Jesus is the Christ

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0:00 Okay, we're thinking about the story of Christmas. It is the last Sunday. We're going to be together on Christmas Eve in the evening, which is Friday, right? At seven in the evening up here. We'd love for you to join us with some Christmas cookies. So, but I'm looking through, we've been talking about Matthew's accounts of Christmas and Luke's account of Christmas thinking about this like reality that we need a Savior

0:38 and then who Jesus is, the ways in which this incarnated God is the Christ, the Promised Librating Kingdom, the Savior that we need. And this morning, I want to look a little bit at John's account of the birth of Jesus. So, if you look at John chapter one, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, I said before that John doesn't really have a Christmas story in the like Christmas sense like, you know, they get on the donkey

1:13 and walk to Bethlehem. He doesn't go into that for us and all the four gospels are different. I was talking to a friend. I work the other day about this, the way that all the four gospels are different and the one that he was asking about, why one tells one different than the other. And there's a whole long story we can get into about that. But the short version, or one of the things I want to pull out for this morning, is just that it's a testament, at least most scholars take it as a testament to the credibility

1:43 of the story of Jesus, that all these versions are different. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, they all come from different life experiences. They write their story at a little bit different time to a little bit different audience and it's a credit to the church that the church, as they kind of codified the New Testament through those first couple of hundred years, that they didn't make an effort to like, dip their story straight.

2:13 Right? It's not like let's iron out all the differences. It's let's amplify the different voices. People encounter real events and then write real stories from their interviews or their memory about real events in order to communicate real truths. And those are different for the four of them. And so the stories come out a little bit different. And John's definitely doing something different than Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we call the synoptic gospels.

2:45 There's a synopsis of the life of Jesus and John's this other thing out here, like a theological telling. John's gospel might be the last thing, the latest document written in the New Testament. Probably at the very end of his life, looking back. And there's some specific ideas he's trying to counter, which is why his stories are different, which is another time he can get into. But that's just to explain why John 1-1 is so different from Luke 2, I guess.

3:17 Let's look at John 1-1. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life. And that life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.

3:48 He immediately, the very beginning, creates this metaphor to say that there is a God with this concept of what we translate as word, what might be reason, or logic, or understanding. There is an intent for thought and effort to communicate that intent and forethought in God. We call it the word of God, and in that word of God is life. Hovering in this God is the essence of life, and he makes an initial metaphor that says that life is like the light of men.

4:26 He's going to use light throughout the whole gospel as this metaphor for the presence of God. But he wants to first communicate that there is this intent, forethought, and goal to communicate the logic of God that has always existed. And in that God is life. Christmas, the season of Advent leading up to the celebration of the Incarnation, should first of all, as we celebrate Christmas, remind ourselves that we are inheritors of a whole kind of meaning-given, purpose-giving story that animates our lives,

5:08 that explains where the world comes from and where the world is going, that reminds us where we fit in reality, that defines who we are and what we ought to be about. And that story starts with God, and in the presence of God is this thing called life, which will travel through the history of humanity like light, illuminating what is true. So in the beginning was the word and all those things.

5:38 In it was the life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it. And there is this opposition to life in the way that there is an opposition to light. In the way that darkness might run in, where light is not. In the way that darkness is the absence of something that we call light, this is true, there is an opposite of life that exists,

6:13 that cannot overcome the force of life. And then verse 6, there was a man sent from God whose name was John, who came as a witness to bear witness about the light, that all might be leave through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. Verse 9, the true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

6:45 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. Of course, this is like the interesting, like confusing. I want to call it like a tragedy, but it's hard to call it a tragedy, because it seems like if God wanted to be received by Israel, I think He could have set it up. But it's so fascinating, like we're telling the kids that the pinnacle of humanity and creation finds its way into earth and has some shepherds there.

7:23 And doesn't have a place, like, and is born in Bethlehem, when the locus of power is all the way over in Rome. I remember thinking when we watched the story, remember when they came to the movie about the past, and they realistically show the Pharisees moving around. And I remember just thinking how backwoods Israel must have seemed to Rome and all civilized power and authority in the world.

