I don’t think I have ever heard a Christmas
message preached from the introduction to John’s gospel. To be honest, I’ve never even thought of this
passage as a Christmas passage until I ran across a statement in a commentary
once on John’s gospel that said John
1:14 contained the shortest Christmas story in the Bible: how “the Word became flesh.” That statement struck my “curiosity bone” and
after studying this passage, I would have to say that I would modify the
statement to say that this passage as a whole, John 1:1-18, actually contains both the shortest and the longest Christmas
story in the Bible! It is the shortest
because it does share the Christmas story in a mere four words, but it is the
longest because once you take in the whole of John’s introduction, you see that
John’s “Christmas story” reaches further back than any of the other
gospels. It begins before creation began
(1:1)!
In John
1:1-18, John introduced his gospel account by unpacking how the eternal Son
of God became the Jesus of history. That
is the Christmas story! What I hope to
show you here is how this story is both a miracle and mystery to marvel over
and a message to believe and proclaim.
[1:1] In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He
was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made through him, and
without him was not any thing made that was made. [4] In him was life, and
the life was the light of men. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and
the darkness has not overcome it.
[6] There
was a man sent from God, whose name was John. [7] He came as a witness, to
bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. [8] He
was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
[9] The
true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
[10] He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the
world did not know him. [11] He came to his own, and his own people did
not receive him. [12] But to all who did receive him, who believed in his
name, he gave the right to become children of God, [13] who were born, not
of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
[14] And
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as
of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. [15] (John bore
witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes
after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) [16] For from his
fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. [17] For the law was
given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. [18] No
one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made
him known. (John 1:1-18 ESV)
I.
Marvel at the Miracle and Mystery of Christmas (1:1-5,14-18)
There are at least two miracles/mysteries that are
found in this passage. The first one is
that the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us. What does this mean? Who is “the
Word” and why does John use this terminology? As always, when studying Scripture, the place
to begin is the text itself. First of
all, “the Word” is a person
(2-4). Notice the personal pronouns
used: “he” and “him.” Second, “the Word” is identified in this passage
as “the only Son from the Father” (14)
and “Jesus Christ” (17). So now we know whom “the Word” is. But notice
that much more is said about Him. “The Word” (Jesus) is thirdly an eternal being
(1-2). “In the beginning,” He “was.” This is intentionally echoing Genesis 1:1. As I said earlier, John’s Christmas story
reaches much further back than Matthew’s (Abraham) and Luke’s (Adam). Don’t
miss the implications here. This means
that Jesus was not created; He has always been.
The apostle John also brings out this point in John the Baptist’s
testimony of Jesus, where he explains why Jesus “ranks before” him: because Jesus “was before” him (15)!
Fourthly, “the
Word” (Jesus) is somehow both distinct
from and yet equal to God
(1). John says that in the beginning “the Word was with God, and the Word was
God.” We call this the doctrine of
the Trinity: the teaching that there is only one true God, but that He eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each being fully and
equally God, but separate persons at the same time. John’s implication could not be clearer: that
Jesus Christ is God. As Bible believing
Christian’s, we unapologetically affirm that Jesus is God and we worship Him as
such. This is further affirmed by the
fifth description of “the Word,” that
He created everything (3). John says, “all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything
made that was made.” If it exists,
Jesus created it! Isn’t this an
incredible statement!
The sixth thing that we learn about “the Word” is that He is the source
of all life, both physical and spiritual (4). I think this is what John means when he says
that in Jesus “was life, and the life was
the light of men.” All life comes
from Him. God’s life is different from
ours: His is self-existent; ours comes
from and depends upon Him. All this
means that if we don’t know Jesus, we are both dead and in the dark. Finally, this “Word” became a human being
(14,17). He “became flesh.” We call this
the doctrine of the incarnation: the
teaching that God became a human being.
Let’s put is all together now: the Eternal God,
Creator, Life Giver, and Son of God became a human being in Jesus Christ. This is both mysterious and unfathomably
miraculous, both that God could
become a human being and that God would
become a human being. Marvel at this
mystery!
Come behold the
wondrous mystery
In the dawning of
the King
He the theme of
heavens praises
Robed in frail
humanity
In our longing, in
our darkness
Now the light of
life has come
Look to Christ, who
condescended
Took on flesh to ransom us[1]
The second miracle/mystery seen in this passage is
how in Jesus Christ, the glory of God
was uniquely and perfectly disclosed. Verses
14-18 contains several Old Testament allusions that are all meant to
communicate that in Jesus, God uniquely and perfectly disclosed His glory to
His people. The first allusion is to the
tabernacle in the Old Testament. When
John says that the Word became flesh and “dwelt”
among us, the Greek literally reads that Jesus “tabernacled,” or “pitched
His tent” among us. In the Old
Testament, the tabernacle, or Tent of Meeting, represented God’s dwelling among
His people. It symbolized God’s presence
among them. John seems to be saying that
in Jesus, something better than the Tabernacle has come. In Jesus, God takes up residence among His
people in a more intimate way.
