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.

Summer Reading -- (Dis)ordered

This book managed to jump in line and interrupt my reading of St. Augustine's City of God.  This book was a gift from the IssuesEtc studios that we received when we popped in for a visit back in June.  They gave us a lot of gifts.  The gift of this book saved me a few bucks as I was planning on buying it anyway.

Well, I just completed it and highly recommend it.  Perhaps it will be used as the basis for an upcoming Adult Bible Class.  But don't wait for that.  Purchase it now.  It will equip you for answering people who promote the LGBQ+ philosophy, reinforce your understanding of God's plans for human design, and help you to honor God in your vocation as a man or woman, husband, wife, or single person, and especially as a blood-bought, body-and-soul saint in the kingdom of God.

BIBLE BITS: Luke 18

In the Gospel according to St. Luke, he records an incident in which mothers bring their babies to Jesus so that he would bless them.  Luke, however, does not actually use the word "bless" in his account.  The blessing is implied.  St. Luke wrote: "Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them" (Luke 18:15).

The touch of Jesus is significant.  Jesus could certainly have spoken a word of blessing upon the children.  Or the mothers could have sung a psalm for their children which proclaims God's blessings upon his people.  But the touch of Jesus was important to them.  They made the effort to go to Jesus and to deliver their children to him.

This is significant for us today, too.  While we can take comfort in the word of God which delivers God's blessings to us (i.e., forgiveness of sins, new life, and salvation), the Lord knows that we need his touch.  God did not merely declare from heaven that he loves us and forgives us.  He became a man to connect himself to us, in fact, to unite himself to us.  In doing so, he exalts our humanity and, by his death and resurrection, will restore us to what God had created us to be.  He does not merely save our souls.  He saves us completely--body and soul, which is what God has created us to be.

When Jesus wants to connect with us today, he goes beyond his bare word to do so.  He could have issued Bibles to everyone and told us to read his word and said, "That is sufficient.  You need nothing more."  Instead, he chooses to touch us in physical ways.

He established the office of the holy ministry and sends out pastors who proclaim God's blessings, preach God's word, absolve God's people, and touch their lives.  When he brings us into his kingdom, he tells us to use water in connection with God's word to cleanse us of all sin.  Through the waters of holy baptism, he gives us his Holy Spirit.  When he strengthens and keeps us in the one, true faith, he gives us his body and blood in, with, and under the bread and the wine in holy communion.  

And even more, he connects us with each other.  We are all flesh-and-blood, body-and-soul people who get to support one another.  We do so not only with prayers, but also with human touch.  God designed us to have fellowship with one another.  We greet one another with handshakes and hugs.  In the early church where the culture called for it, they greeted one another with a holy kiss.  

Like those mothers who loved their babies and wanted Jesus to touch them and bless them, we also want to make the effort to come where Jesus touches us with his blessing.  In this way, we don't have to rely on how well we hear and understand God's word for our comfort.  We can have Jesus apply his blessings to us through things we can touch, taste, see, and smell.  

The blessings of Jesus came through his touch.  They still do.  

NOTE: The picture above is a painting by Lucas Cranach, the elder (1472 - 1553), on display in Frankfurt, Germany. (Source: Christ Blessing the Children by CRANACH, Lucas the Elder (wga.hu))

Meditation on the Epiphany of our Lord

          Today is the Festival of Epiphany.  Epiphany means revelation or manifest.  If you say, "I had an epiphany," that means something has become clear to you.  At the Festival of Epiphany and in the Sundays that follow, Jesus of Nazareth is manifested as the true Messiah, the Son of God, and the Savior of the world.  This is made evident by his miracles, his teachings, the testimony of John the Baptist, the proclamation of the Father from heaven, and so on.

          In a portion of St. Athanasius' (296-373) "On the Incarnation," Athanasius gives a refutation of the Jews and Gentiles who deny that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.  His refutation of the Gentiles seems to be more philosophical in tone.  But his refutation of the Jews leans on the Old Testament.  He would have us consider the prophecies made about the Messiah--what he would be, what he would do, what would be the results of his coming.  If Jesus did not do these things, he is not the Messiah.  If he did accomplish them, what other conclusion could be drawn except that he is the Promised Messiah?