7:59 They're out there living on the wrong side of the desert. They have the stars, systems of sacrifices that we don't all the way understand. They have their own petty infighting about who's in charge, the Sadducees, or the Pharisees, or the Essenes. Just keep them in line and paying their taxes. For some reason, and if we were to do a deep dive and take the time, we might learn a lot about who the God of creation in life.

8:29 Who the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is. We might learn a lot about this God from the reality that when he finds a way to get down into earth again, he goes to the wrong side of the desert to a backwards people. And then not to Herod's palace or the Sadducees temple, not to the Holy of Holies or even to Pilate's plaza. He goes quietly, unannounced, unanswered, right?

9:01 But almost unannounced. Let's make sure someone marks it. Get the shepherds from the field, right? So there's a lot to learn about the nature of God from just the way that it happens. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. And he was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

9:34 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood nor of will, nor the flesh nor the will of man but of God. This is perhaps one of the best arguments for the authenticity of the Christ.

10:08 That despite all of it, people have believed it. Despite the wrong side of the desert, despite no power or money to speak of, despite no worldly fanfare or parade, Jesus came into the world, heralded by shepherds,

10:41 and sought out by silly magi from the other countries. And yet, Israel believes. And his closest friends are martyrs, put their lives on the line, and through persecution and hardship, through derision and exclusion,

11:11 and then through power and corruption, from one generation to the next, across oceans and boundaries, the Church of God persists. Now, individuals and groups of people retain belief that the Creator God, with logic and intent,

11:47 forethought and wisdom, the wellspring of life, found a way to incarnate in order that all people might be drawn back. It is a miracle. And John says that, but through all who did receive him, believe his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born of the will and the forethought of God.

12:19 And then he goes down and says, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory. This is actually true for John. This is not a euphemism for John, right? John was there on the Mount of Transfiguration. Like Jesus is three closest friends, and somehow, Moses and Eliza, dead and waiting for the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus,

12:50 all assemble on the Mount of Transfiguration. A couple of guys tell the story, Jesus, on the Mount of Transfiguration, floats up off the mountain and signs with what light, this like image and metaphor of life. And so that we think, I think the word glory means to see things as they actually are

13:20 for what they really are. When John says, we have seen him in all of his glory, he says, I have seen Jesus as he actually is. The beginning of all light and light. The embodied logic forethought will of the God of creation. The beginning and end of beauty and justice. The arbiter of peace, right?

13:50 John says, I have seen Jesus in all his glory. He's not speaking metaphorically, he's speaking actually. John has seen it. God bless him. And he's saying, you could take my word for it. I love that. And we have seen him in his glory. Glory as the only son of the father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness about him and cried out. This is he of whom I said, he comes from after me and before me. Yeah, he's talking about John the Baptist.

14:21 Verse 16, and from his fullness, we have all received grace upon grace. When John sees this thing, Jesus in all of his glory, when the word it says made his dwelling among us, when the word be came flesh, this is a unique feature of our story. That the person of the Christ carries this side.

14:54 Mind exploding duality. When you move through, learn all the nuances of the theological systems that have been developed, the philosophical categories, to try and understand what happens in carnation, you need a primer in Latin to learn gainous, myostatic, this whole theory of who the Christ is, that God can carry such dual forces

15:27 at the same time. You think about that when Jesus is fully God and fully man, Jesus carries all power in the world and also human frailty. Jesus, the person carries the light of primordial life and is hungry at the same time,

15:58 that the person of Jesus carries power and empathy, all wisdom and authentic humility, that Jesus holds in his person infinite strength and complete weakness. The notion, the hour notion that animates our story, the like crux that our metanarrative turns on,

16:32 is that infinite, unbounded God joins with finite bounded flesh in the story of the incarnation. This is unique among the narratives humanity has to describe how we got here, what we're doing and where we're going, that God, the unbounded infinite God, would go through such lengths in order to get to us. I want to look at, I've been spun this Advent season

17:05 to look at how squarely the Apostle Paul nails theological principles. I've said this before, if I don't know what categories of Fulbright, scholar or Mensa, Paul is off all charts, right? Paul is one of the first in the history of the Church to start writing stuff down. His letters are some of the earliest things we have.

