THE WORD BECAME FLESH (JOHN 1:14)
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
According to Forbes magazine, Christmas shoppers will shell out an average of $607.01 on gifts this year (2006) - $454 on presents for their family, $86.13 on their friends and $22.29 on coworkers. I heard on Chinese radio they spend half as much in Hong Kong and China.
According to the Greeting Card Association, the U.S. Postal Service will deliver some 2 billion cards this Christmas. The average household will spend $47.14 on decorations and send some 26 Christmas cards. And as for the senders, BIGresearch estimates they’ll spend $30.77 each cards alone, an average of $19.11 on flowers and $91.83 on food for Christmas. Americans plan to buy 31 million real Christmas trees, according to the National Christmas Tree Association. Some 40% of celebrators are hoping for some sort of electronic gadget this Christmas. www.forbes.com/2006/12/04/christmas-spending-breakdown-biz_cx_lr_1205christmas_slide_2.html?partner=msnbc
But even with the increased options, Deloitte says 24% of celebrators still don’t think they’ll get what they want come Christmas morning.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2006-12-05-forbes-shopping_x.htm
I won’t blame you if you fall to sleep reading John’s stripped-down version of Christmas. It has no stars dancing in the heavens, no camels galloping across the desert, no magi hiding gold in a trunk, no shepherds huddling together in glee, no cows lowing in the barn, no loving parents to hold a cute baby, and no mad king to plot the child’s destruction.
How does one celebrate Christmas without the parties, presents and pageantry? What does Christmas mean without the malls, the meals and the music?
Experience the Riches of the Poverty of Christ
Enjoying the riches of life has nothing or little to do with money. When we were little, we crowded excitedly outside our neighbor’s steel gates to catch a glimpse of the most popular kid’s show then – Ultraman. Other things that thrilled kids back then were playing soccer, reading comics, playing marbles, spinning tops and collecting cards.
Up to elementary school, my brother, my sister and I, who are all 15 months apart, shared a bed. Some of the sweetest and richest memories include my grandmother ordering coffee and pouring half of it on the saucer for me to sip, cracking a raw egg over steaming rice and adding soy sauce on it for dinner. A 50 cents piece of ma-you fish, beef and milk for my birthday treat made me feel like a million bucks.
Today I live my life the same way, understanding the value of money, stretching my dollar’s worth and giving the Chao-zhous a run for the money. If Gillette shaving cream is $1.69 and Colgate is $1.29, then I’ll choose the no-foam, no-cap and no-frills 99 cents Barbasol! Once I bought two bottles of VO5 shampoo on sale at 77 cents each! In fact, my shaving cream, my hair gel, and my VO5 shampoo are a dollar’s worth, even though my wife swears that my hair will coarsen, gray or even rot. I never pay $5 to rent a DVD from Blockbuster when I pay $1 in Ontario Library or nothing in Norco Library. We eat whatever vegetables, fruits and meat that are on sale. My van mileage is close to 200,000 miles after seven years. We eat out once a week and have literally tried all good restaurants tried but still we scratch our heads thinking what is worth the travel, the hassle and the price. My wife’s classic statement: “You are stingy and I am thrifty.”
“The word of God” is exclusive to Jesus, a phrase referring to Jesus not used in any book except John. “Flesh” (v 14) has its figurative and literal meaning. Figuratively, it represents the weak, lowly and fallen nature of man. Literally, it means the physical, human and bodily form. In this passage, it means the latter.
Jesus became an average person born to an ordinary family and he lived as a commoner. The divine word of God became human flesh and chose the simple life, some say the hard way. He was raised in a humble, lowly and even poor home and family. His parents could only afford a pair of doves or two young pigeons when the time of their purification came (Luke 2:22-24). Leviticus 12:7-8 says, “These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy or a girl. If she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.”
Jesus’ home was not filled with luxury, but filled with love. If you think He only cared about himself and had no hardship, you are never more wrong. Have you ever given thought to why Jesus’ public ministry began so late in his life? Jesus had a family life; he had parents and siblings. Scholars believe that Joseph had died by the time Jesus began His ministry. As the eldest son he had the heaviest responsibility to provide for his family. Because my brother was a big bully, when I was young I resented being the youngest. Now I know being the youngest was a picnic in the park and being the eldest was a pain in the neck. When I see Jesus, I see him as one who did not choose the easy way out. Mark 6:3 says he was a carpenter by trade and he had four brothers - James, Joseph, Simon and Judas – and at least two sisters (Mark 6:3, Matthew 13:55-56). He did not begin His ministry until he was 30, enough time for the siblings to be independent, not leaving his mother all the work.
I am like Jesus. I am the son of a carpenter, at least that’s what my birth certificate says. Carpenters do not make much – my father could not make a living out of carpentry; handymen have it made today. One charged $145 for repairing my a/c unit and another charged $125 for the toilet bowl – all in a hour’s work! Jesus’ life was not about loving life and living life to the fullest but loving God and people and living life for a purpose. Matthew Henry says, “He was really and truly man, but that he subjected himself to the miseries and calamities of the human nature.”
The word “dwelling” (skenoo) means “tent” or “encamp,” to reside as God did in the Tabernacle of old. This word will not be used again until Revelation, where it says that in the last days God will “spread his tent” over those who serve him day and night in his temple (Rev 7:15). This is the word for people “dwelling” in heaven, not “living” in heaven (Rev 12:12, 13:6), and for God’s dwelling with men (Rev 21:3). Seeing Jesus was experiencing God’s riches, beauty and majesty He intended for men.