          St. Athanasius demonstrates the main point of Epiphany and the Sundays after Epiphany: Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and the Savior of the world.  He has fulfilled all promises and, thereby, grants us comfort and confidence in our salvation.  Something from Athanasius:

               “For what more has he who is expected by them to do when he comes?  Call the Gentiles?  But they have already been called.  To make prophet and king and vision to cease?  This has already happened.  To refute the godlessness of idols?  It has already been refuted and condemned.  To destroy death?  It is already destroyed.  What then must Christ do, which has not been done?  Or what is left unfulfilled, that the Jews now rejoice and disbelieve.  For if, as we thus see, they have neither king, nor prophet, nor Jerusalem, nor sacrifice, nor vision, but the whole world is filled with the knowledge of God, and those form the Gentiles are abandoning godlessness, and henceforth taking refuge in the God of Abraham through the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, it should be clear even to those who are exceedingly obstinate that Christ has come, and that he illumines absolutely all with his light and teaches the true and divine teaching concerning his Father.” (On the Incarnation, paragraph 40; translation by John Behr; St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press: Yonkers, NY. © 2011)

Something from ... St. Athanasius on the Incarnation of our Lord

St. Athanasius (c. 293 - May 2, 373) was the bishop of Alexandria, Egypt.  He was a staunch defender of the two natures of Jesus and of the Trinity.  He suffered exile five times for his firm defense of the Christian faith.  He also wrote several defenses of these crucial doctrines of the Christian faith.  Below is a quote regarding the incarnation of our Lord, that God became a man.

Athanasius reflected that God's love for his creation compelled him to redeem it.  He was not content to let sinners go merrily into their own condemnation.  But in order to redeem us, the Lord had to become one of us.  Therefore, to rescue us from sin, evil, and death, the Lord took upon himself our very human nature.  He does this to fulfill God's Law so that it will not condemn us, to give himself into death so that death gets its fill, and to rise from the dead so that death is powerless.  This is the love of God for sinners--he becomes one of us to redeem all of us.  From Athanasius:

"But now he comes, condescending towards us in his love for human beings and his manifestation.  For seeing the rational race perishing, and death reigning over them through corruption, and seeing also the threat of the transgression giving firm hold to the corruption which was upon us, and that it was absurd for the law to be dissolved before being fulfilled, and seeing the impropriety in what had happened, that the very things of which he himself was the Creator were disappearing, and seeing the excessive wickedness of human beings, that they gradually increased it to an intolerable pitch against themselves, and seeing the liability of all human beings to death--having mercy upon our race, and having pity upon our weakness, and condescending to our corruption, and not enduring the dominion of death, lest what had been created should perish and the word of the Father himself for human beings should be in vain, he takes for himself a body and that not foreign to our own." -- On the Incarnation, paragraph 8 (taken from "On the Incarnation" in the Popular Patristics Series, translation by John Behr.  St. Vladimir's Seminary Press: Yonkers, NY.  (c) 2011.)

Sermon -- 4th Sunday in Advent

HEBREWS 10:5-10

HE GIVES HIS BODY TO SANCTIFY YOU.

In the name + of Jesus.

     Quiz question: What was the first shedding of blood in the Bible?  If you are thinking of Cain’s murder of Abel, you are close, but off by one chapter.  Right after the fall into sin, we read that “the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21).  Fig leaves were not a permanent solution.  So, the Lord put to death animals for them.  They shed their blood so that Adam and Eve could be clothed in their skins and have their shame covered.  It foreshadowed what Jesus would later do—shed his blood so that he would cover sin with his righteousness.  Jesus would give his body to sanctify you.

     The second shedding of blood mentioned in the Bible is for worship.  We never hear of any instructions, but God must have given a command about proper worship.  Abel shed the blood of an animal for an offering.  Abel honored the principle which continued throughout the worship conducted by Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22).  It was always understood by the patriarchs that a body would be slain and blood would be shed.  A sacrificial death was essential to the worship of God—a substitute given on behalf of the sinner.  It proclaimed what the Lord would eventually do for all sinners: “This one dies for me.”

