Christmas Day (2)

John 1:1–14 NIV

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 all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 14 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.

Karl Malone – ‘The Mailman’

Karl Malone was one of the best power forwards to ever play in the NBA. Unfortunately for Malone he was overshadowed by literal all time greats, including Michael Jordan. Karl Malone was called ‘The Mailman’ because he always delivered when it mattered.

Lou Gehrig – ‘The Iron Horse’

It sure seems like baseball players have awesome nicknames. Lou Gehrig earned his nickname thanks to his insane consecutive games played streak.

Andre Dawson – ‘The Hawk’

Dawson is one of the most underrated players to ever step onto an MLB field. Dawson was an elite defender and a ball hawk on the field — thus his nickname.

William Perry – ‘The Refrigerator’

Perry was a defensive lineman for the Chicago Bears and an absolute monster on the field. Occasionally Perry would play running back when the Bears got close to the endzone. His nickname is pretty easy to understand.

Wayne Gretzky – ‘The Great One’

Gretzky will forever be the face of professional hockey. As the greatest player to ever play hockey, Gretzky fully earned and embraced ‘The Great One’ nickname.

Johnny Cash — The Man in Black

For his propensity to wear all black clothing.

When we are born, our parents are usually the ones who give us our first and middle names. Do you know why they chose the names they did for you? Since I am a pastor and my first name is “Paul”, some assume my parents were being prophetic and hoping that some day I would preach like Paul. But that was not the case. I am named after my mother’s uncle Paul. My middle name is that of one of my baptismal sponsors. But even though that is my first name, I am seldom ever called by that name. This was true even in high school because like many people who grew up in a small town, I was given several nicknames and often called by them instead.

Nicknames are common in small towns. Sometimes they are descriptive, sometimes they are the exact opposite of a person’s attributes.

One of your former pastors was known as “Stretch” because of his height. But I also knew a man in grade school who was called “Skinny” who was anything but skinny.

Perhaps you yourself have a nickname that you are often called by.

Certainly, we are aware of nicknames that celebrities go by which describe some aspect of their performance or characteristics.

The person whose birth we celebrate today was and still is called by a variety of names. His given name (given by none other than God himself and not Mary and Joseph) is Jesus. A name which teaches us why he came into the world — to save us from our sins. Some people assume that his last name is Christ but in those days people did not have last names. Christ is the title of his office so we see him called either Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus with no emphasis on which is used. He was also know as Jesus of Nazareth demonstrating where he was from. Other names are Lord, Son of Man, Son of God, Son of David, and Immanuel although the Bible does not tell us that anyone ever called him by that name.

He also had descriptive names such as the two I want to focus on today based on John’ prologue to his Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is called “the Word” and “the Light”.

Context: Unlike Matthew and Luke, John does not have a narrative of the birth of Jesus. But in the prologue to his Gospel he does teach that the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. In this way he teaches of the incarnation of Jesus without the details.

But the life of our Savior did not begin at his birth or even at his conception. He is unique. John tells us that the person of Jesus as true God has existed from all eternity. There never was a time when he was not. This was affirmed in the great theological debates in the early centuries of the Christian church. Unfortunately, at least two modern religions teach that the person of Jesus was created by God before the creation of the world.

3. Jesus Christ.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus was created by Jehovah as the archangel Michael before the physical world existed, and is a lesser, though mighty, god.

Biblically, however, Jesus is eternally God (; ; cf. ) and has the exact same divine nature as the Father (; ; ).

Indeed, a comparison of the OT and NT equates Jesus with Jehovah (compare with ; with ; with ).

Jesus himself created the angels (; cf. ; , ) and is worshiped by them ().

5. Jesus Christ

Mormons believe that Jesus Christ was the firstborn spirit-child of the heavenly Father and a heavenly Mother.

Jesus then progressed to deity in the spirit world.

He was later physically conceived in Mary’s womb, as the literal “only begotten” Son of God the Father in the flesh (though many present-day Mormons remain somewhat vague as to how this occurred).

Biblically, however, the description of Jesus as the “only begotten” refers to his being the Father’s unique, one-of-a-kind Son for all eternity, with the same divine nature as the Father (see note on ; cf. ; , ; see also ; ).

Moreover, he is eternal deity (; ) and is immutable (; ), meaning he did not progress to deity but has always been God.

And Mary’s conception of Jesus in his humanity was through a miracle of the Holy Spirit ().

Perhaps John says it best and most succinctly when he writes: (NIV)

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. (NIV)

14 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.

We see how John gives Jesus one of his many names in these verses. He calls him “The Word”. The reason should be obvious. Words are what we do to reveal ourselves to others. The past several month have forced me to meet a lot of new people whether it is members of our congregations, local business personnel, my neighbors, or people I play pickle ball with. I don’t know too much about all of these strangers yet but the ones I know the most about are the ones who use words the most whether it is talking or writing. I am enjoying getting to know you better and to learn about you from you.

Jesus is called “the Word” because he came to reveal the Father to us. Certainly, God the Father has done this in other ways as our Hebrews lesson teaches, but we get the most complete picture of our God through his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus himself tells us that he had come into the world to do this. (NIV)

6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

Matthew 11:25–27 NIV

25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. 27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

The other name that John gives to Jesus is that he is the light. Here the symbolism is clear as well. Light is used to reveal what his hidden. It would be very difficult to get around without light. We know the importance of having well lit streets, good headlights on our cars, and something as simple as a night light in our home. Jesus as the light serves the same purpose of him as the Word. He reveals the Father to us. Later in the Gospels, Jesus refers to himself as the light as well: (NIV)

12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

In his defense before King Agrippa, St. Paul would refer to the Gospel as the message of light.

(NIV)

22 But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen—23 that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”

How successful was Jesus in serving as the Word and the Light?

He accomplished what he came to do. He testified to the truth and openly taught about God and the way of salvation for three years of public ministry. His words are still read and cherished by millions even today. His birth is celebrated throughout the world. He accomplished his mission.

But, as I said last week, public speakers have different types of people in the audience and different responses to the same message. John reminds us of this when he writes:

(NIV)

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

History teaches how different people responded to the revelation of Jesus.

John was more important about an individual’s response than statistically how others responded. He often appeals to those who read or hear this gospel to respond in the way that God intends and that is in faith. His goal is that by reading what Jesus did and the words he spoke, that each person would believe in Jesus and have eternal life. This is stated throughout the Gospel and serves as his own summary after the appearance of Jesus to doubting Thomas: (NIV)

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Explain how Jesus is the Word

Explain how Jesus is the Light — see his own description of himself as the Light of the World