Christmas According to John

Introduction

Luke 2:8–11 “And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Last week we looked at the Gospel of Mark and saw His focus was not the Birth of the Savior, but rather his focus was on the Actions of the Messiah. Thus when we consider the Good News that the Angel pronounced in Gospel of Luke we understand that the good news was not about some random special child, but on the One who came to save us. This week we continue exploring the theme of Christmas according to the different Gospels by looking into the final Gospel written. The Gospel of John. Just as with Mark, there is no explanation of Jesus’ birth. However, John’s focus is on who Jesus is. Once we understand who Jesus is, the weight of this Child’s birth becomes mind-blowing. So let us examine who this child is as explianed in the Gospel of John.

The 7 I Am’s in John

I Am the Bread of Life: In John 6:5-15 we read of Jesus miraculously feeding the 5,000. 5 Lifting up His eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward Him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He (Jesus) said this to test him (Phillip), for He Himself knew what He would do. 7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, He told His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that He had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by Himself. So here we read of Jesus miraculously feeding an enormous amount of people using five loaves and two fish. However, did you notice the response of the people? They said He was ‘the Prophet’ and sought to make Him King. Why such a drastic response from one lone miracle? The next day, with this miracle fresh in everyone’s minds, Jesus the topic of the Manna which God sent from heaven to provide for the Israelites while they wandered in the wilderness. Then, 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst. (John 6:35) Now this caused quite a stir in fact John 6:41 “So the Jews grumbled about Him, (not b/c He fed the people but) because He said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” Why would Jesus statement cause such a stir? Why is the claim “I Am the bread of life” cause such a stir?

I Am the Light of the World: John 8:12 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Again Jesus makes the statement, “I Am...” and then we read in verse 20 These words He (Jesus) spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; but no one arrested Him, because His hour had not yet come. What was it about Jesus’ claim that would have warranted an explanation as to why Jesus was NOT arrested? What was illegal about His statement “I am the Light of the World”. Oh, and it just so happens that Jesus heals a blind man shortly after this. A blind man can see and Jesus states “I Am the light of the World.”

I Am the Door & I Am the Good Shepherd: In John 10:7–9; 11-15 “So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” 11 I am the good shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, 15 just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. Here Jesus uses the imagery of a Sheepfold & a Shepherd. “There were two kinds of sheepfolds or pens. One kind was a public sheepfold found in the cities and villages. It would be large enough to hold several flocks of sheep. This sheep pen would be in the care of a porter or doorkeeper, whose duty it was to guard the door to the sheep pen during the night and to admit the shepherds in the morning. The shepherds would call their sheep, each of which knew its own shepherd’s voice, and would lead them out to pasture. The second kind of sheep pen was in the countryside, where the shepherds would keep their flocks in good weather. This type of sheep pen was nothing more than a rough circle of rocks piled into a wall with a small open space to enter. Through it the shepherd would drive the sheep at nightfall. Since there was no gate to close—just an opening—the shepherd would keep the sheep in and wild animals out by lying across the opening. He would sleep there, in this case literally becoming the door to the sheep.” (What did Jesus mean when He said “I am the door” (John 10:7)? | GotQuestions.org) Yet as Jesus uses these metaphors we once again read of an intense response for we read in verse 19 There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” and in verse 24 24 So the Jews gathered around Him and said to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Continuing on...

I Am the Resurrection & the Life: In John 11, Lazarus had died and was buried. Jesus then comes and when He arrives, 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Jesus then raises Lazarus from the dead demonstrating that He had power over even death. The response of the religous leaders upon hearing of Jesus’ raising Lazarus from the dead is found in verse 53 So from that day on they (chief priest & Pharisees) made plans to put Him to death. Again, why is it that after each of these “I Am” statements each one accompanied by a miracle are there such intense responses by the Jews?

I Am the Way, the Truth, & the Life: Next in John 14 we see Jesus with His close disciples and they ask Him how to know the way to the Father’s House. They wanted to know the place where Jesus said He was going. John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Once again Jesus uses the phrase “I Am” and ties it directly to God the Father.

I Am the True Vine: Finally, in John 15:1; 5 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. and again in verse 5“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” Again we see this claim that Jesus has repeated for the 7th time in the Gospel of John “I Am...” So let us answer the question: Why does this phrase, regardless of what comes after, always seem to cause such intense responses? To answer this question, we must look to the OT book of Exodus. This is a book the Jews who heard Jesus preaching would have known very well.

Moses & the Burning Bush: In Exodus chapter 3 we find Moses shepherding a flock in the wilderness. Moses looks and sees a bush on fire, yet this bush does not seem to be consumed. So Moses moves to investigate. And there, out of the midst of the Burning Bush, God speaks to Moses. He tells Moses to remove his sandals because the ground Moses stands on is Holy. God then tells Moses that He has chosen him to free His people. So Moses asks the question: Who do I say sent me? and God replies in Exodus 3:14 “God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And He said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”This begins the exodus of God’s people out of the Land of Bondage and into the Promised Land. You see, in each of these 7 I Am statements that we looked at, Jesus is using the same name that God told Moses to tell the children of Israel. Jesus is equating Himself with God. This is the reason why every time Jesus said “I Am...” there is such an intense response. The Jews KNEW that Jesus was equating Himself with God. And in case you think I am overstating things we read of two other times in John where Jesus makes it abundantly clear. John 8:58 “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” And then in the Garden of Gethsemane in John 18:4–6 “Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to Him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am He.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.” So let us return to the question we asked at the beginning. Who is this child? Who is this child whose birth we celebrate 2000 years later? Matthew 1:23 ““Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).” This child whose birth we celebrate is God in flesh.

How do you explain God? I was recently asked “How do I explain God?” Well, He is Timeless, Infinite, Creator of All, Sustainer of All, All-knowing, All-Powerful, & Perfect in every way. This is who Jesus was claiming to be when He said “I AM”. Go with me to John 1:1–5 “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (both alongside & co-equal). He was (ALREADY) in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” You see John writes about the birth of Jesus in a very different way than Matthew or Luke. John writes about the birth of Jesus and begins prior to the beginning of creation. John starts by saying BEFORE Creation, Jesus already existed. Then, Jesus was not only present at Creation, but was part of Creating everything that exists. Then John tells us not of Jesus as a person, but refers to Jesus as John 1:9 “The True Light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” This One who was present before Creation and who Created everything is the same One who is coming into the world! Then and only then does John give us the birth of Jesus and he says it like this John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” This is Christmas According to John. The Eternal, Creator, Sustainer, All-Knowing, All-Powerful, & Perfect in Every Way God would condescend to His fallen creation. And if that wasn’t enough, He meekly accepted their ridicule throughout His life and even unto His death. Philippians 2:8 “And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” To tie into last week, in the shadow of the manger stands the cross. Not for any wrong He had done, but because only the eternal God could pay the debt of our sin. Who is this Child? He is Emmanuel, God literally with us.