     When the Lord gave details about worship through Moses, he again gave direction for blood sacrifices.  The bodies of bulls, rams, goats, and sheep would be consumed by fire.  The blood of beasts would atone for the sins of the people with whole burnt offerings, sin offerings, peace offerings, and so forth.  Every day, morning and evening sacrifices would be offered.  The animal’s blood would be spilled at the altar.  The animal’s body would be turned to smoke from the altar.  The smoke was a continual sign that the Lord accepted the sacrifices and did not count the people’s sins against them. 

     The offerings needed to be repeated daily, monthly, annually—for centuries.  No matter how much blood was spilled, no matter how many animals were slain, they did not take away the sins of the people.  The writer of the Hebrews quotes Psalm 40 where King David—one thousand years before Jesus—acknowledged that these offerings were not the answer.  “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, …in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure” (Hebrews 10:5; Psalm 40:6).  How could God be pleased with offerings that do not remove sin?  It was never the bare act of slaughtering a ram that forgave sins.  People were saved by faith in God’s promises.  God attached his promises to the sacrifices.  Only faith made their worship of any benefit.  But every sacrifice confessed the promises.  Every sacrifice pointed to what the Savior would finally do.  Abel, Noah, Abraham, and centuries of Israel’s priests made the same confession: The Savior would make the one, perfect sacrifice that would make the full payment for sins, once and for all.  He would give his body to sanctify you.

     “Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, … ‘a body have you prepared for me’” (Hebrews 10:5).  It is not the sacrifice of a bull, a goat, or a ram that serves as a substitute for mankind.  It is not even another man who can stand in for all mankind.  It is God who comes for all mankind.  But to be a true substitute for mankind, God had to become a man.  So, a body was prepared for him, as we heard in our Gospel lesson.  The Holy Spirit implanted our Lord in the womb of the blessed Virgin.  He was conceived and went through nine months of gestation.  He was born, grew up, and presented his body as the sacrifice which once and for all made the payment for the sins of the world.  It is not a lamb, but the Lamb of God, which was slain for sinners.  He gives his body to sanctify you.

     “Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, … ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book’” (Hebrews 10:5,7).  Jesus came to do God’s will in two ways.  First, this one lived for you.  He became a man to submit to the Commandments that we must keep.  He had to do this because we have not.

     Our confession is correct: We are by nature sinful.  We cannot turn that off.  It makes itself evident in our thoughts, words, and actions.  We know what God expects of us, and we know that God’s standards are good.  Nothing is ever gained by jealousy, anger, sarcasm, obscenity, adultery, name-calling, or cruelty.  These things are destructive for you and for others.  Yet, the devil convinces us that we benefit from embracing them.  Our thoughts scheme evil against others.  Our words cut people down.  We act to get praise from others, and we get upset when we don’t get it.  We are guilty of the evil God has told us not to do.  And so, we have offended God and hurt our neighbor.  We have failed to do the good God has commanded.  And so, we have grieved God and proved unhelpful to our neighbor.  This is nothing to boast about, much less trying to convince God that we have been good.

     “Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, … ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God” (Hebrews 10:5,7).  Jesus lived for you.  Here is a man who did all that God commands, and he delighted in doing it!  For it is not the bare act of obedience which pleases God, but the heart and will of the person must be pure to please God.  The devil tempted Jesus to think that abusing his divine power would serve him well.  Jesus despised self-promotion and self-glorification.  The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.  Miraculous healings were one way Jesus served others, but far better were the teaching and preaching of Jesus.  He preached what Mary sang about.  He told us that we ought not exalt ourselves before God, as if we are saved by impressing him.  Even so, we are not saved by our humility.  We humble ourselves because we are sinners.  Jesus, however, saved us by humbly obeying every word of God.  We hunger and thirst for righteousness which only Jesus has.  And Jesus is pleased to fill us with good things—his own righteousness.  The holy life Jesus lived he lived for you.  And through baptism, he has covered over your shame with his innocence just as he covered Adam and Eve with the skins of animals.  He gives his body to sanctify you. 

     “When Christ came into the world, he said, … ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God” (Hebrews 10:5,7)–not only in his life, but also in his death.  Jesus bore in his body the guilt of all your sins, and then he made his life a sin offering for you.  The body that was prepared for Jesus was destined for the cross.  There he made the one sacrifice which would satisfy God’s wrath and remove God’s curse.  This one dies for you.  His blood was spilled at the cross.  His body was consumed by God’s fiery wrath.  His holy, precious blood pays for your guilt.  His innocent sufferings and death secure your pardon and peace.  Behold, he has done God’s will!  He lived in innocence for you.  He died accursed for you.  He gives his body to sanctify you.

