The Birth of the King
March 20, 2011
The Story - 22
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. You’ll find that passage in John 1:14. Listen to those words again, The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. That phrase, ‘the Word became flesh,’ has so much power and meaning, yet we tend to gloss over it.
In the Greek, the word for the Word is “LOGOS.” About 500 years prior to Jesus, a philosopher named ‘Heraclitus’ from Ephesus, made this famous statement “You cannot step twice into the same river.” By the time you step into the river and then step out of it, and enter again, the river has changed. It’s the same way with life, it’s always moving, always changing.
He said “all things come to be in accordance with this Logos” (which literally means, word, reason, or account). This means the logos is the omnipotent wisdom by which all things are steered. Plato once said, ‘some day there will come forth from God a logos, a Word, who will reveal all mysteries and make everything plain.’
And now John says, the beginning of all creation is found in the Logos, in the Word of God, who became flesh. Notice the beginning words of John 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. And the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
The phrase, ‘in the beginning’ occurs twice in the first two verses. Do you remember where we’ve heard this phrase before? In the beginning of the Bible . . . the first words of the OT. In the beginning – God created the heavens and the earth. And so John uses the very words which were used to describe the beginning of time, the beginning of creation.
In this phrase, where is John placing Jesus? In the beginning. He’s placing Jesus in the drawing room of creation. He’s announcing that the beginning of Christ did not begin in Bethlehem. Christ has been as long as God has been. This is a major statement John is making. As long as God has been, Jesus has been.
In fact, Jesus was the genesis word. How did God create the universe, “with words.” Let there be, and there was. Let there be and there was. And John is saying, do you know who was saying “Let there be?” It was the Word. The Word, the voice of Jesus speaking. Paul would later say, Jesus was the first born over all creation, the One Lord, Jesus Christ, to whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life.
Think about it, did Jesus’ first brush with life occur in Bethlehem? And having just finished the OT, we wondered and at times saw where Jesus was present in the OT. When Abraham gave offerings to a mysterious priest named Melchizedick, scripture tells us He had neither beginning of days nor end of life. Was Abraham giving gifts to Jesus? Was it Jesus wrestling with Jacob? When Joshua fell on his face and worshiped the one who called Himself the commander of the armies of the Lord, was it Jesus? And in that fiery furnace, who was that 4th guy with Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego? The one who was called the Son of God, was it Jesus? Was Jesus in the fiery furnace?
Jesus with Abraham, Jesus with Joshua, Jesus with Jacob, Jesus with Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego. And now Jesus with us. Jesus, the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. God wrapping Himself in flesh, complete with teeth and toe nails, with hair and 2 kidneys. He became flesh, yet He remained God. For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body.
He isn’t part man and part God, not ½ man and ½ God, He’s 100 % man and 100% God. He is at once fully man and fully God. This is one of the mysteries of the incarnation. Divinity and humanity in one person. One God, untainted, unblemished. So pure, that He could be born of a virgin; that He needed no assistance in entering the womb.
Remember the conversation between the angel Gabriel and Mary? In Luke 1:34-35, Mary asked the angel, 34 “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
We have a small problem. How can Mary have a baby in her womb? . . .
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”
What a befitting beginning to the earthly ministry of Jesus. He needed no help to exist in heaven and do you really think He needed help in His journey to the earth? He was divine enough to enter a womb entirely on His own, yet He was human enough to have no room in the inn.
His father was so regular, just a regular Joe, that he didn’t have any clout, he didn’t have any cash, no credit, no strings to pull, no friends to call. Jesus, the maker of the universe, the One who invented time, the One who gave you the breath you just took, the One who oversees everything, was so humble that His parents couldn’t get a room at the Bethlehem Inn. Even though his mother was obviously pregnant, ready to give birth, there was no room in the inn. How humble is that for a beginning?
Can I tell you how humble that is? Humble enough to understand everything you’ve been through this week. Humble enough to understand what kept you awake. Humble enough that he understands the hunger pains of a little child in Japan. He understands the prayers of the sick, the homeless, the rejected and depressed.
Almighty God doesn’t shake His head and say, “I wish they’d get their act together.” But He remembers the pain of a hungry belly, and the chill of a cold night. And He knows what it’s like to hear His parents tell the story about the day they got turned away, on the day the Savior came into the world.
The Word became flesh – became a human. He entered the very muck and mire of our world and felt to the fullest what it was like to be you and me. For the Hebrews he was the creator who became flesh. For the Greeks He was reason who became flesh, and for all of us, Jesus is God who became flesh.
And how did the world respond to the God who became flesh? The answer is on page 255, in John 1:10-11 ~ 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Look at that. The innkeeper wasn’t the only one who turned Jesus away. But, wouldn’t you love to talk to the innkeeper. Find out what he was thinking about that night. Why put a pregnant woman in a barn with animals? Couldn’t he have found room somewhere in the inn. What was his excuse?
