“Became Flesh” John 1.14 Xmas Day Dec. ‘25

 

“Became Flesh” John 1.14 Xmas Day Dec. ‘25

1.   Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word on this glorious Xmas Day is taken from John 1:14, it’s entitled, “Became Flesh,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.   They say great things come in small packages. Cliché though that is, never has it been truer than of the Christ Child. So small, yet look at this Child and you see him “in [whom] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,” as Paul puts it (Col 2:9). Or as we heard John proclaim this Christmas morning,

“The Word Became Flesh and Dwelt Among Us, and We Have Seen His Glory. (John 1:14)”

3.   Now, like Mark, John leaves the telling of the nativity story—Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem, their humble lodgings, the angels appearing to shepherds, the visit of the Magi and Herod’s plots—to Matthew and Luke. John cuts right to the chase of what this first coming of Christ in the flesh means. As we heard: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt,” tabernacled, “among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

4.   The Second Person of the Trinity, the one eternal God, has in Christ made himself infant-small—and before that embryo-small—and wrapped himself in swaddling cloths—all to give himself for. All to offer himself once for all, to set us right with God. All to bring the Glory, the Divine Presence, to us. “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the incarnate Deity! Pleased as Man with man to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel!” (LSB 380:2). Our “God with us.”

5.   Of course, throughout Israel’s and Judah’s history, God had been “tabernacling” among his people in the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and then its more permanent replacement, the temple. That was a remarkable—that the holy God should dwell among unclean people to cleanse them and dwell among them. And Solomon knew, after building the temple at God’s command, he asked, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!” (1 Ki 8:27). But there, at that temple, God assured his people of his glory; his holy presence. There he atoned for their sins. There he shared his holiness with them that they might be the holy people he called them to be. But Solomon was right. Neither his temple nor heaven and earth itself could contain God. But now! Here in the flesh and blood of Christ, the Word, the Son of God, dwells among us! A new temple made not of stone or wood. No, those were just a shadow of what was to come! Now the fullness of the deity dwells bodily in the flesh of Christ. Moses’ tabernacle or Solomon’s temple could never make that claim. God did not become them but inhabited them.

6.   Now, the Word hasn’t simply inhabited the flesh of Jesus, like a tent you step into and out of. The Word has become flesh in this mysterious union of true God and true man we call the incarnation! A mystery to be rejoiced in, confessed, adored, sung, as we do this day! For look at the flesh of Jesus, and you see the glory of God, full of grace and truth! Consider how scandalous this sounds to all human ways of thinking and all so-called “logic”: God a baby! God made something so weak and small, as infant flesh and blood!

7.   Even Solomon’s temple lasted some four centuries before the Babylonians destroyed it. And the second temple, renovated to such magnificence by Herod that it was the renown of the ancient world, lasted almost six centuries before the Romans destroyed it. It looks to all the world like God has exchanged a more permanent home for a more fragile one, doesn’t it? So when the Son of God came in the weakness of our human flesh—when he was born of his virgin mother and became man—did God accept a “downgrade” in his lodgings? Well, yes—and no.

8.   First, yes. We live in a world that’s forced to admit nothing these earthly eyes see around us can last. And Moses says as much about fragile flesh and blood when he says to God in Psalm 90, “You return man to dust and say, ‘Return, O children of man!’ . . . [We are] like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers” (Ps 90:3, 5b–6). And then he says why: “For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence” (90:7–8). The sentence of death lies heavy on our fallen human race, as generations come and go, for we are by nature estranged from God by our sin, corrupted to the core of our being ever since the fall.

9.   But then the sinless Son of God himself became man. The Word became flesh—weak, mortal flesh and blood that, some thirty years later, hung lifeless on a cross. The Word became flesh so that he might bear our griefs, carry our sorrows, and be crushed under the weight of our guilt. The sinless dying for the sinful. The Holy One for the unclean. God the Son bearing the full, wrath of God against your sin, so that we may never face it ourselves! The Word made flesh went “the way of all the earth” (1 Ki 2:2); he became withered grass for us. So, yes. God downgraded his “lodgings”—he degraded himself—for you, for me. But also, no.

10.                    For three days later, that same flesh-and-blood Jesus rose to life—indestructible, immortal, divine, eternal life. Heaven and earth will pass away, but not this flesh and blood, this Word made flesh for you! Even Solomon’s temple and Herod’s after it were destroyed. But not this temple! Not the resurrected, glorified, incarnate flesh-and-blood Christ. “Destroy this temple,” said Jesus of his own body, “and in three days I will raise it up” (Jn 2:19).

11.                    And so, God turns upside down the way we usually think about what is permanent and enduring, and what isn’t. More lasting than the strongest stone, outlasting even the cycle of death—there in the flesh of Jesus you see the true, enduring, permanent, indestructible sanctuary of God, “the habitation of [God’s] house and the place where [his] glory dwells” (Ps 26:8)! There, in the Word made flesh, says John, “we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

12.                    Peter, James, and John caught a glimpse of that glory on the Mount of Transfiguration. There, Jesus’ appearance changed; his clothes became dazzlingly white and his face shone like lightning. Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus. And, Peter pipes up and, not knowing what he is saying, suggests the disciples build three tents—one for Moses, one for Elijah, and, of course, one for you, Jesus.

