Sermon -- The Nativity of our Lord (December 25, 2023)

o logoV is "the Word",
St. John's name for God the Son,
the second person of the Trinity

JOHN 1:1-18

WE HAVE SEEN HIS GLORY.

In the name + of Jesus.

      In writing his Gospel about Jesus Christ, St. John seems to have all the apostles in mind when he states, “We have seen his glory” (John 1:14).  What glory is he thinking about?  It could be Jesus’ miracles.  That is the glory which was praised by the crowds throughout Palestine, from Galilee down to Judea.  When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, that was the reason the crowds were praising him.  “As he was drawing near … the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen” (Luke 19:37).  John also commented about Jesus’ miraculous signs, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book” (John 20:30).  “Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25).  Jesus’ miracles are certainly a reason to marvel and to praise him.  They revealed Jesus’ divine identity and power.  But that is not the glory John focuses on.

     What is the glory which John and the apostles witnessed?  To marvel at the glory of Jesus, John peers all the way back to eternity, before the creation of the universe.  John’s Gospel begins the same way that Genesis begins, “In the beginning” (John 1:1; Genesis 1:1).  This is the beginning of all things—matter, energy, time, and whatever exists.  Prior to the beginning, there was only God.  And Jesus was there—not on the flesh, that would come later.  But since he is God, he was there at the beginning, prior to the creation of the heavens and the earth.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3). 

      On the front of the bulletin, you see the Greek words, o logoV.  John calls God the Son “the Word.”  That is how God deals with mankind, through words.  When God created all things, he summoned everything into existence through his word.  When God revealed his will to mankind, he did it through words—whether on stone tablets, by prophetic preaching, or on scrolls and parchments.  False prophets relied on consulting the dead, on dreams which would not be verified, and on omens which could be interpreted according to one’s whims.  But God gives us a firm word to hold on to.

     We also use words to communicate.  While body language and tone of voice convey information, our words are the most important part of communication.  If you had to choose between losing your hearing and your sight, you might choose to lose your hearing because you want to see where you are going.  But what if you were given these options?  You can have an I-pad which enables you to always see your loved ones, or you can have a phone to hear your loved ones speak to you.  Almost everyone would want to hear his or her loved one’s voice because that is how we communicate.  We connect and bond through words.

     God has always communicated with the human race through words.  This is how we know his will, his commandments, his threats, and his promises.  God has not hidden himself so completely that we cannot know him.  But the connection with humanity became much more glorious when Jesus entered the world.  Jesus is the Word, God the Son, begotten of the Father from eternity.  And what happens at Christmas?  “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” (John 1:14).  God communicates to us through his word, but now the Word has become a man.  Now God enters the world to deal with us in person—not only to be heard, but to be seen, to be touched, and to have him touch others.  St. John marveled at this in his first epistle as well.  He wrote, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it” (1 John 1:1-2).  We have seen his glory.

      At various times in the Old Testament, the Lord revealed his glory to people, but never in his bare glory.  No person can see that and live.  God’s glory was always hidden behind something.  But even when God hid his glory, the people who saw it were terrified.  When the Lord called Moses to deliver God’s people out of Egypt, the glory of the Lord was hidden in the fire of a burning bush.  Moses quickly pulled up his cloak and  hid his face.  When Isaiah saw a vision of the Lord in heaven, he described only the Lord’s throne and the train of his robe.  Seeing just that, he was convinced that he was going to die.  St. Luke recorded that, when the angel appeared to the shepherds in the field, “the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear” (Luke 2:9).  The angel was not God, but he reflected God’s holiness.  That was enough to terrify the shepherds.

     We seldom think what it would be like to stand before the Lord.  Perhaps we are pleased enough with ourselves to presume that God would find no fault with us.  So, we dismiss any idea that we have reason to fear the Lord, despite repeated testimony in the Bible that teaches us that we should.  What does produce fear in us, then?  We are afraid when we are at the mercy of something much stronger than ourselves that we cannot control, such as a tornado or a thunderstorm.  We are afraid of something that can take our lives or the lives of our loved ones, such as a car accident, a virus, a rattlesnake, or war.  We know that we are helpless against such things.