     “When he said above, ‘You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings’ (these are offered according to the law), then he added, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will.’  He does away with the first in order to establish the second.  And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:8-10).  By doing away with the sacrifices, Jesus relieves you of doubts that you have done enough for God’s salvation.  He takes away the fear of wondering if you ever could do enough.  Salvation does not come by making deals with God or by promising God that you will perform some heroic act for him.  You can’t buy God’s grace; it must be given for free.  And it is!  We do not come to church to do a favor for God.  Rather, we come so that God can deliver his good gifts to us.  It is God’s will that Jesus would do all the work to save you.  “And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).  In Christ, you have been sanctified, that is, you have been set apart as his saints.   

     He gives his body to sanctify you.  The Lord took on a human body in order to exalt our humanity.  Your body is God’s creation.  It is a precious gift.  But because of sin, our bodies grow weak, sick, and will die.  Jesus has corrected that.  Jesus united himself to you by taking on a body.  He gave his body into death to pay for sins.  He had his body placed in a grave in order to burst forth from it.  Jesus rose from the dead with a body that is glorified and will never die again.  Jesus has prepared such a body for you.  These bodies will die and decay.  But they will burst forth from the grave at the command of our Lord.  And just like Jesus’ risen body, your body will be exalted, glorified, and perfected.  Every problem you suffer with your body now is the result of sin.  But Jesus has atoned for your sin, and he will restore your body and exalt you to what God had intended you to be.  He gives his body to sanctify you.

     Jesus became your body and blood Savior to serve you in yet another way.  He does not summon us like Abel to sacrifice the body of a lamb on an altar or to shed its blood.  Instead, it is the Lord who gives his body and blood for you.  Like Abel, we are saved by faith in a promise.  For Abel, God attached his promise to a sacrifice.  But the Lord has put aside the first covenant to establish a new covenant.  Now he attaches his promise to the word and the sacraments.  We still have an altar, and there is still body and blood on it.  But the sacrament is not what you do for God.  It is what God gives to you.  The body which has borne your sins is here for you.  The blood which was shed to atone for guilt is here for you.  The Savior who has overcome death is delivered to you. 

     Here, God delivers to you the gifts which take away sin, which strengthen faith, and which overcome death.  Here, you get to feast upon the living body and blood of Jesus by which you are sanctified and sustained in God’s kingdom.  He gives his body to sanctify you—not figuratively, but truly.  Your sins are not figurative, so neither is Jesus’ forgiveness.  It is the body and blood of Jesus Christ which saves, and here he gives it to you.  Jesus gives his body and blood in a manner that you can taste, smell, touch, and consume for your highest good.  Here, the holy things are given to the holy ones.  Here, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are satisfied.  Here, the humble are exalted.

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

Something from ... Martin Luther on the God and man being one in Jesus Christ

The great majesty of Jesus being born is the incarnation of our Lord, that is, that God and man are now united in one person.  This is a high and holy mystery and is worthy of a lifetime of contemplation.  

Martin Luther gives us something to contemplate about this.  While this quotation does not exhaust the mystery of the incarnation (far from it!), it is still worthy of pondering.

“These are marvelous things: to see a man and the lowliest creature humbled below all, to see the same creature sitting at the right hand of the Father and raised above all the angels, and to see Him in the bosom of the Father and soon subjected to the devil, as is stated in Ps. 8:5: ‘Thou hast made Him a little lower than the angels.’  Likewise in Eph. 4:9: ‘He had descended into the lower parts of the earth.’  This is a wonderful ascent and descent of the angels, to see the highest and the lowest completely united in one and the same Person, the highest God lying in the manger.  Therefore the angels adore Him there, rejoice, and sing: ‘Glory to God in the highest’ (Luke 2:14).  On the other hand, when they consider the lowliness of the human nature, they descend and sing: ‘And on earth peace.’” (Martin Luther.  Luther’s Works: American Edition, Volume 5 (Lectures in Genesis, chapters 26-30), p 218.)