Maybe he said, it’s so crowded in here. That census has made Bethlehem into a boom town. The town is mobbed with people and so is my little inn. It’s just too crowded, besides this isn’t a hospital, it’s not a maternity ward, and it’s late, and I’d end up waking all my customers. Maybe it was at midnight, so late that the innkeeper was barely awake, opening the door a crack, whispering that he was already in bed asleep for the night. Everyone’s sleeping, it’s too late.
Maybe he was thinking, ‘you 2 are so common looking. If it was Queen Mary and King Joseph, along with a caravan, with servants and more, I would have thrown some people out for you. But this was just Joe and Mary, peasant looking young people . . . and maybe they didn’t even have enough money to pay for a room. After all, the innkeeper couldn’t give away all his rooms, could he?
It was so crowded, and even now, the world is still so crowded, and our worlds are crowded with demands. Crowded with things we need to do and crowded with things we wish we had not done. Crowded with headlines which may make our hearts, spirits and minds feel overwhelmed, maybe even a little crowded. Besides being crowded by headlines, we’re crowded with deadlines; phone lines and long lines. And concerns over our waist lines. Crowded — our world gets jam packed, full schedules, itineraries and day timers are crowded with appointments. Responsibilities are full. Anxiety and panic seem to crowd around us.
And sometimes Christ comes in the midst of our crowded world and He knocks on the door of our hearts. And our response is I don’t have time, the world is already so crowded, I’ve got the kids, I’ve got the job, I’ve got the marriage, I’ve got the doctors appointments, I’ve got homework, I’ve got all these responsibilities. Life is so crowded. And what that innkeeper didn’t understand, and what we need to get into our hearts, minds and spirits, is the fact that Christ does not come to complicate life, He comes to simplify life.
Your life is already complicated enough. It is not the presence of Christ which creates complications, it’s the absence of Christ which creates complications. Because when we invite Christ into an open heart, when He steps through the open door, He does not come with a list of things for you to do.
If somebody told you that, they were wrong. He doesn’t come telling you to get your act together, so that He can come in. The reason He comes in, is because we can’t get our act together. And He comes not with a list of things for you to do, but He comes with a list of things He’s already done . . . for you.
He comes with your sins forgiven, because He died on the cross and received the punishment for every single sin you and I ever committed or will commit. Every act of rebellion was thrust upon Him. And He comes offering you eternal forgiveness. He comes with your death defeated. He turns the grave into a temporary holding ground. He comes with the absolute certainty, not just the possibility, but the absolute certainty of eternal life, heaven, forever . . . with Him. You talk about something that simplifies life, you get your sins dealt with, your death defeated, and your eternal future defined. In an instant life can take on a lot of clarity, can’t it? You can handle the to do list, once you’ve gotten the big things done.
So, don’t tell Jesus, my life is too crowded. He comes and simplifies life. If the Christ in your heart isn’t simplifying your life, then that isn’t Christ in your heart. Because the Christ who comes is the Christ who receives all, but you have to open the door and let Him in. You must be willing to let Him in.
Oh, maybe you think, it’s too late. It’s just too late. Too late in life. Too late in the game. No it’s not. Even if you’ve heard the 2 minute warning, it’s still not too late. It wasn’t too late for Abraham, he was pushing triple digits when he had his first child. It wasn’t to late for Moses. He was already retired and moved into his next life when God gave him his most fruitful years.
It wasn’t too late for Saul. Even though Saul persecuted Christians, he ultimately became a Christ follower, became Paul and converted Christians. It wasn’t too late for Peter who denied Christ 3 times, or Thomas who doubted Christ. The stories of the Bible, are stories about people who seemed to push the time limits of God, but it was never too late.
It’s not too crowded and it’s not too late. Don’t turn Jesus away because He’s too common. Some people miss Jesus because they’re waiting for something that is so supernatural, some big supernatural from heaven, headline grabbing miracle. But if the story of the coming of Jesus teaches us anything, it teaches us that Jesus comes through the common. Common places like Bethlehem. Common mother and father, like Mary and Joseph, on the back of a donkey, in a common manger and stable.
In the womb of a girl so young and common, poor enough not to own anything. When God picks His way of coming into the world, He comes through the common. He comes in common mornings like this one. Through common preachers like me.
Thankfully, not everyone turns Him away. A lot of people do, but in the midst of the slamming doors, you can hear the creaking of a hinge, the opening of another door to Jesus. For someone heard the story of Jesus and His invitation to come into their hearts, and they issue this response in return.
Come in Jesus, yes, please, come in. Make my heart your home. Please, excuse its mess, forgive its sin, but isn’t that why you’ve come. To cleanse and purge, to sweep and wash, and to make this shack your home. If you’ll have me, and I know and trust you will, then my best is yours. And now my heart is your home.
