THE WORD BECAME FLESH
Rev. Mark F. Bartels
Old Testament Lesson;
Isaiah 62:10-12
Epistle Lesson;
Titus 3:4-7
Gospel Lesson;
Luke 2:1-20
Sermon Text;
John 1:14
Why is it, affixed to the front of our church, bolted to the wall, larger than life-size, we have a cross, and not a manger? Why is it, around our necks we wear gold and silver crosses and not gold and silver mangers? Why is it that the name of this church, this congregation is Holy Cross Lutheran Church and not Holy Manger Lutheran Church?
I suppose the reason for that is because what happened at the manger is not the act that finally, totally, completely, and absolutely washed away every single one of our sins, for all time. That act happened at the cross, not at the manger.
I suppose it is because it was not at the manger that the act finally happened where God’s wrath against our sin was finally, for all time, set aside. And God, because of what Jesus had done for us, declared us to be holy, innocent, and not guilty. That happened on the cross, not at the manger.
I suppose it is because it was not at the manger that the curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom, signifying that now the way was open to God, for all sinners. The doors of Heaven had burst open. That happened on the cross, when Jesus completely and fully paid for our sins, not at the manger.
And so today, before we look at the manger, will you please look at that cross with me? And as you look at that cross, will you please, in your mind’s eye, see a man hanging on that cross?
Do you see the nails that are driven through His hands and His feet?
Do you see the crown of thorns that is pressed down on His head, as blood trickles down on His face?
Do you see the bloodied body?
Do you see the darkness that surrounds the cross?
Do you see the full weight of all the sins of all the world, including all of your sins, resting on His shoulders, pressing Him down?
Do you see Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God?
Do you see the full and total wrath and anger of God against all sin of all the world of all time being poured out on the One who hangs on the cross?
That is what happened on the cross.
If the One that you pictured there, hanging on the cross, if He was only a man, and not God, then you and I might as well go home and certainly not come back here, on Good Friday. If He was only a human being, then we are to be pitied, more than all people. Because, if He was only a human being and not God, then He was not perfect. He was not holy. He was not sinless. He was not the innocent sacrifice that could pay for our sins. If He was only a man, and not God, the price that was paid on the cross was not the most staggering price in the entire universe, a price so high, so staggering, that it could pay for the sins of all people, of all time, and wash them away, for all eternity.
When you look at that cross, we believe, we teach, and we confess that hanging there was none other than God, Himself.
However, if on that cross you see only God, and not a man, if on that cross you see someone hanging there who only appeared to be a man, but was not a man, only God, then you and I might as well go home. We might as well pack our bags and give up our faith, because, then, we are to be pitied more than all people.
Who is it that lost our relationship with God? It was Adam, a man, one of us.
Who alone can restore the relationship that humans have lost with God? It must be one of us. It must be a brother of ours.
Who alone can serve as your substitute, be what you are, and stand before God in your place? It can only be one of us. It must be a man. It must be a human.
And so we believe, we teach, and we confess that there, hanging on that cross, is God, Himself, and Man, Himself, united in one person in Jesus Christ.
And that takes us directly to the manger. That takes us to the manger, because while on the cross we celebrate the work of Christ, His redemption for our sins, in the manger we celebrate the person of Christ. Who was it, who was it that came that first Christmas? Now in your mind’s eye, look into that manger. There you see a little baby wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in the manger, in the hay. You see His mother, Mary, there beside Him. Who is it? Who is it that lies in that manger?
The Word,
The Word became flesh
and lived for a while among us.
Fourteen verses earlier it explains who "The Word" is.
"In the beginning was the Word.
The Word was with God.
And the Word was God."
There in the manger is God.
There in the manger is the all-powerful maker of the universe.
There in the manger is the all-knowing God.
There in the manger is the God who is present everywhere.
There in the manger is the eternal God.
There in the manger is the changeless God.
There in the manger is One before whom the earth trembles.
There in the manger is the One who is holy, just, righteous, loving, and forgiving.
There in the manger is God.
Our text says,
"The Word became flesh
and lived for awhile among us."
There in the manger is Man.
There in the manger is one of us.
There in the manger are ten little fingers and ten little toes, little eyes and little ears, wrapped in swaddling clothes.
There in the manger is one with the human body, human soul, and human mind.
There in the manger is our brother.
There in the manger is Man.
"The Word became flesh
and lived for awhile among us."
There in the manger is none other than God, Himself, in human flesh. Mystery of mysteries!
The maker of man now becomes a man. Mystery of mysteries!
The One who is The Way, now must be carried on the way by His mother, and wearied on the way.
The One, who gives bread to all things and food to all things, now must depend upon His mother for food. Mystery of mysteries!
The One, who is the Judge, will stand before a human judge, someday.
The One who is The Truth will be falsely accused. Mystery of mysteries!
There in that manger is one person who is both God and Man.
