We Have Seen the Glory of the Eternal Word. John 1:1-14. Do you understand the full import of that wish? It may be that in recent years

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1 Christmas Day We Have Seen the Glory of the Eternal Word John 1:1-14 by Rev. Michael G. Lilienthal Merry Christmas! Do you understand the full import of that wish? It may be that in recent years we have started paying closer attention to those words, because we re upset when we hear instead at the grocery store, Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings. How often haven t you replied, with an air of smugness, Merry Christmas? That s not how those words were originally intended to be said. Instead, Merry Christmas ought to be words that we almost sing, joyfully eager to share the news of what Christmas means. When we say, Merry Christmas, it s meant to be merely the abbreviation of the message of the angels: For behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all people: Today in the town of David, a Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward mankind (Luke 2:10-11, 14). Merry Christmas is never, ever the message of the Law, never, ever something to smash into people s faces. Merry Christmas is always pure Gospel, always an invitation to see sins forgiven, peace won. Understand Christmas correctly, therefore. Understand that Christmas means that we have seen the glory of the eternal Word: it is a mystery we cannot comprehend, but we believe in that Word, as John reports of him in our Gospel lesson: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him everything was made, and without him not one

2 John 1: thing was made that has been made. In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. The light is shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man, sent from God, whose name was John. He came as an eyewitness to testify about the light so that everyone would believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. The real light that shines on everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not recognize him. He came to what was his own, yet his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. They were born, not of blood, or of the desire of the flesh, or of a husband s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and dwelled among us. We have seen his glory, the glory he has as the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. Because he came to us and made God known among us, we are enabled to see his glory. This is because the child in the manger is the eternal Word of God: He Is God from Eternity, and He Is Man for Our Salvation. I. He Is God from Eternity Examine closely how John phrases the nature of the Word: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Can you question this at all? The Word in Greek lo,goj is God, with the very same attributes as God: eternal, creating, giving life, glorious; but besides this, John says it clarly: the Lo,goj was God. The writer to the Hebrews expounded upon this irretrievable majesty of the Trinity of God and the Divinity of the Lo,goj: Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things,

3 3 We Have Seen the Glory of the Eternal Word through whom he also created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. (Heb. 1:1-3, ESV) This God is described as the source of all creation: Through him everything was made, says John: everything. To put that into relief, he phrases also the negative: and without him not one thing was made that has been made. This phrase is repeated in our Creed: By whom all things were made. This further demonstrates that this Lo,goj is God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father. So far, this Lo,goj seems fairly transcendent: that is, unreachable, high above us. Theologians from every religion in the world have debated and philosophized about whether God is innately transcendent or immediate, that is, near and involved. We don t need to go into the debate right now, but from these first few verses of John s Gospel, it seems that the Lo,goj God is quite transcendent. But then John continues: In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. The light is shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The Lo,goj created the world, but also sustained it, maintained it with his life and light. The Lo,goj in eternity did not stand back, but his light is shining in the darkness. Have you heard of Schrodinger s Cat? He postulated an experiment (but never performed it) that if a cat were in a box, in which there was also a certain poison that, after a random amount of time, would release. The box was sealed, and if the box were opened, it would automatically release the poison. So the question was, at any given time, is the cat dead or alive? The point

4 John 1: being, observation of the thing changes it. God, by observing his creation, by shedding his light on it, changes that creation; he influences it, works within it, and even gives it life. This the eternal Word, the Lo,goj, did as God. And in particular, the Lo,goj had an influence on the world of men. The real light that shines on everyone was coming into the world, wrote John. He was in he world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not recognize him. In fact, when the writer to the Hebrews said, Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son (Heb. 1:1, ESV), those prophets were also the voice of the Lo,goj, for they had the selfsame Word of God in their mouths. But that Word was as yet hidden in a veil Moses literally hid his face in a veil when he saw God on the mountaintop, and a veil hid all the people from the presence of God in the temple. They could not recognize him, even though he was constantly proclaimed in front of them. St. John the Baptist, the great Forerunner, sums this up: There was a man, sent from God, whose name was John. He came as an eyewitness to testify about the light so that everyone would believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. And a few verses later: John testified about him. He cried out, This is the one I spoke about when I said, The one coming after me outranks me because he existed before me (John 1:15). The masses of people did not believe in this Lo,goj, because they did not recognize him, and they did not recognize him because he was in a form incomprehensible to them: he was the transcendent, eternal God, the God of wrath who destroys sin, the God of creation who is unapproachable, the God of light which blinds