13.                    But, there’s no going back to pitched tabernacles now! The divinity shining from Jesus’ clothing and face has already tabernacled among us in the very person of Jesus Christ. And so, when the blinding light fades, whose face should Peter, James, and John see? Simply the face of Jesus. Of him the Father said from heaven, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him” (Mk 9:7)! And that Glory would go down into dark places—to places of suffering, pain, and death, even to the cross. For where goes the flesh-and-blood man Jesus Christ, there goes the Presence of God!

14.                    Whether we desire to bottle up those “spiritual highs” when things are going well and we feel more assured that God is with us. Or simply that we want God on our own terms. The Father points us to Jesus: “This is my Son; listen to him!” Or, when life’s difficult, or when we’re suffering and our own flesh shows signs of returning to dust, or we’re in lonely places, or feeling lost in darkness of conscience, and when we may be thinking, “The glory and presence of God must be somewhere else”—then look to Jesus! For where goes the flesh-and-blood man Jesus, there goes the Presence of God! For in the flesh of Jesus is “God with us”—and especially when the light fades. Even in the darkness of Gethsemane or the cross—even there—we see “God with us,” the glory veiled in the flesh of Jesus!

15.                    People of God, the glory dwells with you in our incarnate Lord. He it was who baptized you into his holy Body, the church. He has given you his own resurrection life—indestructible, immortal, eternal, divine life—so that in your flesh you shall see God (Job 19:26). For the valleys are not forever. Nor will Christ’s glory always be hidden. But we await his appearing again, still in the flesh, when his glory will be plain to all and every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! Now the glory is here, veiled, hidden, in the flesh of our very present Jesus, just as he promised. It’s his voice we heard forgiving our sins moments ago. He is the sum and substance of the God-breathed Scriptures we just heard read. And shortly, he will again come to you in his flesh and blood, according to his promise: “This is my body. This is my blood!” Here our flesh-and-blood Lord Jesus brings with himself the outstretched arm and right hand of God the Father to forgive, restore, and receive his children: you.

16.                    So rejoice! Confess, praise, sing that he, the Word made flesh, is born of his virgin mother and wears swaddling cloths to become infant-small for us—wafer-small, sip-of-the-cup-small—all to give himself to us and dwell with us, having given himself for us. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.

 

 

“She Gave Birth” Luke 2.7 Xmas Eve. Dec. ‘25

 

1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word for this Xmas Eve is taken from Luke 2:7 and is entitled, “She Gave Birth,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2. An avid fisherman was heard to say the reason he knew the Bible is true was because it says, “That night they caught nothing” (Jn 21:3). Most fishermen would fudge a little: “Well, we got a few nibbles, but they just weren’t biting.” But here was an admission of failure by experienced fishermen. So, the man reasoned that if the Bible told it for real like that, all the rest must be true. Everything we learned from the Bible about Mary during the weeks of Advent is real. And Almost All About Mary Was Really Ordinary. Almost everything.

3. Every word of the Bible is completely true. You can depend on it. It will lead you to salvation in Jesus Christ. Nature even confirms some things in Scripture. Paul says God’s “invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Rom 1:20). Pagans worship Nature with a capital N. Their gods are part of nature—sun, moon, trees, rocks. No excuse. Evolutionary science makes the same mistake. They reject God. Modern science tries to acquire knowledge about the world without admitting the One who made the world. Again, no excuse.

4. You can learn these things about God from beholding his works of creation, but you can’t learn about divine salvation. Only the pages of Holy Scripture will show you Jesus and create faith in your heart—faith that rests in his arms, faith that worships Christ on the cross, faith that follows Jesus from earth to heaven, even though you must bear your own cross on that long and weary pilgrimage. So, you know you can trust the Bible in this famous passage from Luke 2 that describes the nativity of our Lord. But look at this. In the passages before and after Luke 2:1–7, there are all kinds of supernatural happenings. In Luke 1, the angel Gabriel appears to the virgin Mary and tells her that she has been chosen to bear the Christ Child. And in Luke 2:8 and following, the angels appear to the shepherds. But in our text, verse 7, no angels singing, no supernatural phenomenon, no signs in the heavens, no nothing. A young woman gives birth to a baby. It’s all so very ordinary.

5. First, we are given a specific earthly time and event: “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered” (Lk 2:1). Here we have a secular ruler, head of the Roman Empire, and a secular event, a census with taxation. They didn’t have the IRS that we all know and love. They didn’t have a computer to file electronically. You had to travel physically to your ancestral home.

