!! Scriptures: Isaiah 8,9; 1 Peter 2; John 1

1     The Incarnation

The coming of Christ by way of a Bethlehem manger seems strange and stunning. But when we take him out of the manger and invite him into our hearts, then the meaning unfolds and the strangeness vanishes.

C. Neil Strait

The shepherds didn't ask God if he was sure he knew what he was doing. Had the angel gone to the theologians, they would have first consulted their commentaries. Had he gone to the elite, they would have looked around to see if anyone was watching. Had he gone to the successful, they would have first looked at their calendars.

So he went to the shepherds. Men who didn't have a reputation to protect or an ax to grind or a ladder to climb. Men who didn't know enough to tell God that angels don't sing to sheep and that messiahs aren't found wrapped in rags and sleeping in a feed trough.

Max L. Lucado (1955- )

John 1:1 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 men. [5] The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. [6] There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. [7] He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men 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 every man 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 received 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, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Why was it necessary for Christ to take on human form?

a)     Shedding of Blood – “In fact the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”  A sacrifice is required as payment for our sins.  God provided the sacrifice for Abraham.  Isaac the promised son was placed on the altar.  When it was clear that Abraham was willing to give what he longed for, then God provided the sacrifice.

b)     Spotless Sacrifice -  Not just any sacrifice would do to pay the price for our sins.  It would take something otherworldly. 

1Peter 1:17 Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. [18] For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, [19] but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. [20] He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. [21] Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

c)      Satisfaction of Justice -

The basis for this tremendous annual burst of gift buying and parties and near hysteria is a quiet event that Christians believe actually happened a long time ago. You can say that in all societies there has always been a midwinter festival and that many of the trappings of our Christmas are almost violently pagan. But you come back to the central fact of the day and quietness of Christmas morning--the birth of God on earth.

It leaves you only three ways of accepting Christmas. One is cynically, as a time to make money or endorse the making of it. One is graciously, the appropriate attitude for non-Christians, who wish their fellow citizens all the joys to which their beliefs entitle them. And the third, of course, is reverently. If this is the anniversary of the appearance of the Lord of the universe in the form of a helpless babe, it is a very important day. It's a startling idea, of course. My guess is that the whole story that a virgin was selected by God to bear His Son as a way of showing His love and concern for man is not an idea that has been popular with theologians.

It's a somewhat illogical idea, and theologians like logic almost as much as they like God. It's so revolutionary a thought that it probably could only come from a God that is beyond logic, and beyond theology. It has a magnificent appeal. Almost nobody has seen God, and almost nobody has any real idea of what He is like. And the truth is that among men the idea of seeing God suddenly and standing in a very bright light is not necessarily a completely comforting and appealing idea. But everyone has seen babies, and most people like them. If God wanted to be loved as well as feared he moved correctly here. If He wanted to know His people as well as rule them, He moved correctly here, for a baby growing up learns all about people. If God wanted to be intimately a part of man, He moved correctly, for the experiences of birth and familyhood are our most intimate and precious experiences.

So it comes beyond logic. It is either all falsehood or it is the truest thing in the world. It's the story of the great innocence of God the baby--God in the form of man--and has such a dramatic shock toward the heart that if it is not true, for Christians, nothing is true.

So, if a Christian is touched only once a year, the touching is still worth it, and maybe on some given Christmas, some final quiet morning, the touch will take.  -- TV news commentator Harry Reasoner

What does the incarnation mean?  What significance does it hold for my life today? 

i)        How often in our lives does God provide the things that He asks us for?  If He asks us to do something he gives us the talent or ability to perform the task.  If he asks us to trust Him in financial matters – to tithe – he will honor your obedience.  He will never remove the element of faith – it will always be necessary to trust Him but there is always enough money to survive regardless of what we give away to God.

ii)      We talk about cheap and costly grace.  First of all – grace comes from God – He gives the whole package.  

Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Grace is always costly – not primarily because of what it costs us but because of what it costs God.  It does require something of us – for sure and we need to remember that.  If you choose to serve God it is going to change your lifestyle, your dreams, your priorities, you perspectives, your relationships . . .  What we give up however does not cause grace to be termed costly.  It is costly because of what it costs God.  The more faithful we are with the things that He gives us the more He will trust us with greater things.  Stewards are merely managers of God’s provisions.  Thus the N.T. concept of stewardship.

iii)    God goes first – He takes the initiative.  We hardly realize our condition – our lost-ness, our need.  We want so desperately to proclaim our goodness, to prove something to our Maker.  He is the Way-maker.  He saw our need before we were even able to contemplate it.

2     The Intervention

1 Peter 2:4 As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-- [5] you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. [6] For in Scripture it says:

  "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him

    will never be put to shame."

7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, "

8 and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall."

