Sermon -- 2nd Sunday after Christmas (January 4, 2026)

THROUGH JESUS, WE HAVE RECEIVED GRACE UPON GRACE.

JOHN 1:14-18

In the name + of Jesus.

     John the Baptist was a fiery preacher, preparing people for the Messiah.  Although John’s message was strong and shook the conscience of his listeners, John was not a loose cannon.  As a faithful prophet, John preached what God had given him to preach.  What John preached was God’s Law.  That Law exposed people for being the sinners that they were.  Some recognized that John’s message, although uncomfortable to hear, was true.  These people repented and were baptized as John directed them.  Others also found John’s message uncomfortable.  But rather than draw near with a true heart to confess their sins, they were defensive.  For them, John’s preaching did not produce repentance, it provoked anger. 

     “The law was given through Moses” (John 1:17), but the Law came from God. God’s Law may have been written by Moses over 3,000 years ago, but it still applies to every era of history, to every age of life, to every nation on earth, and to every culture in the human spectrum.  The fact that our calendar now reads 2026 changes nothing.  God does not change; neither does his word.  What has always been good is still good now.  What has always been evil is still evil now.  The world’s judgment changes constantly.  God’s word does not.

     God’s Law exposes sin.  One time when Jesus was talking to a Samaritan woman at a well, he revealed that he knew she was a five-time divorcee and that she currently shared a bed with a man who was not her husband.  You can imagine her alarm that he would know this.  But God sees all.  She ran back into town and said to the people there, “Come, see the man who told me everything I ever did” (John 4:29)!  That’s what God’s Law does.  It tells you everything you have ever done, said, and thought.  Even if your sin is not known to the public, God’s Law makes it known to you.  It shows if the thoughts of your heart are bitter, perverse, and self-centered.  It convicts you of being controlled by greed, lust, jealousy, revenge, and so on.  Some acknowledge that God’s word is true, resulting in contrite and penitent hearts.  For others, God’s Law provokes anger, and they call God’s Law evil.

     There is always a part of us which calls God’s Law evil.  That’s because God’s Law can make us feel bad.  Today, that is how people define hatred.  If you make someone feel bad—whether stating an opinion or a fact—people will scowl and demand to know, “Why do you hate that person?”  It is a tactic of manipulation.  They expect you to retract your statement.  They want you to change your opinion or to deny the facts.  But God’s Law is not based on opinion.  It is a divine command.  God gave it because he loves us, not because he hates us.  Since it is from God, it is good.  If it shows that people are evil, God’s Law is still good.  If it is despised and rejected, God’s Law is still good.  If God’s people cannot live up to it, God’s Law is still good.

     John the Baptist preached that Law to prepare hearts to receive the Messiah.  John the Apostle testified about the Messiah who has come: “Out of his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:16-17). 

     We usually do not connect God’s Law with grace, because “no one is declared righteous before God by the law” (Galatians 3:11).  But that does not mean God’s Law has no benefits.  Our Catechism teaches us that God promises “grace and every blessing to those who keep these Commandment” (Luther’s Small Catechism; Conclusion to the Commandments).  The Psalms teach us, “By (God’s laws) your servant is warned.  In keeping them there is great reward” (Psalm 19:11).  And again, “How blessed are those who are blameless in their way, who walk in the law of the Lord.  …How can a young man keep his path pure?  By guarding it with your words” (Psalm 119:1,9). 

     Do you realize the blessing that is given to people who follow God’s commandments?  Do you recognize how many problems you do not bring upon yourself by listening to the word of the Lord and following his ways?  God did not give his law to you to suck all the fun out of your life.  It is more like the rules of the road.  They are not there to make driving boring, but safe.  If you’ve ever driven on a mountain road, you probably saw very little scenery.  You stared at that yellow line on the road to make sure you didn’t veer off the side.  If you saw a speed limit sign warning you to slow down for a sharp curve, you probably didn’t glance at your passenger to say, “Let’s just see how fast we can whip around this.”  You obey the rules of the road for your safety and for everyone else’s safety.  As much fun as it would be to crack 100 mph, it is not safe.

     There is great blessing in keeping God’s Law.  How much happier the house is when husband and wife love and honor each other, and when the children honor and obey their parents.  How much better society is when people help and befriend their neighbor in every bodily need.  How much better the workplace is when people do not lie, cheat, gossip, or steal.  This does not mean your life will suddenly be easy or that you will gain riches.  But it does mean that your life will be good and good for others.  This is how God blesses those who follow his commandments.