6. Mary and Joseph were way up north in Nazareth. They had to go all the way south to Bethlehem. Mary is “with child” (Lk 2:5). You know what moms who’ve done this say: “Three months bleary, three months cheery, and three months weary.” Bleary—morning sickness. Cheery—this is a piece of cake. Weary—please, somebody just give me a baby-ectomy. Poor Mary’s third trimester feels all too ordinary. They have to stop often so she can rest. It slows them down. Finally they get to Bethlehem. No Expedia.com, no advance reservations. Too late. No room for them in the inn. So they take lodging in a place where animals are kept. The Christmas cards make it look so lovely. They leave out the smells and the noise. Even so, given all these, Mary “gave birth to her firstborn son” (v 7).

7. A word of caution: People try to make more of Mary than she is—to make her quite extraordinary. They call her the Queen of Heaven. In 1880, the First Vatican Council established papal infallibility. When the pope makes an official decree ex cathedra, “from the throne.” It establishes doctrine. You have to believe it to be saved. In 1950, the first infallible decree was made: the assumption of Mary. That is, Mary didn’t die but was taken bodily into heaven like Elijah. There’s nothing in the Bible about this. There are also other errors like this in the Church of Rome. The immaculate conception says that Mary’s mother conceived Mary without passing on original sin. The Bible doesn’t say that. It just says, “She gave birth.” Then there’s the rosary: “Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.” Dear people, Mary was none of these things.

8. Mary was a woman of great faith. The church where Martin Luther served as pastor was named St. Mary’s. But the Bible presents us with an earthly mother and an earthly birth of a real flesh-and-blood earthly child. It’s natural to assume that at some future time she would have consummated her marriage with Joseph. She cooked. She cleaned. She changed diapers. It certainly appears from Scripture that she bore other children. How else do we account for James, the brother of the Lord?

9. All of this reinforces everything about Jesus in Scripture. It’s all real. “Behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt” (Jn 12:15). And “[he] emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant. . . . He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:7–8). He was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Is 53:3). And at last, at last he comes to you though you are as low as low can be. He comes to your doubt and weakness. He comes to your confusion. He comes to your despair. And most of all, He comes to your sin and takes it away from you. He takes it and carries it on his back. It contains the sins of all the people in the whole wide world. He carries it with him to the cross and dumps it out as they hammer the nails into his hands and feet.

10.                  Why does Jesus do this? He does this because he loves you. He does it because if he didn’t, you’d be lost forever. He does this because you can’t bear the burden of sin yourself. He must bear it for you. And he bears it willingly. You could be crucified for your sins a thousand times and still not pay the debt you owe to God. Only the holy blood of the sinless Lamb of God will do. It was “for the joy that was set before him [that he] endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2).

11.                  The result of Christ’s sin-bearing? Your sins are forgiven. All of them. Not one remains. In God’s sight, you are as holy and righteous as his Son. “I was born in sin, and in iniquity did my mother conceive me” (cf Ps 51:5). The cycle of sin that began with Adam and Eve continued father and mother to child ever since. How devastating to Eve when her firstborn son Cain murdered his brother Abel. How devastating to every human mother when her child grows up a sinner. But with Mary was the cycle broken as she brought forth the sinless Son of God. In the Old Testament, only a lamb without blemish was acceptable sacrifice. Only the Lamb of God, holy and perfect, was acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the world.

12.                  So, you’re not intrinsically holy. But God is blind. God is blind in the sense that he can’t see your sin. It’s covered by the blood of the Lamb. You are wrapped in Christ like a garment. Christ is the baptismal gown that covers your sin. As Christ rose from the dead, you will rise on the Last Day. As he ascended to heaven, you will ascend to your heavenly home. There you will sit on a cloud playing boring music on the harp for eternity. Ya think? No! There will be “a new heaven and a new earth” (Rev 21:1). We will be flesh-and-blood human beings like Jesus. Death is the fire that purges sin from our bodies. We will be perfect people in a perfect world.

13.                  What is real? Reality is God breaking into this world with grace. Reality is God interrupting history with the coming of Christ. Reality is a young woman giving birth in distressing circumstances. And this is all it says: “She gave birth.” She just plain gave birth, my dear friends. But at the moment when God enters this world in the flesh, he is born in the ordinary way babies have been born from the beginning. You moms know what this means. It’s strenuous, messy, bloody. It takes a long time. The water breaks. Yikes! Then nothing happens. Finally, another contraction. Long wait. Then another & another. Too late to turn back. Hubby is there. Breathe! Push! Just like they taught you in the how-to-have-a-baby class. Finally! There he is. Clip the cord. He’s hungry. Ahh. Better now. Burp. Wrap him up tight. Oops. Need a new diaper. Baby’s asleep now. So is mom. She’s wiped out. So is Joseph.

14.                  Just a plain childbirth. Except it is God incarnate that’s been born. And that is the miraculous thing, the delivery of the Messiah by lowly means. Could it have been any other way? Secular kings celebrate the birth of a son with fireworks, music, horses, a royal procession. This will happen in the second coming of Christ. He’ll come to reward your faithfulness, comfort your broken heart, heal all your diseases, set you free from sin, death, and the power of the devil. In the name of Jesus. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.