The Nativity of Our Lord, Christmas Day (2022)
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John 1:1-14
John 1:1-14
Merry Christmas my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we celebrate today the Incarnation of our Lord, his dwelling with us in this world of woes in order that He might free us from the powers of sin, satan, and the darkness of death. For He is the light that shines in the darkness and the darkness has not conquered Him for He is light and His light is the life of men.
The Darkness of Sin
John’s Gospel uses light and darkness.
These are used quite often throughout history. Part of this distinction is lost on us as we can banish darkness quite quickly with the flick of a switch, but when we can’t, because the power is gone, we realize how oppressive the darkness is. We look for light to see the world around us and to understand what is there. It is amazing how even familiar places like our homes can be difficult to navigate without the light.
The darkness is the powers of sin, death, and the devil.
In our modern age, darkness doesn’t seem to bad, until we realize that in a world without power, and without the ability to remove it. It is quite terrifying. If we understand that, we can begin to appreciate the power of sin, death, and the devil, and how oppressive they are when you have no means to free yourself.
The Darkness seems quite strong.
We realize our helplessness and our inability to change our situation, when there is no power, no flashlight, no flame, nothing, and you just left in the darkness.
Who has been able to conquer the darkness?
For if there was one who could do this, who could overcome this oppression that mankind has been under, he would not only be a source of light, but also hope, and life to all of those who seek to escape the darkness.
The Light of Christ
The light of Jesus is the light of God.
That light brings with it salvation to all who cling to Him. For it is the Glory of God, the radiance and beauty that shines forth to bring hope to mankind and to free them from their oppression.
We think of light and darkness as opposites, but they aren’t.
This is where some have made a mistake about who God is, they think that since the light banishes the darkness that they are opposites, and equal forces opposing each other.
Consider the stars surround by darkness.
Darkness does not banish light, it is rather the absence of light. Where there is light there is not darkness. You cannot add darkness to room that has light, but you can add light to a room that is dark. It is one-sided.
The Darkness of sin can’t stop the light of Christ.
So when he entered into the world, He is the light and life of men. That is why we celebrate his birth this day, and give thanks to God for his great victory over the powers of darkness that He banished by His incarnation.
The Light Enters Into the Darkness
Consider how bright the light of Christ is.
That it shines in a place that no one had been able to work. None of us could conquer the powers of sin, His light shone not just for himself but for all of mankind.
Jesus banished the darkness by His miracles.
Everywhere that he went, he showed that he is the light that brings life to men. He did this every time he brought hope to mankind and banished the darkness. When he healed the sick, the lame, the deaf, the blind, and raised the dead. The Light of God shone into their midst and brought Healing.
When Jesus was sealed in a dark tomb, His light shines in death.
It is one thing for Him to do this for others, but to show that His power and His authority and his might, he also went down into the grave, a place that we fear, but He is the light, and that shines even in the darkest corners of the earth
So Jesus is our light and life.
It is why we are here today celebrating his birth. For on this day the days begin to grow a bit brighter, and that is why we join together with Angels singing Gloria in Excelsis.
Rejected By His Own
So why did His own people reject Him?
For all the good that Christ brings it is difficult to understand why it is that people would reject him and not want to be with him, and not celebrate his coming into the world. It happened back then even when they saw his miracles, and it happens still today.
If you dwell in the darkness, you can’t see how ugly sin is.
Imagine going through life convinced being told that you are beautiful, radiant, gorgeous, etc. Then you step into the light and look at a mirror the first time, and realize you’re not. That is a hard pill to swallow, but when you consider it from that perspective, you can see why some people hated him. They were forced to confront their own ugliness for the first time.
The Scriptures say we cannot make ourselves, children of God.
The same is true here in this life, you cannot make yourself someone else child. You can’t walk up and say, hey I’m going to make you my dad, or my mom. It doesn’t work that way. When we are young, we wish it would so we could have the cool parents, but we don’t have the power to make someone our parent.
This means it doesn’t matter who you are, what decisions you make, or to whom you are born.
All of those things that people prize in this life don’t matter one bit in the eyes of God. You could be the CEO of a billion dollar business, you could be the wisest person on earth, you could be born to an Emperor, that does not make you a child of God. This means there is hope for those who are lowly, for those who are poor, for those who aren’t the brightest and best, and for those born even to slaves.
Begotten of God
To be God’s child, you must be begotten of God.
For God to be your Father that all depends on him. But this means wonderful that your adoption into God’s family does not depend upon your ability, God is doing it all for you.
We are born again of water and Spirit in Baptism.
In just a few chapters Jesus would speak with Nicodemus at night and illuminate his world sharing with him how it is that we are saved. That we must be born again of Water and the Spirit. For as Jesus promises at the end of Mark whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved.
Baptism did not come from men, but is of God.
Now water by itself could not do this, but when God has attached his promise of redemption, gives us the Holy Spirit and places upon us His name, it is a new birth, and we are begotten of God.
Through Baptism, God adopted you
That is why we can celebrate today as God’s children that we are the sons and daughters of the living God, and we rejoice this day as we celebrate the Birth of our dear Brother, Jesus Christ our Lord.
So My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, a Merry Christmas to you! It is an amazing blessing that Jesus who is our Light and our Life has been born into this world. May we always celebrate his most blessed birth and sing his praises to the glory of God our Father who adopted us and made us his own dear children. In Jesus name. Amen.