Incarnation, Light

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

John 1:1–18 KJV 1900

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Miracle on 34th Street is a masterpiece, by far my favorite Christmas-themed movie. Oddly enough, it’s also a strictly secular movie: Everyone talks about the “true meaning of Christmas” in the movie, but no one mentions—you know—the true meaning, as in the Jesus-lying-in-a-manger meaning. That’s O.K., though, because the movie is practically an allegory for Christian faith. This sermon explores many Christian themes just below the film’s surface, including doubt and skepticism, the nature of faith, and Christ-like love.

Miracle on 34th Street is a masterpiece, by far my favorite Christmas-themed movie. Oddly enough, it’s also a strictly secular movie: Everyone talks about the “true meaning of Christmas” in the movie, but no one mentions—you know—the true meaning, as in the Jesus-lying-in-a-manger meaning. That’s O.K., though, because the movie is practically an allegory for Christian faith. This sermon explores many Christian themes just below the film’s surface, including doubt and skepticism, the nature of faith, and Christ-like love.

We live in a skeptical age—witness 2012 Newsweek cover story, for instance. As they do every Christmas, they have a cover story on Jesus and the first Christmas. In this article, the author suggests that the virgin birth is merely a pious legend. According to this theory, Matthew and Luke added the Christmas story to their gospels, not because it was historically true, but because they wanted to communicate the theological truth that Jesus was God’s Son.

Incarnation: the doctrine that the second person of the Trinity assumed human form in the person of Jesus Christ and is completely both God and man.

The incarnation represents a new way of God relating to his broken creation and caring intimately about them.

It’s important we recognize the way our presence and care for people’s physical needs impacts them and teaches them about the way God relates to his people.

1. The concept of the incarnation—that “the Word became flesh” (v. 14)—is such a strange and radical idea that it’s no wonder how contested the idea has been across history. The Jewish people were constituted as a people by being “set apart” from the nations. They understood God’s holiness because they were constantly practicing what holiness looked like, and it looked like separation from unholiness. The idea that God would come to earth as a human child and take on the plights and sufferings of his broken world was a difficult concept to swallow. The Christmas season is an important time to teach this doctrine and its implications, especially to a world that is weary of Christians ignoring the physical world.

2. The classic Christmas movie Miracle on 34th Street paints a picture of just how significant incarnation is. When the real Santa Claus ends up getting a job working as a Santa in a department store, he inspires belief all across the country, even inciting a court case that seeks to rule on his validity as Santa Claus. More than any kind of “magic,” it’s his interactions with children and his care for their real needs that inspires belief. He signs for a deaf girl, he listens to the earnest needs of a child wanting a father, he is simply with children in a time of year when they are often ignored in the busyness. doesn’t give us any of the stories in the rest of the Gospels about how Jesus treats people with such care and attention, but it focuses on the theological backing we have for understanding the incarnation. He “made his dwelling among us” (v. 14) and came as the “true light that gives light to everyone” (v. 9).

3. Just as Kris Kringle burst into the lives of everyone he encountered at the department store, Jesus came bursting into the world as life and light like we had never experienced before. “As light ‘shines’ (present tense for the first time) in the darkness, so Jesus brought the revelation and salvation of God to humanity in its fallen and lost condition. He did this in the Incarnation. As the word of God brought light to the chaos before Creation, so Jesus brought light to fallen humankind when He became a man. Furthermore, the light that Jesus brought was superior to and stronger than the darkness that existed—both physically and spiritually” (Thomas Constable, Notes on John [Sonic Light, 2017], 19).

4. This passage also reminds us that this season is not just a celebration of Christ’s coming but an opportunity for the world to believe the truth and trust in Jesus. “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (v. 17). Jesus came and offered a new means of relating to the God of the universe, one determined by faith we couldn’t muster on our own and grace we don’t deserve. Like Kris Kringle said in defense of his inability to prove himself, “If you can’t accept anything on faith, then you are doomed for a life dominated by doubt.” In the midst of a broken world dominated by doubt, Jesus came to earth to offer faith to people desperate for it.

5. The glorious message of Christmas and the incarnation is this: God has been working behind the scenes in ways you didn’t expect. The incarnation is not about degrading the way God related to his people before Jesus’s birth but about celebrating God’s perfect plan across history. “What God showed Himself to be through His revelation in the Torah, so now Jesus shows Himself to be through the Incarnation. And what was the Torah? It was not handcuffs, but Yahweh's pointed finger, graciously marking out to the redeemed the path of life and fellowship with Him [cf. ].

Deuteronomy 6:1–3 KJV 1900

Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.

John 1:17 KJV 1900

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

The point of is not 'Then bad, now good'; the point is rather, 'Then, wonderful! And now, better than ever!'” (Ronald B. Allen, “Affirming Right-of-Way on Ancient Paths,” Bibliotheca Sacra 153, no. 609 [January-March 1996]: 10).

The point of is not 'Then bad, now good'; the point is rather, 'Then, wonderful! And now, better than ever!'” (Ronald B. Allen, “Affirming Right-of-Way on Ancient Paths,” Bibliotheca Sacra 153, no. 609 [January-March 1996]: 10).