Take A Far And Close Look At The Baby In The Manger

12.25.2020 John 1:1-5, 9-14

When the first Star Wars movie came out, it was rather unique in that it started with a scrolling dialogue describing what had happened prior to the movie, so you’d at least have some clue as to what was going on and be able to follow along better. The same thing happens in the book of John. He scrolls WAY back to the beginning, even before the beginning. He wants us to see the Person behind the baby in the manger to understand and appreciate the beauty and the glory of Christmas.

Take a Far and Close Look at the Baby in the Manger

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him everything was made, and without him not one thing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. 5 The light is shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

In the Greek it is two words “?? ????,”the same words used in Genesis 1:1, drawing us back to the beginning of time. God is the One who created EVERYTHING with WORDS. He isn’t someone WE speak into an imaginary existence. He isn’t just a concept or an idea. He is an actual Being, a powerful and intellectual Being who spoke US into existence. And when He speaks, things actually happen. He’s not like a politician or a drug addict or a selfish parent who promises lots of things and produces nothing. He isn’t JUST words. His Words are actions.

What kind of actions? In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. Think about the concept of life. SpaceX has plans of sending astronauts to Mars in hopes of finding life. No other planet is created the way Earth is, with actual LIFE and all of its complexities of DNA and design. Jesus is the author of LIFE. There would be no physical life in this world without Him. There would be no spiritual life without Him. There would be no life after death without Him. When John directs our eyes to the manger, He shines a light on this baby and wants us to understand WHO we are actually looking at - we aren’t just looking at a newborn infant. We are looking at the ETERNAL God who created LIFE. He, in fact, IS life.

The light is shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. When light shines in the darkness your eyes are naturally attracted to it. It can be a great source of comfort and guidance. Remember the soccer team that was caught in some caves when the rains had fallen in June of 2018? A Thai youth soccer coach took his team, the Wild Boars, to explore a cave he’d visited before, intending to stay just about an hour. But when monsoon rains hit the coach and his 12 players, ages 11-16, became trapped. The team was stuck down there for two weeks, and they were running out of oxygen. Imagine the joy when they saw the first light coming from the tunnel, a Thai Navy Seal who had come to rescue them, bringing oxygen tanks and food to escape. That’s what Jesus has come to do for us living in this dark world, to provide us with the light of forgiveness and salvation and lead us out of the darkness of death into heaven itself.

However, the darkness has not overcome it. The word for “overcome” in the Greek is ?at??aße?. It means to overcome something in the sense of wrapping your mind around it and grabbing hold of it. John points in the manger and says, “Here is your God. Here is your Creator. Here has come into your world to rescue you by dying for your sins on the cross. This baby is your light and your only hope of salvation.” The people that live in the darkness see what He is pointing at. They hear what He is saying. But it just doesn’t make sense: God in the flesh: the Creator in the crib. Think of how many people know our most popular and catchy Christmas songs. They hear them sung every year on the radio and know the words by heart, yet they don’t believe one word of them. Why? Because the darkness cannot overcome it. They can’t fit it in their brain. “How could this little baby save the world? Why would we need a Savior in the first place?”

Back at the end of World War 2 Japanese women were told that the Americans would rape and torture them. So when the American soldiers drew closer to them they would stand near a cliff. No matter what the soldiers said, no matter how slowly they walked, they couldn’t convince them any differently. So the women jumped from the cliff. It was a sad thing to see, when the soldiers were not going to harm them at all. When the light comes in the darkness, many run from the light. They are afraid of the light, when the light has come to save us.