Something from ... Luther on the Incarnation of our Lord

It is easy to limit Christmas to something cute and charming.  A young lady holds a new born baby.  Who would snarl at that image?

But Christmas is celebrated because it is far greater, far deeper, far more comforting, far more mysterious, and far more majestic than an ordinary birth.  On the one hand, it is an ordinary birth.  There was nothing about the birth of Jesus which appeared any different than what we see today.  A pregnant lady endured labor, pushed when the child was ready to leave the birth canal, and breathed and sweated through the pains of childbirth.  And the boy, coming out bloody and naked, entered our world.  He was cleaned and wrapped in cloths the keep him warm.  There was nothing usual about this.

But we also know the mystery of Christmas.  This baby who was born is the Lord--God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, through him all things were made.  God, who is not limited by time and space, entered the world in our time and confined himself to human flesh and blood.

God became one of us to redeem all of us.  This is the marvel of the Incarnation of our Lord.  Now, here is one of Luther's reflections on this incarnation.

          "The fact that God, as is stated in the Epistle to the Hebrews (2:16), is concerned with the descendants of Abraham, not with angels, is an incalculably great honor to that wretched mass of the human race.  For it was not difficult or impossible for Him to bring His Son into the world without a mother.  But He wanted to make use of the female sex.

          "He could likewise have formed a body suddenly from a virgin  just as He formed Adam from clay and Eve from a rib of Adam.  He did not choose to do this, but He adhered to the order which He Himself had established.  For a  maiden has been created in such a way that she should conceive, be with child for nine mothers, and give birth.  Therefore He wanted His Son to be conceived, carried and born in the womb of a maiden, not formed from clay and not conceived by a male.

         "It is surely a great comfort that it did not please God that His Son should become man from any other material than the human race.  He wanted His Son to become our brother and to adorn us with the exceedingly great honor of having a God born and made man in our flesh and blood." (pp 161-162, Luther's Works: American Edition.  Volume 4, Lectures on Genesis, chapters 21-25)

Something from ... Pope Leo on the Two Natures of Jesus

With Christmas approaching soon enough, we get to ponder once again one of the great mysteries of the Christian faith -- that Jesus is both God and man.  Logic dictates that he must be one or the other.  Scripture asserts that he is completely God and completely man at the same time.  How can this be?  That is the mystery.

Both are essential if Jesus is to be the Savior of the world.  He must be true man if he is to be our true substitute in life and in death.  As true man, Jesus fulfills the Commandments.  So, a man has earned God's favor.  As true man, Jesus dies.  And in Jesus, a man has conquered the grave, overcome death, and opened up heaven to all mankind.

And yet, as the Psalms remind us, "Truly no man can ransom another or give to God the price of his life." (Psalm 49:7)  So, if Jesus is only a man, he earned his spot in heaven.  Good for him; but he would have done nothing for you or me.  Therefore, he has to be God in order for his perfect life and sacrificial death to count for all.

This is not a Lutheran teaching, as if Lutherans invented this teaching.  This is the teaching of the Christian church, the church catholic--with which Lutherans concur.  We are declaring only what the Scriptures declare.  In teaching and confessing this, we find comfort that Jesus is the very Savior we need, and that his work of redemption guarantees our place in God's kingdom.

Pope Leo the Great

This was also decreed after the Council of Chalcedon (451 AD) by a letter from Pope Leo I ( c. 400 – 10 November 461) to Flavian, bishop of Constantinople, regarding Eutyches who had been teaching that Jesus was not really a man, but bore only the form or appearance of a man.  What Pope Leo writes is the correct teaching of the Scripture and the faithful confession of the Church.  It is a mystery worth pondering.  Here is a portion of Leo's letter:

"So the proper character of both natures was maintained and came together in a single person. Lowliness was taken up by majesty, weakness by strength, mortality by eternity. To pay off the debt of our state, invulnerable nature was united to a nature that could suffer; so that in a way that corresponded to the remedies we needed, one and the same mediator between God and humanity the man Christ Jesus, could both on the one hand die and on the other be incapable of death. Thus was true God born in the undiminished and perfect nature of a true man, complete in what is his and complete in what is ours. By “ours” we mean what the Creator established in us from the beginning and what he took upon himself to restore. There was in the Saviour no trace of the things which the Deceiver brought upon us, and to which deceived humanity gave admittance. His subjection to human weaknesses in common with us did not mean that he shared our sins. He took on the form of a servant without the defilement of sin, thereby enhancing the human and not diminishing the divine. For that self-emptying whereby the Invisible rendered himself visible, and the Creator and Lord of all things chose to join the ranks of mortals, spelled no failure of power: it was an act of merciful favour. So the one who retained the form of God when he made humanity, was made man in the form of a servant. Each nature kept its proper character without loss; and just as the form of God does not take away the form of a servant, so the form of a servant does not detract from the form of God."

Sourece: http://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/ecum04.htm

Sermon -- Christmas Day (December 25, 2017)

JOHN 1:1-14

THE WORD BECAME FLESH.

In the name + of Jesus.

     Many Lutheran churches like to claim what St. Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians: “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2)  The crucifixion is a dominant theme in our sermons, in our liturgy, and even in our church furnishings—both with the large cross overhead, and with the crucifix which is prominently displayed and used today.  It is no secret why we display and proclaim Jesus Christ and him crucified.  That is the payment for the sins of the world.  It is at Jesus' crucifixion that the wrath of God was satisfied and that the body and blood of the Lord was given to pay for our sins for all time and for all people.  So, the emphasis on Christ crucified is both understandable and necessary.
     It may come as a surprise to you, then, to learn that the early Church was not in the habit of displaying crosses or crucifixes in their churches.  One practical reason is that, in the early part of Christianity, crosses were still being employed for execution, and some Christians were the sad victims of this bitterly painful death.  If crucifixion was not the central focus of the early Church, then what was?  It was the incarnation of our Lord.
     “Incarnation” is an impressive sounding, theological word.  If you don't remember it, that's okay.  It is probably easier to remember it when it is put to music: “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see.”  Or you may consider the words of St. John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...” (John 1:1,14)  This is the incarnation.  The Word became flesh.  God has become man.  The Savior, Jesus, is the Christ, the Lord.  But now the Lord has become one of us.
     The Word became flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary at Jesus' conception.  This virgin, then, gave birth nine months later to a boy in Bethlehem.  The birth itself was rather unspectacular.  A boy was born to peasant parents.  No doubt Joseph and Mary were filled with joy and relief that mother and child were both healthy.  But as far as the citizens of Bethlehem were concerned, nothing particularly noteworthy or amazing took place that night.
     Perhaps Joseph and Mary were the only ones in the house who knew the significance of this birth.  Joseph knew that this baby was not his.  Mary was still virgin pure.  The holy one which was born is the Son of God.  They had each been given an angelic message which told them so.  The Lord was pleased to reinforce those angelic messages with one more.  To shepherds out in the fields, the angel came with the message: “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)  The shepherds not only ran into Bethlehem to see this, but they also “made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.” (Luke 2:17)  In other words, they preached God's word to everyone they met.  Joseph, Mary, and anyone else there heard the shepherds preach the truth about this child:  He is the Lord.  He is the Word made flesh.  God dwells with mankind.  Our Immanuel has come to save us.
     The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. (John 1:14)  The Lord became flesh to take up the cause of mankind.  Mankind was God's special creation.  Everything God had created was simply summoned into being by the command of God.  God said it, and it was so—light, dry land, vegetation, sun, moon, and stars, bird, fish, and animals.  However, mankind was notably different.  God personally formed the man from the dust of the earth.  God personally crafted the woman from the rib of the man.  God even took counsel with himself at the creation of mankind before he made them.  “God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.'  … So God created man in his own image.” (Genesis 1:26,27)  God assessed what he had created, and behold, it was very good. (Genesis 1:31)  