The second allusion to the Old Testament is seen
in John saying that Jesus is the expression of the “glory” that Moses could not see.
When John says here that the disciples have “seen His glory” that is “full
of grace and truth,” he is alluding to Exodus
33:17-34:7, where Moses asked to see God’s glory. If you remember, Moses was only allowed to
see the afterglow of God’s glory, but
John says here that in Jesus, God’s glory has been revealed! Look at verse 18: “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side,
he has made him known.” Jesus is
God’s ultimate disclosure of His glory!
The third allusion to the Old Testament is seen in
John saying that Jesus is a better grace
than the law. The law here is seen as a
grace: God’s special revelation of Himself to His people. BUT Jesus is a grace “upon” that grace. He is
God’s ultimate revelation of Himself to His people.
Hebrews
1:3 says that Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact imprint of His
nature. That is an eloquent summary of
all we are seeing here. I’d like to ask
two simply questions in application of this first point. First, do you marvel at this mystery and
miracle, that God would become flesh and uniquely and perfectly disclose His
glory in the frail humanity of His Son?
Second, can you defend this mystery as a Bible believing Christian?
II.
Respond in Faith to the Message of Christmas (1:6-13)
a.
The Message Itself
So far we have examined the miracle and mystery of
Christmas in this passage. But we also
need to consider the message of
Christmas that is seen here. Make
not mistake about it, the miracle is part
of the message. The miracle of Christmas
is that God has became a human being and disclosed His glory in Jesus Christ,
but the message of Christmas is that He not only came, but that He came into
the world to save it. Matthew 1:21, speaking of Mary giving
birth to Jesus, says, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name
Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Or to use the terminology found in this passage,
the message of Christmas is that the Light of the world has come into the world
and conquered the darkness. “Light” and “darkness” are often metaphors in John’s gospel for good and
evil. The story of the Bible is that the
world that God made and sustains has fallen into darkness due to our
rebellion. God promised a Messiah the
day the world fell into darkness that would save His people from darkness. In the Old Testament, this Messiah’s coming
is often depicted as a light entering this dark world. “The
people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a
land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” (Isaiah 9:2 ESV)
What we learn from all of the gospels is that the
way Jesus would save His people from their sins and conquer the darkness is by
dying for their sins and paying for the darkness we brought into the
world. The light of the world was born
to die in our place, for our sins, so that we could then be forgiven and become
the children of God.
b.
The Only Responses to this Message
There are two
responses seen here to this good news that the true Light of the world has
come into the world and defeated the darkness: reject Him or receive Him and
bear witness so that others may receive Him.
His light divides humanity into those who love darkness and those who
will choose light. Later in John’s
gospel, he would explain why “the world”
did not know Him (10) and “his own people
did not receive Him” (11):
[19] And
this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the
darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. [20] For
everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light,
lest his works should be exposed. [21] But whoever does what is true comes
to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried
out in God.” (John 3:19-21 ESV)
But now notice how Jesus’ reception is
described. All who do receive Jesus
become the children of God! “But to all who did receive Him, who
believed in His name, he gave the right to become the children of God” (12)! Those who receive Jesus no longer know only
darkness and death; they know light and life!
But what does it mean to receive Him?
First, to receive Jesus is to believe in His name
(12). Now this is not mere intellectual
assent. It is a belief that yields
allegiance, trusts completely, acknowledges His claims, confesses Him as God
and worships Him in response. If a king
were to enter a room back in the day, it was appropriate for those in the room
to bow before him. It would make no sense
whatsoever for someone in the room to claim to believe that the king was there
and yet not bow before Him. Bowing was
the outward expression of the inward belief.
Yet this is how many people describe believing in Jesus: they claim to
believe He is Lord of their lives and yet to do now bow allegiance to His rule
in their lives. That is not genuine,
saving faith.
Second, to receive Jesus is to be born of God
(13). John is explicit here as to what
being born of God means. It is not a
matter of pedigree. Your own will does
not bring it about, nor any other human being’s. It is a gracious act of God. What a picture this “birth” analogy is. Did you
give birth to yourself? No you did
not. Likewise, if you are a Christian
here today, it is not because you up and decided to exercise your will
power. It is because there came a point
in your rebellion when God made you alive by His grace (Ephesians 2:5).
Finally, I think that we also see here that part
and parcel of receiving Jesus is also bearing witness so that others may
receive Him (6-8). John the Baptist is
the example given here. Jesus would call
John the Baptist in John 5:35 a “burning and a shining lamp.” What a beautiful description of those who
receive Jesus: to bear witness about Jesus so that others might believe in
Him. We too are to be lamps burning and
shining in a dark world (Acts 1:8).
This is both the miracle and the message of
Christmas: that God became man in Jesus Christ in order to save His people from
their darkness. Does this message cause
your heart to marvel? Have you received
Him by faith? If not, will you
today? If you have, will you bear
witness so that others may believe as well?
Will you be a burning and a shining lamp for Him this Christmas?
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