     And yet, our Lord is far superior to any worldly power.  He controls the winds and the waves; therefore, he is stronger than the winds and the waves.  The Lord is in control of the events that take our lives and the lives of our loved ones.  The Bible teaches us to confess to God, “My times are in your hand” (Psalm 31:15).  Therefore, the Lord is greater than the events which take life.  So, if we fear thunderstorms, viruses, and war, how much greater should we fear the Lord!  Jesus teaches us, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).  This is why we feel terror when we let our minds rest from daily activity and ponder death and eternity.  We become acutely aware of our sins, and we feel the justice of God striking our hearts.  It is one thing to fear death which can only send us to the grave; it is another thing to fear the judgment which can send us to hell for endless torment.  The day will come when we will stand before God in his full glory.  We will have to answer for our lives.  He will deal with us according to his word of judgment which is final and eternally binding.  If you claim that you have never been struck by fear over these things, I have to believe you are lying.

     Since we cannot stand before God, God has chosen to come to us.  And since we cannot see him in his glory, he hides it under infant flesh so that it produces no terror.  Mary and Joseph do not run away from their newborn child.  They embrace him.  But they know his glory.  He is the Son of God.  This is the Word made flesh who has come to dwell with us.  When he becomes a full-grown man, he gathers disciples to himself.  They do not cover their faces or hide behind trees.  They follow him.  They listen to him.  He is “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).  Jesus knows the truth; he knows our sins.  But Jesus is full of grace: He has come to soothe our consciences and to remove our fears.  He has come to rescue us from the terrors of judgment and from the iniquities which condemn us.  His words are full of grace and peace because he comes to save us.

     We have seen his glory.  His divine glory is hidden under human flesh, but the glory of God is revealed in all that he says and does.  St. John wrote, “No one has ever seen God; the only God who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (John 1:18).  Jesus has made the Father known to you.  He shows you a loving and merciful Father who does not delight in the death of anyone.  Actually, the Father does delight in the death of one—Jesus.  The Father was pleased to send Jesus to be a sin offering for us all.  The iniquities which scar our minds and hearts are taken from us.  They have scarred and marked Jesus instead.  Jesus bears the scars for our sins, and his holy, precious blood is the salve which heals our wounds and brings the cure for our curse.  The judgment which produces terror has been diverted from us and has crushed Jesus.  The grave which mocks us by telling us it has a place reserved for us has been filled by Jesus.  And then Jesus emptied his grave to show us that death’s door opens both ways.  It may close us in, but it will open again to release us to live again.  The Word became flesh so that his flesh could be nailed to a cross and die there.  And the flesh and blood Savior lives to ensure new and eternal life for us.

     This is the glory of God.  God’s love for you is revealed in the divine wrath which Jesus absorbed for you.  The sweetness of God is seen in Jesus’ bitter sufferings for you.  The Lord’s compassion is made known by Jesus’ passion.  Salvation has been won for you by the Word, and it is delivered to you by words.  The word of God is preached so that your gracious God will be made known to you.  The word is joined to the waters of baptism where you have been cleansed in Jesus’ holy innocence.  The word is added to the bread and the wine so that the body and blood of your God are given to you.  The Word became flesh to unite himself to you, and in the sacrament he strengthens that unity even more. 

     Although his glory is hidden in Jesus, his glory, his grace, and his truth are revealed in Jesus.  His glory is now hidden in you, as well.  For “to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).  You are the children of God.  And God does not just love you in theory; he loves you in person, as a person—for, the Word became flesh.  And he professes his love again and again.  God continues to speak to you through the words of the Bible.  God speaks his eternal, unchanging word so that you know his love is constant, and the glory that was once hidden will be seen by you and in you when Jesus comes again.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.