     But through Jesus, we have received grace upon grace.  “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).  God’s Law is good.  It is good to know it and to live according to it.  But what Jesus gives us is better.  That is not to say that Jesus replaces God’s Law with something different.  Once again, God’s Law does not change.  So, Jesus did not come to change it.  Not even one word of it.  Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy them but to fulfill them.  Amen I tell you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not even the smallest letter, or even part of a letter, will in any way pass away from the Law until everything is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17-18). 

     And true to his word, Jesus continued to uphold God’s Law in his teaching.  In speaking with priests and peasants, to rabbis and Roman soldiers, to friends and to foes, Jesus spoke truthfully and kindly as God’s Law demands.  In living among people who were diseased, disillusioned, deceptive, and defiant, Jesus demonstrated patience and mercy, but still did not make concessions which excused evil.  Jesus received divine favor because he proved to be a faithful servant who followed the orders of God.  Jesus followed God’s Law because it is good and because Jesus himself is good. 

     Now, if Jesus was just a teacher of morals, he would still be worth listening to and following.  To this day, there are professors and pundits who will give instruction about virtue and morality and ethics.  Occasionally, it happens that one of those figures is guilty of some scandal.  Many will take great delight in someone’s moral failings.  They will cry, “Ha ha!  You hypocrite!  Your words are useless, you liar!”  While we should be saddened that anyone would ruin himself by a scandal, that does not mean that lessons on virtue, morality, and ethics are bad.  The Law came through Moses, and Moses did not keep it.  That doesn’t make the Law bad.  It only proves that people are sinners.  Anyone who finds vindication in someone else’s sins is a petty sinner himself.  There is nothing gracious about mockery.

     But through Jesus, we have received grace upon grace.  As the only man who kept all of God’s Commandments, Jesus could have looked down on all of us.  Instead, he picked us all up from our dreadful, sinful condition.  While Moses commands, “Thou shalt do this!” and “Thou shalt not do that!”—and Moses is not wrong—Jesus tells us, “I will do this for you.  I will fulfill all that God demands of you so that it is all done.  And I will submit to the curse that God puts upon all who fail to live up to the good God demands.  I will give my life in every way for you.  I will live the perfect life under the Law; this will satisfy God’s demands.  And I will die under the Law to pay the price for sins; this will appease God’s wrath.”  This is grace upon grace—God’s love given in the words that direct our lives and God’s love given in the words which proclaim eternal life. 

     “Grace and truth come through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).  The grace of God is proclaimed by the Savior whose sacrificial death removes the curse and the penalty for sins.  He is not only merciful in not treating us as our sins deserve, he is gracious in pouring out blessings that we did not deserve.  The grace of God is poured out upon you in your baptism.  The Lord has marked you as his own dear child.  Your identity is now as a saint in a world of sin and a child of the Most High God awaiting a place in the heavenly kingdom.  And the grace of God is delivered to you in the body and blood which have overcome death.  This is the medicine of immortality, sustaining you on your journey to endless glory and eternal life.  Through Jesus Christ, we have received grace upon grace—God’s gifts delivered by sound and sight and taste and touch.

     “Grace and truth come through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).  Grace and truth are both found in Jesus Christ.  While our Lord is gracious to sinners, he is also truthful to sinners.  He had no problem acknowledging that the people he commiserated with were people with sinful baggage.  When the Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery, he demonstrated astounding grace to her.  He did not add to her public humiliation.  The Pharisees had done enough of that.  He invited anyone without sin to stone her to death.  After the dejected Pharisees walked away, Jesus asked, “‘Has no one condemned you?’  ‘No one, Lord,’ she answered.  Then Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you’” (John 8:10-11).  This was astounding grace.  But Jesus continued with truth.  He told her, “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore” (John 8:11).  Jesus did not deny that she had sinned.  First, he forgave her for it; then he called her to flee from it.  To receive God’s grace then also means to live according to God’s truth.

     The Lord teaches you to be honest with yourself about your sins.  Do not present yourself before the Lord as anything other than you are.  You are a sinner.  But then rejoice in what the Lord tells you that you are: You are his redeemed.  Through Jesus, we have received grace upon grace.  It never runs out.  It always forgives.  It always relieves burdened hearts and minds. 

     Through Jesus, we have received grace upon grace.  In his grace, the Father sent his Son to ransom you from sin and death so that you will be his very own.  In his grace, Jesus sent his Holy Spirit to dwell in you so that you remain a child of God.  In his grace, the Holy Spirit will preserve you in the faith and raise you up to heavenly glory.  

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