They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for. 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. [10] Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

a)     The Cornerstone.  This is what we celebrate at Christmas – the laying of this cornerstone.  The faith shaper.  The lines have been laid out.  Our faith is shaped by our Savior.  Every decision that we make should be affected by our relationship with the cornerstone.

b)     The Rejection.  He is the stone rejected by the builders.  Clearly the prominent stone but the builders didn’t like the probability of the outcome based on what they saw in the Cornerstone.  They had something else in mind.  In the case of the Jewish people, they had already decided what the Messiah would do and what He would look like.  They were so sure of what the Messiah would be and what he would do that they were unable to recognize

c)      The Stumbling.  I picture a construction site with builders in denial stumbling over things that they are trying to ignore, pretending that they are not there.  Based on the general state of affairs in this world, I would say that the people that I meet who are best able to cope with the twists and turns of life are those who have some uncommon perspective.  Christians who truly live their faith and enjoy spiritual vitality are able to see things that would destroy others in different ways.  I think that this would have to be one of the most tremendous

3     The Identity

The Political leaders of Jesus day were totally ignorant of who He was.  Largely they still are today.

The religious and political leaders who were in power at the time misread the events of Jesus' birth. When a woman is to have a baby, she goes to the best hospital she and her husband can afford. They find the best doctors and highly trained specialists. They get the best that money can buy. And they do this not because they feel strong, but because they feel weak.

When God's Son was born, He was born in a stable under very austere and unsanitary conditions. It happened this way not because God was poor, but because God was sure of himself.

The leaders misread the signs. The baby born in the stable is not a sign of a weak and ineffectual king. But it is a sign of a majesty who is secure and knows who He is. It's a sign of love. The leaders of that time didn't know anything about that. And so they missed it. -- Earl Palmer

a)     The Prophets.  Isaiah saw Him coming down through the centuries and his prophetic words tell us clearly that he knew who the Messiah would be.

I Samuel 9:1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan--2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder.  4 For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. 5 Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.  The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

b)     The Parents.  The chosen parents for the Son of God knew who He was.

Matthew 1:20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. [21] She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."  22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: [23] "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" --which means, "God with us."

Luke 2:30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. [31] You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. [32] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, [33] and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

The grounds for belief and disbelief are the same today as they were two thousand or ten thousand years ago. If Joseph had lacked faith to trust God or humility to perceive the holiness of his spouse, he could have disbelieved in the miraculous origin of her Son as easily as any modern man; and any modern man who believes in God can accept the miracle as easily as Joseph did.  - C. S. Lewis

c)      Personal Acknowledgment.  Jesus looked at Peter and asked him a relatively easy question:

Matthew 16:13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"  14 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."  15 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"  16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  17 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. [18] And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. [19] I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." [20] Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

It is relatively easy to answer the first question.  Most people can manufacture something.  The second question is much more difficult though.  Who do you say that Jesus is.  Christmas ought to tell us clearly who Jesus is.  The answer that we give is crucial. He can be no one else than who He said that He is.  Without challenge he is the Son Of God, God himself.

The landlord speaks, A.D. 28

 What could be done? The inn was full of folks:

 His Honor, Marcus Lucius, and his scribes

 Who made the census; honorable men

 From farthest Galilee, come hitherward

 To be enrolled; high ladies and their lords;

 The rich, the rabbis, such a noble throng

 As Bethlehem had never seen before

 And may not see again. And there they were,

 Close-herded with their servants, till the inn

 Was like a hive at swarming time, and I

 Was fairly crazed among them. Could I know

 That they were so important? Just the two,

 No servants, just a workman sort of man,

 Leading a donkey, and his wife thereon,

 Drooping and pale--I saw them not myself

 My servants must have driven them away.

 But had I seen them, how was I to know?

 Were inns to welcome stragglers, up and down

 In all our towns from Beersheba to Dan,

 Till He should come? And how were men to know?

 There was a sign, they say, a heavenly light

 Resplendent; but I had no time for stars.

 And there were songs of angels in the air

 Out on the hills; but how was I to hear

 Amid the thousand clamors of an inn?

 Of course, if I had known them, who they were,

 And who was He that should be born that night,

 For now I learn that they will make Him King.

 A second David, who will ransom us

 From these Philistine Romans--who but He

 That feeds an army with a loaf of bread?

 And if a soldier falls, He touches him

 And up he leaps, uninjured. Had I known,

 I would have turned the whole inn upside down,

 His Honor, Marcus Lucius, and the rest,

 And sent them all to stables.

 So you have seen Him, stranger, and perhaps

 Again may see Him? Prithee say for me

 I did not know; and if He comes again,

 As He surely will come, with retinue,

 And banners, and an army--tell Him, my Lord,

 That all my inn is His to make amends.

 Alas, alas! to miss a chance like that!

 This inn that might be chief among them all--

 The birthplace of the MESSIAH--had I known!

   Amos R. Wells

   --James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) pp. 81-82.