“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1) and so John begins his Gospel account of the life of Jesus. This year during the season of Advent through Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve we are looking at the various nuances of “the Word.” We began by looking at the power of the Word at creation. Last week we heard the fact that the Word was and is God. This week we move on to hear the announcement of the Word becoming flesh in the person of Jesus, the one promised to be the Savior of the world.
Our text for this evening brings us to John the Baptist, the one who was promised and sent to prepare the world for the coming of the one promised in the Garden of Eden. With John’s preparation we begin to get an understanding of what we call the two natures of Jesus. Jesus is unlike any other person who ever was or ever will be. Jesus is both human and divine, truly God and truly man, one hundred percent God and one hundred percent human.
We know Jesus is truly God as we know He was there at the creation of the world with the Father and the Holy Spirit, our text from the first Wednesday of Advent. We also confess Jesus as true God in the three ecumenical creeds, as we confess in the Apostle’s Creed, “and in Jesus Christ, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,” and in the Nicene Creed, “was incarnate by the Holy Spirit,” making Him true God.
We also know that Jesus was and is a true human being. As God in heaven, He gave up the glory that was His in heaven in order to take on His human nature, that is to take on human flesh, as announced by John the Baptist and as we also confess in the Apostle’s Creed, “born of the Virgin Mary,” and the Nicene Creed, “was incarnate . . . of the Virgin Mary.”
In our text John points us to Jesus whom he calls the light. “6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.” John the Baptist knew his calling and his role. He knew he was not the Word, nor the Life, nor the Light rather he came simply to point to Jesus.
As the Gospel writer John lays out his account of the birth of Jesus he begins by pointing us to Jesus and in particular what we might say as Jesus is the oral word, at creation. In other words, Jesus is true God, with the Father and the Holy Spirit who spoke all things into being. Jesus is also the spoken promise to Adam and Eve, that is that as soon as Adam and Eve sinned and brought death and destruction, separation from God, God Himself immediately stepped in and promised, made and oral promise that He would send a Savior. At this time then Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior of the world is an oral Word of promise.
The Gospel writer John then goes on to speak of Jesus as the incarnate word, that is the word in flesh. At His birth by the Virgin Mary, Jesus, the one promised and spoken about, takes on human flesh and blood so that the Word of promise becomes a living, incarnate, in the flesh, Word.
Thus, Jesus comes to bring life. Adam and Eve’s sin brought death. God promised a Savior, Life and Jesus is that Savior, that is, His life, death and resurrection will restore life, eternal never ending life.
The Gospel writer John says that John the Baptist came to bear witness to the light. He expressly admits that he is not the Light, but was simply sent to bear witness, to point to the One who is the Light. Jesus is the Light of the world. As the Light of the world He is the one guiding all to salvation.
As the Light of the world, Jesus’ light first reveals sin so there can be repentance. God’s Word speaks about those who sit in darkness as sin is described as darkness. We often make note of the fact that when people sin, when they do what they are not supposed to be doing they often do their wicked deeds in darkness in order to hide their sin. So, Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness of this sin filled world in order to expose sin so that there might be confession and absolution. And then, of course, Jesus is the Light in that He draws all people to Himself so that He might pour out on all the forgiveness He earned and paid for on the cross. And that all people might be saved.
What does this mean? In the beginning God created. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. God created all things and He created all in perfection. God created a perfect man and a perfect woman and placed them in a perfect Garden which He created just from them. He even gave them a way to respond to all that He had created and given to them. He gave them only one command, to not eat from the fruit of the tree, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, in the middle of the Garden. He even warned them that in the day they would eat of the fruit they would die, that is they would die an eternal death in hell and they would begin to die an earthly death.
Of course, we know the history. We know that the devil, Satan, Lucifer, the light bearer, the father of lies entered the Garden and tempted Eve and Adam, lying to them about the Tree of Knowledge. We know that Eve and Adam ate of the fruit thus sinning against God’s one command and that one sin brought sin, imperfection, and a curse on all God created. Yet, because of His great love for Adam and Eve and for us and all His creation God immediately stepped in and promised a solution, a Savior. Throughout the Old Testament God reiterated and narrowed His covenant and the fulfillment of His covenant. God chose Abraham to be the father of the nation through which the Savior would be born. God called Moses to deliver His people from their bondage of slavery in Egypt, much like Jesus delivers us from our bondage of slavery to sin. Finally, because the people of Israel could not and would not be the people God called them to be He allowed that they be punished by being scattered throughout the world.
During the time between the Testaments of the Bible we know that some of Israel made it back to the land of Israel and so before Jesus was born God sent John the Baptist to prepare the way, to get His people and especially those of His people who continued to hold on to the promise of a Savior from sin, not an earthly Savior, ready for Jesus’ birth. Indeed, there were those in Israel who had given up any hope or understanding of a Savior from sin and were only looking for a social/political Savior. And yet there were those faithful ones who continued to wait for God’s promise of a Savior from sin.
John, in his Gospel assures us that Jesus is true God. That He was there with the Father and the Holy Spirit at the creation of all things, and that He is true man, born of the human woman, the Virgin Mary. That He was born to be the Life and Light of the World. Jesus gave up the glory that was His in heaven in order to take on human flesh and blood, in order to live the perfect life demanded of Adam and Eve, demanded of Israel, even demanded of us because we cannot. And He did. And upon completing all that God gave Him to accomplish He took our sins and paid the complete price for all sin, for all people, of all places, of all times. He suffered and died. But we know the rest of the history, He did not stay dead but rose from the dead defeating sin, death and the devil.
This evening then, we continue to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate. We celebrate the fulfillment of God’s first and greatest promise, the birth of the one who came to save all people, of all places, of all times. We come to continue to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate what a great and loving God we have, a God who created us to love us, a God who gave us life at conception, a God who gave us new life through the waters of Holy Baptism, a God who gives us forgiveness through Holy Absolution, a God who gives, strengthens and keeps us in faith through His Holy Word and a God who gives us forgiveness and strengthening through His body and blood in His Holy Supper. Indeed, as we know, as we partake of Jesus’ true body and blood in His Holy Supper He becomes physical part of us so that His perfect life becomes our perfect life. His perfect suffering and death become our perfect suffering and death. His resurrection becomes our resurrection. And His eternal life become our eternal life.
As we continue to hear the Word may we continue to believe the Word, the Word spoke at creation, the Word promised, the Word in flesh in Jesus, indeed, the tangible Word that is ours to taste in His Holy Supper and may the Word ever strengthen and keep us in faith. To God be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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