Experience the Riches in the Person of Christ
One of the biggest Christmas secrets was revealed (in 2006) before the tabloids had a chance. For 26 years an anonymous man handed out $1.3 million to needy people. Successful 58-year old businessman, Larry Stewart, admitted only his family and a few close friends knew the truth.
Stewart was a 23-year old door-to-door salesman who ran out of money when his company went out of business. He hadn’t eaten for almost two days when he went to a diner, ordered a big breakfast and then pretended he had lost his wallet.
The owner, waiter and cook Ted Horn picked up a $20 bill off the floor and said, “Son, you must have dropped this.” Stewart says, “I said to myself, ‘Thank you, Lord.’” After he left town, it dawned on him: Nobody had dropped the money, but the owner didn’t want to embarrass him. Right then, he made a promise and said, “Lord, if you ever put me in a position to help other people, I will do it.”
Eventually Stewart moved to Kansas City, where he made money first in cable television, then with his own long-distance telephone company. He sometimes asks social service agencies, police officers and firefighters for help and gives the victims $1,000 or more. In December 1999, Stewart tracked down Horn in Tupelo, Miss., and gave him a bank envelope with $10,000 in it. Horn, 88, says: “It’s an amazing story. He’s the best. He’s a Christian man. He enjoys giving away that money.” Tom Phillips, the sheriff of Jackson County, Mo., who has been accompanying Stewart on his holiday rounds for 17 years, agrees. “The best part about Larry is, he is giving from his heart. He is doing it to see the smiles on people’s faces.” Not only did he give $100,000 away for 2006 Christmas, he worked with four newly trained Secret Santas to hand out $75,000 of their own money.
The riches of Christ could easily escape the human eye. His riches were found in the person, not the money he never gave. The simplest man on earth lived a glorious life. The word “glory” aptly describes his life. Do you know the noun “glory” (doxa) occurs more than the nouns “love” (agape) and “power” (dunamis). The Greek noun for glory occurs 163 times, agape 117 times, and power 116 times.
There are three superlatives concerning Jesus’ glory we should know for a richer life. When he was born the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest” (Luke 2:14), which was also echoed by the crowd in Jerusalem that sang, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:38). The Greek word for “highest” (hupsistos) is derived from the word “skies” (hupsos) or “heavens.” It means that the sky is the limit for God’s glory. Further, the word “skies” (hupsos) is derived from the word “huper,” which means “hyper” or “over” or “above” in English.
Here in John’s gospel, John describes Jesus’ glory as “the glory of the One and Only,” the same Greek words for John 3:16. What is “One and Only” in Greek? Mono-genes means one (mono) in becoming (ginomai). This word occurs nine times in the Bible, six times referring to Christ and three times referring to biblical characters whose “only child” was dead, dying or demon-possessed (Luke 7:12, 8:42, 9:38). In that context, the “one and only” means the singular, particular, unique, special and eligible representation, and not for speculating how many “children” God has, but to underscore there is no other. He gave us the greatest gift of Christmas – Himself, in all His glory, grace and truth.
Finally, when He returns to judge the earth, all the nations of the earth will mourn, because they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and “great glory” (Matt 24:30-31, Luke 21:27), not just “glory.” He will then fully reveal Himself as Lord of glory (1 Cor 2:8), as He truly is. If he had come in his great glory the first time, we would not be able to withstand his glory. The Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses that reflect God’s glory (2 Cor 3:7), how then could they withstand the real thing?
Experience the Riches of the Principles of Christ
I have made a synonym for CHRISTMAS; it stands for Christ - not cards, hope - not holidays, rejoicing - not revelry, Incarnation –not the Immaculate Conception, salvation - not Santa, thanksgiving - not turkey, meditation - not merchandise, adoration – not activities, sharing - not shopping.
Most of all, Christmas is about Christ, not when He came but why He came, what He did and how He lived. Jesus was a principled man, but his principles were summed up in two words: grace and truth. Jesus is all about grace and truth. He is not about grace per se, he is about truth, too. They are both indispensable parts of the equation. Without grace, truth is merciless, ruthless, and unfeeling. Without truth, grace is spineless, sentimental and syrupy.
Why truth? Truth is the foundation and pillar of John’s gospel. Matthew speaks of truth once, Mark and Luke three times, but John the philosopher speaks of truth 25 times in his gospel. In John’s gospel, not only did Jesus give the truth (John 1:17) and speak the truth (John 17:17), He is the truth (John 14:6) that could set people free (John 8:32), but truth was hard to accept (John 8:45) because the devil hates the truth (John 8:44).
“Grace” is found eight times in Luke and four times in John, but none in Matthew and Mark. Grace finds its fruition in Paul, who mentions it 102 times in his epistles.
In His grace, He came to us to experience the world as we do. He saw human suffering in all its form, almost becoming a victim of Herod himself. He did not consider coming or life meaningless and boring; life meant so much for Him because He came with and for a purpose. Jesus said in John 6:38-40: “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life.”
With that in mind, Jesus willingly took on Himself the limitations, the frailties and infirmities of life. He experienced temptation, suffering, abandonment, rejection, pain. The book of Hebrews give us a better perspective and better understanding in to his suffering and its relevance to us, highlighting three words – his suffering, temptation and weakness. Hebrews 2:18 says, “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” and Hebrews 4:15 records, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin.” Finally, 1 Peter 2:21 notes, “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”
Conclusion: Christmas is about duty, responsibility and caring. 2 Corinthians 8:9 says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” Are you too focused on the fun, the feast and the festivities at year’s end? Is your Christmas about Christ, the meaning and significance of His birth, His life and His death? Are you experiencing His glory, gladness, goodness, and grace this time of the season?
Victor Yap
Other sermons in the series and other sermon series:
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