The Word Became Flesh

Introduction

The text for our meditation this Christmas Day is the gospel assigned for every Christmas Day from John 1:1-18. Please stand in honor of the Gospel. John 1:1-18

John 1:1–18 (NIV)

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. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

(John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and  is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

Home. That is part of a joyful holiday. Going home for the holidays is all over the place. It’s in our songs like “I’ll be home for Christmas, you can count on that.’ It’s in our movies. And in our experience too. We love being at home, or going to home, maybe the home we grew up in or the home where our parents live. Christmas away can be fun but there is something about being home. There’s welcome. There’s a familiarity and an intimacy. There’s the joy that comes from being home.

As we think about being home For the holidays and all that it brings, God states something amazing to us on this Christmas Day. He says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” The Word, who, as John said, is God from eternity. The Word, Jesus, the one through whom all things are made, the one who holds all things together. God made his dwelling among us. God made his home among his creatures. This fantastic and marvelous mystery is what we celebrate today And rejoice over. That God would make his home with us, even more. That God would take on human flesh and blood and become one with us. This is the greatest gift that we celebrate and think about today.

The Word became flesh, this is one of the most stunning verses that we read. That God would take come to us and to tak on human flesh and blood. As God’s people, we know and believe that God coming to his people is often good. But that is not always the case. Think about the message of advent and judgment Day. God is coming can bring terror. Or when your mom, like mine, would say at time, “Your Father is coming home.” That wasn’t necessarily good news. Often it meant trouble!

Seeing God and God coming to the world is a very dangerous and deadly thing for human beings to do. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. That word Dwelling takes us back to the tabernacle. In the Greek it is a word that alludes to the tabernacle - the tent where God’s presence dwelled. Where God’s name was proclaimed. Where God would come to his people. But there was very strict and clear law about how Humans were supposed to approach God.

For centuries, God’s people worshipped in the tabernacle, the tent that God had commanded them to build. But God made it very clear in his Word that that they were to approach him in very specific ways. The priests were the ones who went into the tabernacle, but there was fear involved. They knew that their lives were in danger being in the presence of the living God. They had been consecrated and set apart by the sacrifice. They had special clothes they were to wear. They were only to go in as far as the Holy Place. Then there was the innermost room, the Most Holy Place, and only one man could enter into that place. The High Priest would enter in once a year. And if all this was violated, it meant death!

Seeing God and his glory meant death for sinners! Seeing the divine is dangerous business for sinners! And it wasn’t just with the tabernacle. All throughout Scripture we see that:

After God led the Israelites out of Egypt and they were camped at Mt. Sinai, God came down to that mountain. And it was thunder, and smoke, and lightning, and the people were terrified! They were glad that it would only be Moses who would go up that mountain.

When Isaiah was called to be a prophet, he was given a vision of God’s throne room, Isaiah saw God’s glory and he exclaimed, “Woe to me! I’m ruined! For I am a sinful man with sinful lips!”

Even John, the writer of this gospel and this account, in Revelation when he saw the risen and ascended Lord in a vision, fell down and became like a “dead man.”

Seeing God means death for humans! It makes us stop when we hear John’s words, “We have seen his glory the glory of the One and Only Son who came from the Father.”

Seeing glory of God! How is that not death? You see, God has to protect us. He wants to protect and save us. So he hides his glory. So that we are safe. So that we may look at him and see how he has saved us. Jesus took on human flesh and blood and hid his glory that we look at him. He hides his glory still as he is wrapped in the pages of his Word. As he gives us his very body and blood at the Lord’s supper. He hides his glory so that we are safe.

So hear that amazing statement: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” The Word became flesh. God made his home among us. All this leads us to ask, “Why? Why would God do such a thing? After all, he told us how we welcomed him! John 1:10-11

John 1:10–11 (NIV)

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

Though he created us, we rejected him and despised him. God had created the world. It was perfect. And Adam and Eve lived and walked with God in perfect harmony. But then they listened to the lies of the devil and ate from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And darkness flooded into this world. We rejected God thinking we could be our own gods. We rejected God thinking we did not need him anymore. But we needed him even more than ever. We made it so that if we saw God, we would perish. It was all our fault. And when Christ came to this earth, we did not recognize him. So why would he want to make his home among us:

The answer Is God’s amazing grace. grace upon grace that we have received. We didn’t do anything to warrant this gracious attention. Instead, we did all that warranted God’s judgment. God saw how lost we were condemned we were. And he looked down from heaven and saw how we in our sin were living in this dark, evil, and violent place. Where we tried to serve only ourselves as we ripped at bit at each other.

God saw all that. And in his mercy came down to live in our place. So that he could show us grace and reveal to us the truth. That he, THE LIFE, could give us dead sinners life and mercy and make us his own! He wanted to show us grace upon grace and to make us wretched sinners his children. Not by what we have done, nor by a decision we make, nor by anything that resides in us. No, it is God who came full of grace and truth. God who took on human flesh so that we would have Life and light in him.

God became fully human so that he could die for us, so that he could take all the judgment and all the wrath, and all the punishment for our sin. He took on human flesh and blood to give us forgiveness and life and find our home in that we would see him. He wanted to reveal to us grace and truth so that we would know where our home is: with him. So that we would know who are God is: A God of grace and truth who shines the light on our sin and has overcome our heart of evil deeds and darkness.

He is our light and our life. He shines and brings grace upon grace. He has done all things so that we would dwell with him forever in heaven. And now, he hides his glory so that we may see him and dwell with him. We see his glory. The glory that shines in his Word. That not only gives his grace of forgiveness, his eternal life, but truth. He guides us as he leads us to the manger and to the cross. As he shows us what this whole life is about: him and what he has done for us. He comes to show us that he has done everything for us. We don’t reach up to see God. No, he comes down to us And makes God known to us, not as the angry judge, but as the gracious Father, the loving Savior who gave himself up for us.

You know where your home is. God has made you his child through his Word. Your home is with him. Your home not just on the holidays but forever with him. And as you live in this world, he dwells with you in your heart. And all this he does so that you will receive grace upon grace. And each day we do receive grace upon grace. We are children of God! We are his redeemed people. We live with grace and truth in the one who has made the Father known to us.

That changes how we live. We no longer live under the fear of the law. That was given to Moses. That was given to drive us to our need for a Savior, to show just how desperate we were. We no longer live under the law thinking that this is what will make God known to us. We live under Christ and through Christ we live in the freedom of his grace and in the truth of his Word. We live with joy because of the Word Made Flesh who made his dwelling among us. We live with joy as we have been set free from all fears and worries. We live with joy because our Savior lives and reigns On high. And here is another marvelous mystery. Our Savior never stops being fully human. So who is ruling all things at God the Father’s right hand but our brother, True God, True Man, until he comes back to take us to his side When we will dwell with him and he will spread his tent over us.

The Word Became Flesh and made his dwelling among us. That is our home. That is our joy. That is our Life. Amen.