The Word Became Flesh For You
John 1:1-19
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. This is not some myth. It is historical fact. The eternal God entered time. The One who created all things became a creature. The Son of God assumed human flesh. He was born when Caesar Augustus ruled the Roman Empire. His mother was Mary. He was born in Bethlehem. And every Lord’s day we confess that He suffered under Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea.
And we mark the day, December 25, and that is tied to a real day in history. It isn’t tied to Jesus’ birth, but it is tied to the exact day He died. According to the historical account of God’s Word and secular history we know that Jesus died, depending on the calendar in use, either March 25 or April 6. There was an ancient belief that great prophets, great men of God, died on the same day as they were conceived. So, as the church desired to celebrate the birth of Jesus, they started with the date of his death (not as you will so often hear in the media with a pagan festival). In the Western Church which includes the Roman Catholics and the Lutherans we observe December 25, nine months after Jesus’ death. The Eastern Church, which is the Orthodox branch of Christianity, celebrates Christmas on January 6, nine months after April 6 – the date of Jesus’ death according to the other calendar. This might be why we have 12 days of Christmas – to observe the spread between December 25 and January 6.
If you didn’t keep up with that – blame it on my preaching. But remember two things. First, the celebration of Jesus’ birth on December 25th is NOT adapted from a pagan myth tied to the Winter Solstice. Second, we have a historically accurate record of the life of Christ. We know the exact date Jesus died. Augustus was Caesar. Pontius Pilate governed. Bethlehem and Jerusalem exist. God was wrapped in a real diaper and laid in a manger. God smelled like a real baby so you might have handed him back to Mary when he smelled a certain way. God played with wood shavings in Joseph’s shop. God grew up. God was baptized with sinners. God was arrested. God was rejected. God was convicted. God was nailed to a cross and God died.
That is what we confess when we confess with Saint John – the Word became flesh and He dwelt among us. The Word is the Son of God. He is God. Through Him all things were made.
We call this the incarnation, the enfleshment of God. It is a mystery of the Christian faith. How can Jesus be true God and true man at the same time? How can the perfect God be confined to a perfect zygote? How can God be helpless in his mother’s arms? How could the infinite be contained in the finite?
The greater mystery than “how?” is”why?” Why would the Son of God become human? In many other religions their gods act like humans and even interact with humans, but they act more like the humans on your favorite TV show than like gods. They fool around, love some people and hate others, and are generally self-serving.
Not the Son of God. He chooses to be helpless, to suffer abuse, to be denied by Peter and betrayed by Judas, and sentenced to death by Pilate. Why? Because He is the Son of His Father, full of grace and truth.
Grace is the grand mystery of the incarnation. God did this for us. “For us men and for our salvation (He) came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man.”
God loves His creation. After all He made it. He loves His creation even though it’s a broken mess of chaos. Above all He loves you, even though you are the cause of all the chaos and trouble. The problem is right there in your flesh – you love your flesh more than you love God. That’s the truth of the Word. The grace of the Word is that God loved your flesh more than He loved Himself. The Father sent His only begotten Son into the flesh to save your flesh.
For us men and for our salvation He was incarnate by the Holy Spirit. He was born of the Virgin Mary. He was convicted by Pontius Pilate, crucified by Roman Soldiers and Jewish leaders. He died and was buried by Nicodemus and Joseph. His flesh for your flesh. His life for your sin. His blood for yours, but because He was true God that blood wiped out the entire debt of every sinner and every sin.
The God of Scripture loves His creation. He delights in physical things, like your flesh. He gave you eyes to see the beauty of His creation, to be attracted to your spouse, to watch your children grow. He gave you ears to enjoy music and good stories and a tasteful joke. He gave you mouths to sing, to talk to one another, and to taste the delights of Christmas baking. He gave you emotions that you might have great joy in His gifts and also sympathize with others in their sorrow. Many religions have the goal of escaping your body and material life to enjoy some nebulous spiritual existence. Not Christianity! The Word was made flesh that our flesh might be redeemed, forgiven, live, and be resurrected for all eternity.
In the manger the Son of God was hidden in the flesh of a baby wrapped in the diaper. On the cross He was hidden in a falsely convicted criminal. Today He is wrapped up in His Word and swaddled in His Supper. He still uses created matter to be gracious to you. He’s hidden in the mouth of your preacher and under the bread and wine of His supper and in the Word of forgiveness that you hear.
We celebrate Jesus’ birth based on His death. December 25 is exactly nine months to the day after Jesus died. That is weird custom, but not any weirder than God becoming man, or God dying, or a man rising from the dead three days after He died. What is weirdest of all is that God did this all for you, for us men and for our salvation. In the name of Jesus. Amen