Another Essential Christmas

Building the day after Thanksgiving, more than any other holiday, the pending arrival of Christmas marks the start of a marathon. By the time December 25, Christmas Day, rolls around, Christmas Day, the finish line is in sight. Except this year, a well-timed blizzard forced us to pause. The blizzard warning expired Saturday at 7PM but many side roads were impassable. Parties and gatherings were delayed; so were worship services like ours. Yet quick as a flash, Dec 26 came. The stores were all too ready to clear out any remaining Christmas merchandise. By Dec 27 – the radio stations ceased playing Christmas music – returning to regular programming. Add to that the way the calendar flowed, today is New Years. Somehow it seems like Christmas and its impact was a long time ago.

Yet, John’s Gospel begs to differ. Compared to the other Gospels, John 1’s view of Christmas is far more cosmic in scope – and less tied down to a specific window of passing time. From beginning to end John’s Prologue in chapter 1 offers us a panoramic view encircling the entire spectrum of Scripture.

It is as if John had said, “I want you to consider Jesus as Lord in His teaching and deeds. I too want to celebrate the baby born in Bethlehem. But you will not understand the good news of Jesus in its fullest sense unless you take a big picture view from the beginning.” So this morning, we’ll heed John’s advice and do just that.

A. Beginning with Genesis, we often begin our anticipation for Christ in Genesis 3, where God promises Jesus’ arrival for the first time. John, however, takes us back even further to Genesis 1:

John 1:1-3: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

John is quick to highlight the eternal divinity of Jesus Christ. Why is that so important? In a 2022 survey, The State of Theology in the United States. 3000 self identified believers surveyed were asked a True or False Statement. “True or False – Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God.” 55% agreed or strongly agreed while another 10% weren’t sure. From the Christmas songs learned as children to even the novice person, they know Christmas to be a legend about a baby – but we have our work cut out for us to say that Jesus was more than just a baby.

From the start John highlights the divinity of Jesus Christ – The Word of God. Jesus Christ did not suddenly come into existence with his human birth. Our curiosity is peaked because the word had been there all along with God. There was a time in which the Son was not fully human – But there was never a time the Son did not exist. He was with God in the beginning – an active participant in creation.

B. Next, John’s cosmic scope brings us to humanity’s fall into sin through Adam and Eve’s disobedience. In Genesis 3 as God proclaimed the consequences of their actions, at the same time, God introduces the promise of the Messiah who will crush the serpent’s head.

John 1:4-5 “In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” Here light and hope are equated with the promise of the Messiah long awaited. John’s words here whet his readers appetites to learn more about this eternal God-Man. Simultaneously there is also a tension between light and darkness. His arrival and incarnation – even the purpose for which Jesus came is met by much confusion.

Returning to the survey of self-identifying believers . Questioning Christ’s role. “True or False” – Jesus was a great teacher in his day, but he was not God.” Again 53% strongly or somewhat agreed while 11% were unsure. This is how Jesus has been repurposed by much of the world – a great teacher, a person with high morals – but John shows that all along the hope of humanity was tied into his arrival.

C. Then for a brief moment, John steps away from the cosmic scope to clear up some confusion as to who The Word is – JESUS or John the Baptist? That came to be a bigger issue that needed sorting out than we might think. Nipping that confusion…

John 1:6-9 “ There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.