The Lord Has Come

John 1:1–18 ESV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 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 bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 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. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Have you ever been on a long journey or vacation where you stayed away from home? How did you feel when you were finally able to walk through a familiar threshold and see those who had been praying for your return? Was there a feeling of joy and excitement in that moment?

Any time we come home to people that we love it is a joyous occasion. It is filled with memories and laughter. I’m sure many of you will experience this in the upcoming days. You will gather with those you love some of which you have not seen in a long time.

But there are those who will not spend that time with family. They will be separated for whatever reasons during Christmas. Distance, death, estrangement. All of these contribute to a season of pain rather than happiness. Some of you may be in that place tonight. You may feel the pain of loneliness and heartache.

However you come to this sanctuary tonight, we know that we celebrate the fact the Jesus has come to us. The Son of God, born of a virgin, has been born among us. Jesus’ coming was filled with joy and laughter as well as pain and sorrow. The angels sang and declared praise to God that Christ was born. The shepherds left their flocks to see the child that was born. Magi from the east come to pay homage to him. But there was also Herod who wanted to kill Jesus because he saw him as threat to his power. In that fit of jealous rage, infants were killed at the command of Herod

In the opening verses of John 1, we find this same kind of dichotomy playing out. In the beginning…Words that are familiar to us as we read Genesis 1. “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The depth of these words are lost on us. How is the Word, the Logos, not only present at creation but through him all creation has been made? The world that was fashioned into existence from nothing with just a simple phrase shows the immense power that the Word has.

This One with such great power that the world was created through him and by him is the same One that lies in a manger surrounded by animals, shepherds, and hay. The One that created all things is the same One who will be chased and hunted by a mad king because of his great feelings of unworthiness.

As we join together on this Christmas Eve, we come with baggage. We come with loads of life that are hanging on to us. We have journeyed throughout the past two years in what seems to be a never ending cycle of bad news. Inflation, shortages, the rise of new variants all play havoc on our minds and make us anxious about tomorrow. It is all a reminder of the fragility of life itself. Yet, the One through whom all things were made that have been made, both visible and invisible, comes to us as the most vulnerable of all creation - an infant, a baby.

With the darkness of the world that surrounds us, the true Light from God has made his way to us in the most unlikely of ways. Just as God spoke light into existence at the very beginning, the Word brings the light into the world that is filled with the darkness of sin, fear, and hostility. We can see around us all of the darkness that exists in our world. We can focus on that darkness to the point that we lose in sense of hope. We see the ways in which we hurt one another and cause one another pain. We see wars and disease that are crippling nations. We continue to be bogged down with news about the virus and variants that seem to come around every corner. In the darkness, the true Light from God has made his way to us. The Light of Christ pierces the darkness and brings hope to us when there seems to be no hope. His presence in all the muck and mire of the world tells us that he loves that which he has created even thought it is stained and marred by sin. The darkness of sin will not overcome him no matter how hard it tries. He will not be defeated but will bring victory.

We can place our trust in this One because of what he has done for us. John tells us in verse 14 that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The greatness of God came to us in a small infant born in a manger. He did not come in the palaces of Herod or the high priests. He came to the lowliest of the lowly. The first to see him were the ones who would not even be able to testify in a court of law because of their place in society. It is in this situation that the God of the universe and Creator of all things dwelt among us.

That word that is used for “dwelt” is the verb form of the word “tabernacle.” In the Old Testament, the tabernacle was the place where God dwelt in the center of his people. It was the place where worship happened, and Moses went into the Holy of Holies to commune with God. The glory of the Lord that was shown to the people of Israel in the wilderness is the same glory that is revealed to us in Jesus as the incarnate Word. The eternal relationship of love that exists between the Father and the Son is the mark of the oneness that exists within the Trinity.

In Jesus the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. Through him, God’s grace has been poured out upon all of those who call upon his name and believe in him and form a new covenant community that Jeremiah speaks of in Jeremiah 31:33-34 “33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.””

The Lord has come not that all things will go our way or that we would have an easy time in this life. He came so that we might have true life and peace. He came to dwell among us so that in our journey in this life whether long or short we have a way to our eternal home that is not made with hands but fashioned by God himself. He has come to bring us into this new covenant and establish a new way of life for God’s people. It is a way that is filled with grace and hope. It is a way that is not for the faint of heart but those who will trust in the Light of God in darkness knowing that God has come to us in Jesus.

“Joy to the world! The Lord has come! Let earth receive her king!!!”