The Nativity of our Lord – December 25, 2024Psalm 98; Exodus 40:17-21, 24-28; Hebrews 1:1-12; St. John
1:1-18St. Matthew 2:1-12
In the Name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
are coeternal, meaning they are without beginning and without end. In the
beginning of creation, God created the heavens and the earth by speaking.
Through the Word, all things came into being. If all things came into being by
the speaking of the Word, then the Word is before all things. The Word is
eternal. The Word is without beginning and is without end. The Word was with
God and the Word was God.
This Word is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. He is
the substance of the communication of God. If the Holy Spirit is the Person of
the Trinity who communicates with man, if he is the one who proceeds, then the
Word is the Person who gives substance to that communication. He is the message
communicated from the Father by the Spirit. If the Father sends you a package
and the Holy Spirit delivers it, the Word is the package itself.
Through this Word all things are made. Through this Word the
planets and stars, sun and moon, earth and seas, beasts of the field and birds
of the air, creeping things and swimming things, all these are created. The
final creation and the crown jewel of it all is man. From the dust of the
earth, God forms man and the Word breathes life into him. Man is created in the
image of God. He is created to be the object of God’s love, to worship and
serve God, and to be steward of all creation.
The Word spoke to man, naming him his beloved, calling him
“very good,” and gave him a command. From the moment of creation, the Creator
has been in communication with creation. He is not silent. The Word speaks.
Then man sought to be like God. He was already created in
the image of God but he was deceived into believing he could be a god himself.
Man desired to know good and evil for himself rather than trust the Word spoken
by God. Man betrayed God and broke God’s Word, His Holy Law.
Such transgression required punishment. God did not imagine
a punishment after man had betrayed him. No. The natural consequence of denying
the Word of God is silence, the silence of death.
Man hid in the Garden, holding his breath lest the Word of
God should hear him and find him. But God was not content to remain silent. The
Word speaks. The Word cries out to man that man would present himself before
God. The judgment was already effective, “You shall surely die.” But the Word
did not leave the judgment here. He promised another would come. The seed of
the woman would come into the world and crush the serpent’s head. He would
destroy death, destroy the eternal punishment for Man’s betrayal. Death would
strike the Seed’s heel but the Seed would destroy the head of Death.
What is a Seed if not that through which a creation springs
forth? The Seed is the Word. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and
we beheld his glory, the glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of
grace and truth.
Having been born in a stable, laid to rest in a manger, the
Word of God was unknown by the world. Even though the world had been made
through Him, the world shut its eyes against God. This is the history and
lineage of Cain and Ham. The world has grown powerful and cast off any need or
desire for the Almighty God wrapped in swaddling clothes. The world does not
know Him and is content to sit in darkness, reveling in the sin of its own
making.
But the Scriptures also speak of His own, and His own did
not receive Him. These are Christians, who through weakness and a malformed
will sin against God. You are sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, having
inherited the sin of Adam’s flesh. The temptation is great not to receive the
flesh of Christ and pay no mind to it. Perhaps it is out of a desire for the
things of this world—fleshly desires for wealth, power, prestige, or pleasure.
Perhaps it is out of a malformed conscience that believes avoiding the flesh of
Jesus will make atonement for your own sins. Perhaps it is out of a desire to
prove yourself to God or other men, that by your abstaining from the flesh of
Jesus, you are a “true” Christian.
His own, His own Christians did not receive Him. This is the
sin that dwells in your hearts and it is for this sin that the Word of God
became flesh. He took on flesh to bring you peace with God and goodwill among
men. The Word became flesh to show you mercy and grace, to forgive your sins.
Not to receive the flesh of Christ is a bold rejection of the forgiveness of
sins and a return to the darkness of the sin which clings to your own flesh.
Preferring the flesh of man over the very flesh of God is a grievous sin.
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to
become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”[1]
There is no sin so great that Christ did not die for it. In this sense, no
matter the blasphemy, murder, or adultery, even the turning from the flesh of
Christ to the flesh of man, there is forgiveness found in the Word made flesh.
There is forgiveness for as many as received Him, that is, who look into the
ugly face of sin and cry out to the Child of Mary; who confess themselves to be
unworthy, unclean, and wretched; who confess themselves to be in need of a
Savior, in need of mercy, in need of forgiveness.
These are they who have received Him and to these He has
given the right to become children of God. This is what it means to believe in
His name: to believe in His Word; to believe what the Word of God says about
man and about the God who became Man; to repent of blasphemy, murder, and
adultery and seek salvation in the Son of God alone.
The Word of God dwelt with Mary and Joseph. He dwelt with
man. For three years He traveled the land, dwelling with man, calling mankind
to receive him. To those who received Him, He gave the right to become children
of God. He gave you the right to call him brother and friend. At the end of His
walk on earth, He bore the sins of the world upon his shoulders and spoke again
to all of creation, “It is finished.” The pain of sin, the rule of death, the
power of the serpent are finished. And we beheld his glory, hanging upon the
cross.
The grace and truth of the Father is the Word, the Word who
has spoken to you this day. The grace and truth of the Father is that He loves
you; He forgives you and you are at Peace with Him. The Word is Jesus Christ
the Lord who came not only to dwell with Mary and Joseph but dwells with you
today. He sits on the mercy seat of the Altar, prepared to bring you the
Victory Feast of His triumphant death and resurrection. The Word became flesh
which He now shares with you. We behold His glory by receiving His flesh and
blood into our mouths. We behold His glory as we receive the Only-Begotten of
the Father.
O ye heights of heaven, adore Him; Angel hosts, His praises
sing. Powers, dominion, bow before Him and extol our God and King. Let no
tongue on earth be silent, every voice in concert ring. Evermore and evermore.
In + Jesus’
name. Amen.
