John 1:1-14

What Child is This?

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning.

³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

⁶There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. ⁸He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

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

¹⁴The 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. (NIV1984)

Dear fellow worshipers of the Child of Bethlehem,

Last Sunday as we studied the Christmas account as recorded by the apostle Matthew we noted how God the Holy Spirit led Matthew to record the birth of our Savior from the perspective of Joseph.  We saw how Joseph was given the privilege of not only being the legal father of Mary’s Child, but he was also given the privilege of raising Immanuel— God with us.

Yesterday as we celebrated Christmas Eve our children’s service centered on the very familiar words of Luke chapter two.  Through the evangelist Luke God the Holy Spirit focused our attention on the “human” side of the birth of our Savior.  Luke emphasizes the proper names of real people— Joseph, Mary, Quirinius; real places on the map— Syria, Nazareth, Bethlehem; and real emotions expressed by those real people— joy, fear, amazement.

Today as we gather together to celebrate the birth of this world’s only Savior from sin we focus our attention on John’s inspired account of the birth of our Savior.  While the details of John’s account may not be as focused on the “human” side of Christmas John’s portrayal of Christmas is just as important and just as enlightening as the inspired accounts of Matthew and Luke.  John does not write about the trip to Bethlehem or the swaddling clothes or the quaking shepherds.  Today we rejoice as God the Holy Spirit has John focus our attention on the divine glory of the Child whose birth we are here to celebrate.  With that focus in mind let’s study our text by using a question that is very familiar to us:  What Child is This?  Our goal this morning is to see how these words of John give us three answers to that question.

What Child is this?  John’s first answer to that question is found in the first three verses of our text.  John writes, “In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

“In the beginning.”  Do you remember what other portion of Scripture begins with those same words?  It’s Genesis 1:1.  In his Gospel account John takes us all the way back to the very “beginning” of all things.  Before the heavens and earth even existed there was only God— the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  By taking us back to the very “beginning” on this glorious Christmas Day John reminds us that before time began, before God created the heavens and the earth, the pre-incarnate Word of God existed!  With these words John is emphasizing the fact that the Child of Bethlehem is eternal because the Child of Bethlehem is God!  John also reminds us that the Child whose birth we are here to celebrate today is the God who created all things— “without him nothing was made that has been made.”

Why is this important for us to know as we celebrate Christmas?  Where do we begin!  Knowing that the Child of Bethlehem is the eternal Word who created all things is not only a testimony to the almighty power of this Child, but it is also a powerful testimony to the amazing love that the Child of Bethlehem has for you, for me, for all people!  Think about it, my friends.  This Child is the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth.  This Child has the ability to say, “Let there be light” and there is light!  This Child knows each and every star by name!  And yet, this Child loves you so very much that He was willing to be born as your true Brother in the most humble of circumstances— all to save you from your sins!  Keep that glorious truth in mind.  We’ll come back to it in just a few minutes.

What Child is this?  John goes on to reveal to us that this Child is the Source of life-giving light.  John writes, “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.  There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.  He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him all men might believe.  He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.  The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”

On this glorious Christmas Day John reminds us that the Child whose birth we are here to celebrate is the life-giving light that each and every human being— including each and every one of us!— needs!  When Adam and Eve sinned against this Child— the One who created all things, including them!— they brought down a dark shroud of sin and death, a shroud that blinded all of humanity.  The darkness and the blindness of sin is so deep and so thick and so pervasive that we human beings don’t even realize how lost we are because we have nothing to compare it to.  Then the Child of Bethlehem was born!

This Child is the light that pierces the darkness of death and the blindness of sin.  This Child is the light that enables us to see.  This Child enable us to see the truth about ourselves as well as the truth about our God.  This Child enables us to recognize that our Creator was born of a virgin, laid in a manger, nailed to a cross (Pointing to the cross) and rose from the dead all to give us life— true life, eternal life.

John emphasizes the life-giving light of the Child of Bethlehem when he says, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”  Through faith in what this Child came into this world to do, through faith in what this Child has now accomplished (Pointing to the cross) we are born again as the dearly beloved adopted children of God.  This is not something what we could have ever achieved on our own.  This is not something that we can choose or decide on our own.  This is a gift that has been given to us by the Child of Bethlehem— the One who is the life-giving light of the world!

What Child is this?  John’s final answer to that all-important Christmas question is found in the closing verse of our text.  He writes, “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.”

On this glorious Christmas Day John reminds us that the Child whose birth we are here to celebrate is the most wonderous Christmas gift we could every possibly receive!  This Child was born in a manger in Bethlehem— yet He existed from all of eternity!  This Child was born small and defenseless and completely dependent on His mother— yet He is the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth!  This Child was born in poverty and humility— yet He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.  This Child looked like any other Jewish baby— yet He is the “glory” of God Himself because He is “the One and Only” Son of the heavenly Father!

How is this possible?  It is possible, my friends, because of what God the Holy Spirit has John assure us!  This Child is “the Word who became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”  If Genesis 3:15 is the “Gospel in a nutshell” then these words are “Christmas in a nutshell”!  In fulfillment of the promise that God made in the Garden of Eden, the eternal Son of God became our true flesh-and-blood Brother and “dwelt” among His Creation.  The word which is translated here as “made his dwelling” paints the picture of “tenting,” or “tabernacling.”

For the original readers of this letter this word easily reminded them of how the Lord, the God of Israel, “tented” or “tabernacled” among His people as they journeyed through the wilderness.  Try to imagine yourself in their place.  If you were restless and could not sleep at night, you could step out of your tent and look at the Tabernacle.  There you would see the pillar of fire and say, “Ah, God is still among us.  All is well.”  In the daytime if you wondered whether you should stay put or get ready to travel, you looked to the Tabernacle.  There you would see the pillar of cloud and say, “Everything is okay.  God is still leading us.”  And now?  Now as you and I journey through the wilderness of this life whenever we have any questions, whenever we have any doubts, whenever we have any concerns of any kind with the eyes of faith we peer into the cradle in Bethlehem.  There we see Mary’s Child, there we see Immanuel, God with us, there we see the “Word who became flesh and dwelt among us” and say, “All is well.  My Savior is still dwelling with me!”

Why?  Why was the eternal Son of God willing to leave the glory and perfection of His heavenly home to “dwell” among us mortal sinful human beings?  It was all so that the One who is “full of grace and truth” could give to us the “fullness” of “grace and truth”!  The “fullness” of God’s “grace and truth” assures us that the One who was wrapped in cloths and placed in a manger would one day exchange that manger for a cross (Pointing to the cross)  On that cross He would willingly stretch out His hands so that through Him we could receive the priceless gifts of the complete forgiveness of all of our sins, eternal life and salvation.  Yes, my friends, the “fullness” of God’s “grace” and the “fullness” of God’s “truth” is embodied in the greatest Christmas gift we will ever receive— “the Word who became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

The world may have the outer shell of Christmas, but we treasure the true meaning of Christmas.  The world may reject the majesty of the miracle of Christmas, but to us who believe in the majesty and the miracle of Mary’s Child, we have been given the glorious status of being the children of God.  May God grant that the mystery and the majesty of Christmas will lead us to bow before the Child of Bethlehem and rejoice in knowing John’s answers to the question, “What Child is this?”  This Child is the eternal Word who created the heavens and the earth!  This Child is the life-giving light who came here to lead us out of the darkness of sin and death and into the light of eternal life!  This Child is the greatest Christmas gift of all— the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us so that we could dwell with Him forever!

May you all have a very blessed Christmas!

To God be the glory!

Amen