     God loves what he has created.  Therefore, when man sinned against God, became corrupt in his thinking and doing, and was marked for death, the Lord was not content to write off man as a lost cause.  He has not dismissed you, either, even though you sin, are corrupt in heart and mind, and are marked for death.  Christmas is supposed to be a time of peace, joy, and love, but it ends up highlighting that we are corrupt and sinful.  For as much as we attempt to make Christmas magazine-cover perfect, we put more stress on ourselves than the season is worth.  Rather than be joyous, we become snippy.  Rather than joy over loved ones, we snap at them.  You may pat yourself on the back for being more generous at Christmas time than usual, but it is easy to toss money at a cause you really have no contact with than to be patient, loving, and understanding to people who stay at your house for a few days or whom you live with all the time.  Perhaps you have even had some family members write you off because of some spat you've had. 
     Our sins do not go away because of sentimental or peppy Christmas carols.  If anything, our sins are accentuated.  You may try to hide it or excuse it.  “I'm only snippy because you are annoying.”  But it is still sin, and it incurs not only the wrath of family members, but especially the wrath of God.  God gave you family members to love, not to despise.  If you despise what God has given you, you also dishonor the God who gave them.
     Others may write you off because you have sinned against them.  God is not willing that you should perish.  Therefore, the Word, the second person of the Trinity, became flesh and made himself one with mankind.  He became man to redeem man.  He became man to live the holy life which is demanded under the Law.  Adam did not keep the Law.   You and I have not kept the Law.  One man has—Jesus.  And he has kept it for you.
     God's Law also demands that he who is guilty must die.  Therefore, the Word became flesh to suffer what sinful flesh must suffer.  Jesus Christ has taken your guilt from you.  He was pierced to the cross for every piercing word we have shot at our loved ones.  He suffered in silence for every time we should have kept our mouths shut but could not help ourselves.  Just as he was born in weakness and wrapped in cloths at his birth, so also he died in weakness and was wrapped in cloths when he was place in a grave for our sins.  Jesus did all of this because he loves what he has created.  And even though we still sin against him in our weakness, his love remains constant.  You know how much patience you have for people who sin against you.  Would you blame our Lord if he became so annoyed by our sinful weakness that he wrote us off as lost causes?  But rather than be announed, the Lord remains merciful.  He is not willing to see you perish.  And so the Word who became flesh to suffer and die for fleshly man, assures you that his blood continues to purify you from all sin. 
     God became part of his creation to rescue his creation.  God became one of us to redeem all of us.  This is what the early Church marvelled at, and we do well to marvel at it as well.  God has not created us to stand off at a distance where he will check in on us once in a while to make sure we have not nuked ourselves out of existence.  Rather, God invested himself in his creation so that remain his cherished creation forevermore. 
     The Word became flesh and made himself one with us.  Immanuel has come so that God will be with us and we with him forever.  This is the glory of God.  That glory was veiled in flesh, but it is glorious nonetheless.  And this day, the Lord comes to us again.  He is veiled in bread and wine, but he comes all the same to deliver his gifts of forgiveness of sins, new life, and salvation.  He comes to dwell within us, and summons us to consume his body and blood for our eternal good.  Behold!  The Lamb which was wrapped in cloths and placed in a manger is now wrapped in bread and wine and placed in your mouths so that you will receive the salvation which God is pleased to give to sinners.
     Rejoice!  Immanuel has come.  The Word of God became incarnate so that he could be crucified for mankind.  The flesh and blood Savior overcame the grave so that man will live forever with the Lord.  God, who is now one of us, remains forever God with us.

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

Something from... Athanasius on the incarnation of God the Son

          Athanasius (296 - May 2, 373, bishop of Alexandria, Egypt) was a staunch defender of the faith.  His faithfulness to the word of God resulted in him being exiled from Alexandria no less than five times.  Each return after exile was treated with a hero's welcome from the faithful in the church he served.


          In the following quote, Athanasius highlights the blessing of the incarnation of God the Son.  By becoming man, God was not dragged down or sullied by the sinful nature of mankind.  Rather, by becoming man, God the Son exalted humanity, and we are blessed by it.


“For if the sun too, while was made by Him, and which we see, as it revolves in the heaven, is not defiled by touching the bodies upon earth, nor is it put out by darkness, but on the contrary itself illuminates and cleanses them also, much less was the all-holy Word of God, Maker and Lord also of the sun, defiled by being made known in the body; on the contrary, being incorruptible, He quickened and cleansed the body also, which was in itself mortal; who 1 Peter 2:2 did, for so it says, no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.” (Athanasius, Selections from “On the Incarnation of the Word,” paragraph 17, sentence 7)