17:37 He makes the name for himself very quickly such that you can see in some of his writings, he's got people who will follow him to cities after he leaves, he'll go into a city, he'll preach on a corner, and start as people gathering from the gospel, and then people will come afterwards and try and slide into churches he creates, and then they have debates with him. Paul is setting the pace for the theology of what it means,

18:07 how we understand who God is, what he's up to, and what Christ accomplished. In Colossians chapter 1, he has this really beautiful explanation of the purpose of Jesus. In Colossians chapter 1 verse 15, well, it's hard to jump in. Maybe, look at verse 13, he has delivered us from the domain of darkness

18:41 and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, verse 15. For he, Jesus, is the image of the invisible God, not image like mirage, but the way in which you see what God looks like, the image barrier of the God, the emblem of the God. For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,

19:16 whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. This is hard enough to imagine that all things were created with the person of Jesus. Nathan, after church, asked him about how the son makes an infinity sign, somebody had a plan for beauty even in the way we rotate around the son, and how if you stand and watch it rise, it might move around and make states. It's hard enough for us to imagine what it means that God, with the person of Jesus,

19:49 the logic, forethought and intent, made all things that are visible, but Paul goes beyond it and says, the way that we understand reality, the way that our people believe the world came into existence is the God through his logic, forethought and intent that we call the word, created all things visible, and news for you, all things you can't see. That all things came into the world through the God, with his logic, forethought and intent, the word.

20:20 And he says that word is located in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, it's mind-blowing. I mean, if you try and think through it, it's mind-blowing, which is why it's nice to read, Paul writes something pretty about it, at least. For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things.

20:51 And in him, this is the line that got me to this phrase, I was looking for it, and in him all things hold together. The reason that the sun makes that weird thing in the horizon when it's coming up, we were talking about this before church, is because of the particular angle that the earth sits at, as it moves around the sun, you know, and then spins also, as it's angled, right? It's fascinating to imagine, to allow myself to believe the story that generations have believed before,

21:29 and have believed before me, that the God of the universe holds together the angle of the earth by his own forethought, will and intent, that the spinning planets continue to spend in order with a plan because God is in the midst of it. It's fascinating to allow myself to believe that the gravity that holds me in place is according to the will and forethought of God, not an accident of the universe,

22:01 and that if God would have removed God's self from creation, everything would spin out of order. That but for the, like, intent, forethought, will, word of God, incarnated in the person of Jesus, everything would go haywire. The invitation of Christmas is to allow yourself to believe these things, crazy as they may be, because this is the story that has animated our people from the very beginning.

22:32 Okay, all things, and he is before all things, and in him all things hold together, and he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the first four in front of the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent, for in him all the fullness of God was pleased as well, and through him to reconcile himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. This is where Paul gets to it. For what purpose does the unbounded, infinite originator of life,

23:12 maker of all things seen and unseen, find himself into an image and come into a major? Our people have said, understood and believed for generations that God does it for you. In order that, by some divine miracle, you might again uncover the capacity to believe the story.

23:52 The story that confers the light of life. In order that you might again have the light of life that darkness of death cannot overcome. God unbounded, infinite God, binds in flesh, navigates power and empathy, strength and weakness,

24:23 wisdom and humility, holds the duality of the earth together in order that you, in your 80-100 years here, might grasp onto the things that have animated your people for generations, the reality that there is life for you, life that cannot be overcome.

24:53 The light of original life. I don't know about you, but I feel like without forced breaks, I would continue to speed up the tasks, the responsibilities that especially now,

25:29 as we're like in this bizarre place in our country, in our politics, in our economies, it's so easy to spin up problems and tasks. I love the forced break of Christmas. I mean, it's not the only thing that I love, but I do love the forced break of Christmas,

26:00 because when I allow myself to engage in this story, and challenge myself to believe it all the way, I find year in and year out the supernatural capacity to believe and all the benefits of that light of life, that original light of life, and I pray that you would find the same this Christmas season.

26:31 Let me pray for that. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for these people that you have brought them here, that you are the head of this church with all that that means for it. Teach us to be captured or allow us, I'd say, to be captured by your story this morning again, and again this season. Push back the darkness of death in our life and illuminate our days with the light of your life

27:06 in the person of Jesus, the ashes. Amen.