5 5 We Have Seen the Glory of the Eternal Word those of darkness. Therefore, and blessedly, The Word became flesh and dwelled among us. II. He Is Man for Our Salvation The Lo,goj became incarnate for a specific purpose: But to all who did receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God. In this single sentence we see our justification, conferred upon us in Holy Baptism, by which we are adopted into God s family. It is the mysterious sort of birth that Nicodemus could not comprehend: Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God, which is explained, Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:3, 5-6, ESV). So the children of God were born, not of blood, or of the desire of the flesh, or of a husband s will, but born of God. This is the miraculous birth given by the salvation of the Lo,goj made flesh. This is to be taken as plain fact: The Word became flesh. This is as simple and clear a sentence as, The Word was God. Take those two together, and we have God made Flesh, the simple and clear doctrine of the incarnation, which even children believe. Then John says, and [he] dwelled among us, or literally, tabernacled among us. You see, all those earlier revelations by the prophets and by a God who hid his glorious face in a tent were foreshadowings of when the Lo,goj would come clearly and visibly and fully. Therefore the Lo,goj tabernacled in humanity. God always wished,

6 John 1: from the moment of creation, to deal with humanity, to have a relationship with us. He did this in part through the prophets. The Lo,goj appeared in their mouths as in the fiery coal that touched Isaiah s lips or the scroll of the book that Ezekiel ate. The Lo,goj stood before the Old Testament people in miraculous ways as in the burning bush, the pillar of fire and of smoke, the hand that wrote on the wall, the man that wrestled with Jacob, the spirit-being that stood with the three men in the fiery furnace. But in every case it was fleeting, it was partial, it was a glimpse. Not yet had the Lo,goj revealed himself fully with his saving grace. That was not until the babe was conceived in a Virgin s womb and born in Bethlehem and God wrapped himself in the swaddling cloths of humanity. And since that appearance, the witness has gone out. The glory of God, the divine hnykiv, is destructive to sinful man, and we ought to close our eyes to it. But God permitted himself to be visible in a way that is not destructive, but enlivening. It is with joy at the miracle of seeing God and yet living that John proclaims: We have seen his glory, the glory he has as the only-begotten from the Father, full not of wrath and destruction, but of grace and truth. When John goes on in his Gospel, he declares clearly: For the law was given through Moses, something that was partial, foreshadowing, unfulfilled; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ, for he is the Lo,goj of God. And then, No one has ever seen God, not in his glory. That is impossible and he would destroy us. The only-begotten Son, who is close to the Father s side, has made him known (John 1:17, 18).

7 7 We Have Seen the Glory of the Eternal Word God wished to save, so he sent the brightest and most glorious jewel of his crown to have compassion, to save us, to bring us mercy and grace and truth. That glorious one came in humility, in a cold, dirty, unsanitary manger of wood where livestock eats, all to prove how at the end of his life he would find his way once more onto a bed of wood, a cross, and would offer up that same body born of Mary and blood shed on the cross for not livestock, but his children to eat. God, that transcendent God, became so imminent as to place himself inside us: inside our mouths, inside our stomachs, inside our hearts by faith. The Lo,goj, the Word, who was wrapped in cloths in the manger, then wrapped in linens in the tomb, has left those behind to be wrapped in the pages of his Lo,goj, his Word, of the Gospel. The babe who was born from the watery womb of a virgin, gives us new birth in the watery womb of Baptism. God, the only-begotten Son of God, who was with God in the beginning, became Man to save us, so that we could see his glory, and by that glory, be saved. All of this is what we mean when we say, with true joy, Merry Christmas! Amen. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version TM (EHV TM ) copyright 2016 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved. Some quotations from the Old Testament are samples and may not reflect the final wording. Comments and suggestions may be submitted at: wartburgproject.org/contact/ Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.