In humility we serve others and live as if others were meeting Jesus Himself. This life is not your own. It is Christ's life. After all, in Him was life. In you now is life as well, as He has given you His life in Baptism. And He has given it to you for eternity. Amen. SDG -- Pastor Paul L. Willweber Prince of Peace Lutheran Church [LCMS] 6801 Easton Ct., San Diego, California 92120 619.583.1436 princeofpeacesd.net three-taverns.net It is the spirit and genius of Lutheranism to be liberal in everything except where the marks of the Church are concerned. [Henry Hamann, On Being a Christian] _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list [email protected] http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