He is the One who crushed the serpent’s head, on the cross. But you and I know that serpent is still alive. And Satan, until the world comes to an end, will attack Jesus Christ and try to destroy our faith in Jesus Christ. Did you know that for the first five hundred years of the church’s existence, after Christ ascended into Heaven, did you know what teaching, what doctrine Satan particularly attacked? It wasn’t what happened on the cross. It was what happened in the manger. For five hundred years, Satan attacked what happened in the manger. He tried to cast doubt on the human race as to who it was that lie in the manger. False teaching arose that the One who lie in the manger was only a man, and could not have been God and Man in one person. But, my Brothers and Sisters, that denies the Word of God. The Word of God says, speaking about Jesus,
"In the beginning was the Word.
And the Word was with God
and the Word was God."
In the manger was not just a man. It was God.
It was Jesus, who said of Himself,
"Before Abraham was
(and Abraham lived two thousand years before Christ),
I am."
He was claiming to be the eternal God.
It was John the Baptist, who said,
"The one who comes after me,
was before me."
He was claiming Jesus to be the eternal Word and Son of God - God Himself.
And so we believe, we teach, and we confess that Jesus is God.
Satan also tried to approach it from a different tact. He said to the early church, "Well, then, maybe the one who lay in the manger was only God. He wasn’t a man. He just appeared to be a man. He looked like a man, but He wasn’t a man."
But that is not what scripture says. And, we stand on scripture and scripture alone. Scripture says, "The word became" (what?) "The word became flesh." One of us. Scripture says He was made like his brothers in every way, and so shared in their humanity. He was human. He was man. He was one of us.
Jesus said, "Look. A ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see I have." He had a human body.
He said, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to the point of death." He had a human soul, human actions and human feelings.
And so, we believe, we teach, and we confess, as scripture teaches and confesses, that the One who is in that manger was fully God and fully Man.
Satan came at it from another approach. He said, "Well, maybe the One who lay in the manger was God and Man and when you mix them together you get a third thing, totally different, neither God nor Man."
But that is not what scripture teaches. Scripture teaches that from the Jewish fathers you can trace the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all. There it calls Him human, and says you can trace His human ancestry, but also calls Him God, and says He is God over all. Were Jesus not God and Man in one person, what happened on the cross could never have taken place. It never could have happened. In the manger, lay the only One, the only One who could have gone to the cross and done what is necessary for our salvation. God and Man in one person - the only One who is our brother, one of us, our substitute, who took our place, who was holy, perfect, righteous, sinless, and innocent, and could pay the price that was so staggeringly high, that it would satisfy God’s wrath for all eternity.
The early church wrote a confession, which we call the Athanasian Creed. I want you to listen to what it says about the person of Jesus.
"It is furthermore necessary for eternal salvation truly to believe that our Lord Jesus Christ took on human flesh. Now this is the true Christian faith. We believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is both God and Man.
He is God, eternally begotten from the nature of the Father.
And He is Man, born in time from the nature of His mother.
Fully God and fully Man, with rational soul and human flesh. Equal to the Father, as to His deity. Less than the Father, as to His humanity.
And, although He is both God and Man, Christ is not two persons, but one.
One, not by changing the deity into flesh, but by taking the humanity into God.
One in deed, not by mixture of the natures, but by unity in one person.
For, just as the rational soul and flesh is one human being, so God and Man is one Christ.
He suffered for our salvation. He descended into Hell. He rose on the third day from the dead. He ascended into Heaven. He is seated at the right hand of the Father Almighty. And from there He will come to judge the living and the dead."
That is who lie in the manger.
I am going to close with these three little thoughts from Martin Luther. First of all, Martin Luther told this legend (and it is only a legend). One day, during a Christmas service, Satan happened to be in church. When it was stated that God became human and the people did not fall down on their knees, the devil walked up to one of the human beings and struck him in the mouth, and said, "You fool. You nave. Why, if I had heard that God had become an angel, one of us, so that He could save us angels from our sin, I would not know how to contain myself. I would fall on my knees and then jump up and down for joy. And you have heard that God has become one of you! You ought to be on your knees and then jump up and down for joy. God has so honored the human race that He has become one of you."
We celebrate not only the work of Christ, but also the person of Christ.
Secondly, Luther said this. He said, "When you look in the manger and there you see God, what do you see? Do you see a God that you should be afraid of? What can be more harmless than a little baby? And so, when you look in the manger, you see God did not come to hurt or harm you. He came to help you and to save you. And there we find our comfort."
Lastly, Luther had happened to be sick, during Christmas time, one year. And, he happened to be away from home. He was in a different town, was quite sick, and his wife Katie was quite worried about him. And so, she sent him a letter. In the letter she told him how worried she was and said that she wished she could be there, to be his caretaker.
Luther wrote a letter back to her. And being Christmas, here is what he said. "Katie, don’t worry about me. I have a caretaker. I have a caretaker greater than you and all the angels. He sits on the lap of the virgin and yet he sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty!"
What an awesome statement of faith! You have that same caretaker. He sits on the lap of the virgin. He is our brother. He is one of us. And yet, He sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. He is God in human flesh. And He is our caretaker. He is the only One who could take care of our sins and wash them away. He is the only One who could burst open the door of Heaven. And He has done that! He is our caretaker!
And so, we commit ourselves into His hands and say, "I have a caretaker. He sits on the lap of the virgin, and yet He sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty!"
Amen.
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