The Nativity of Our Lord:
Christmas Day
December 25, 2025
Text:
John 1:1-18
“And the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us” (John 1:14; ESV).
The Word. That is our Lord’s divine nature. He is God, the Son of God. In the beginning, He was with God, and
was God, and is God, ever shall be God. Begotten of the Father from all
eternity. He is the Speaking Forth
of God, the And God Said, and so it was. In fact, “All things were made through
him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (v. 3). The Word. In Greek, Logos. He is God’s Logic, His Reason. That is, this Son, this Word of our
Father, is the Designer of the design that is the wonder
of this created universe. Next time you
marvel at a sunset, or behold a towering and majestic mountain, or stand before
the crashing waves of the sea, give thanks to God the Word. That is His work. That is the Father’s work through
Him. And if ever you consider the
sublime complexities of creation’s mechanics and structure, of some particular
life form, of a living cell, or an atom… that is the fingerprint of the Word,
the Son. He created the world
(Heb. 1:2). And He upholds the
universe by the Word of His power (v. 3).
God’s Speaking Forth (again, the Son) holds everything
together. And He reveals the Father. “He is the radiance of the glory of God
and the exact imprint of his nature” (v. 3). If you know the Son, you know the Father. “Lord, show us the Father, and it is
enough for us” (John 14:8). “Have
I been with you so long, and you still do not know me…? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”
(v. 9). And so, He is the Light. He shines the radiance of God wherever
the darkness overtakes us. Upon our
sins, to eradicate them. Upon the
demons, so that they flee. Upon the
grave, so it must give us up. Into every
fallen corner of creation. “Far as the
curse is found,” as we sing (LSB 387:3).
He is the Light of men, the Light the Spirit turns on for us, and
therefore our true Life (John 1:4). And
that “light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not,” and cannot,
“overcome it” (v. 5). The Word,
God, the Son of God.
Became flesh. That is our Lord’s human nature. The Incarnation, a God with body and
blood. That is the miracle of
Christmas. Or, actually, nine months
before that, at the Annunciation, when our Lord was conceived in the
womb of Mary (cf. Luke 1:26-38). But
Christmas is His birth. And don’t let
the familiarity of that stifle your wonder.
The birth of a baby is always precious, and wondrous. We heard the story of this birth again
last night, and knelt with shepherds and beasts before the bundle of joy in the
feeding trough. This birth,
though, is different than other births.
More precious. More
wonderful. I’m sure, as they held Him,
like other parents, Mary and Joseph counted… ten fingers, ten toes. His tiny
hands and beautiful little feet. But
these have a purpose infinitely beyond your average newborn’s. Or any newborn’s. Those little hands will grow to clasp
piercing nail and wood. Those
beautiful feet, to be marred by serpent’s fang and iron spike. How about that sacred little head? Formed to sweat drops of blood in a garden,
and be crowned with thorns. Thorns and
thistles. That was the curse in another
Garden, was it not (Gen. 3:18)? And, “By
the sweat of your face you shall eat bread” (v. 19). Well, by the sweat of His face, we
shall eat the Bread of Life.
Imagine the holy parents, tracing
the spine of their newborn Babe, not knowing… not even beginning to
imagine… that this back is given to be torn by whip and scourge. His mother listening to the beat of His tiny
heart, blissfully unaware that that heart will be stilled by the
fire of God’s wrath. That little rib
cage, filling with breath, exhaling with infant coos and cries… to be torn by
Roman spear. So that out pours blood and
water. Making all things new. A New Adam, birthing a New Eve from His riven
side. Filling font and chalice. Sanctifying for Himself, a Bride, the Church. Washing her by water and the Word, the living
water flowing forth from His belly. That
He might present her to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any
such thing… holy, and without blemish (Eph. 5:25-27).
As Mary cradled Him in her arms, she
probably wondered, as mothers do, “Will He ever be married?” Well, we know the answer to that. Yes!
To His people. His redeemed. To us.
The Word became flesh, why?
To dwell among us.
To make His home with us. (In
both His natures, by the way, divine and human. You can’t separate them, now, since His
Incarnation.) As a Bridegroom
with His Bride. To pitch His
tent among us. To Tabernacle
with us. To be, in the fullest
sense of the word, our Immanuel, our God-with-Us. He does it by virtue of His death on the
cross. He was born for that. But not only for that. Not only for death. For life. With us.
For resurrection. Those ten
fingers, ten toes, pulsing with life once again, and on the move for our
salvation. Hands and feet bearing His
wounds as trophies of our redemption.
Crown of thorns exchanged for a crown of glory. His riven side, still birthing and nourishing
children for God. You and me, and all
believers in Christ. He was born for that.
Now, we are often deceived into
thinking we must wait for heaven, or for the resurrection on the Last
Day, to experience His dwelling with us. But then, we’ve been catechized better
than that. You know that every
time you make the sign of the cross, or dip your fingers into the water of the
font… every time you wake up in the morning and remember your Baptism into
Christ… every time you hear the living voice of the Word made flesh in the
proclamation of the Gospel… every time you kneel before this feeding trough to
eat the Bread of Life, and drink His cleansing and healing blood… you know that
that is Christmas! Because that
is the Word, God’s Son, in the flesh born of Mary, dwelling
with you. And so, you see His glory. By faith now, and one day soon,
with your own eyes. Glory as of the
only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). You receive of His fullness, gift upon gift,
grace upon grace upon grace upon grace (v. 16). And you know and see a grace and truth beyond
imagination: Jesus’ Father is your Father. You are His beloved child. God, the only God, who is at the Father’s
side (and that is to say, the Son), has made Him known to you. And so, you know what so many in our
world do not know. All the
rejoicing, and singing, and feasting… all the giving and receiving… all the joy
of this day… comes from this, the Christmas Gospel: The Word became
flesh, and He dwells among us.
Christ is born for you.
Merry Christmas! In the Name of
the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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