John 1:1-18 “More Than Just a Story”
We have heard that wonderful old story again. We have heard about the angel coming to Mary and telling her that she was going to bypass the natural way to pregnancy and give birth to a Son. That’s rather hard to believe, isn’t it? We heard about how when Joseph who was engaged to Mary, found out that she was pregnant, responded with a normal human reaction of wanting to call the wedding off. But, then an angel came to him in a dream and told him to marry Mary. That’s a bit weird, isn’t it? Then, they went off to Bethlehem to register for a census and the baby boy was born in a stable not in a clean birthing room. That’s unusual, isn’t it?
But even more unusual was that the angels were at work again and announced the birth of this baby to some shepherds who were watching their flocks by night. They tore off into Bethlehem to discover that what the angels had said was all true. Then, to top it all off, three wise men, three astrologers, well, there may have been more, after following a special star arrived on the scene. But really, it probably wasn’t the night Jesus was born, more like 18 months later. But, why let a small detail like that get in the road of a good story.
Yes, it is wonderful to hear again the Christmas story. It is wonderful to watch the Christmas movies about the birth of Christ on TV or YouTube, whether they be real or animated. It’s always so wonderful how clean that stable is, how soft that hay looks, how those animals all have a twinkle in their eyes when they look at the baby Jesus.
It’s such a wonderful story. It happened about 2,000 years ago. It
is history. On face value, it sounds more like a fairy story, belonging to the realms of fantasy with angels, a virgin birth and wise men following a star in the sky. It’s all pretty hard to believe. But, for one day of the year, it is believable for us. We love to hear that old, old story that Jesus Christ is born and then after we hear it, confine it back to the realms of history until we fish it out again next year when the world uses it as foundational for another commercial enterprise. Is that all the Christmas story is?
What does this Christmas story of Mary and Joseph, the angels, the shepherds, the wise men, the stable and the baby Jesus really mean? This is where we need to turn our attention to the beginning of the Gospel of John that we have just heard. Because, it is in these 18 verses that we discover what this story of the birth of Jesus is all about. These verses tell us that the Christmas story is more than just a story that belongs to the realm of history, that belongs to one day of the year, but is the story that gives real meaning, identity and purpose to everyday of every year of our lives.
Why is this? “It is because of what we read in vs. 14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Now, these first 18 verses of John Ch.1 are a “Christ hymn.” It is poetic, even lyrical speech. It begins with the words, “In the beginning.” Any good Jew who would have heard these words, would have understood that here is an echo of Genesis 1: 1, where, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” He created the heavens and the earth by speaking. He said, “Let there be....” light, land, night, day, animals and stars and they came into being.
The Word was the creative power of God to bring all of creation into being. By using these verses of this Christ hymn as one of the main gospels for the liturgical season of Christmas each year, the Church throughout history has said, “These verses explain the baby in the manger.” That is, who he is and why he came.
The first thing we discover about this baby in the manger is that he is the Word, the creative power of God; the One through whom God created the world. This baby is the eternal One. He existed before anything else and called everything else into being. It was through him that this world came into being. Creation didn’t stop there after its beginning. God continues to create. Creation is an ongoing event. Yes, He created all the big ticket items like the stars and the sun, the moon and the stars, night and day, land and sea, the animals and humanity. But, he didn’t stop there. He didn’t just retreat into the outer reaches of the universe to let it slowly wind down. He always stayed passionately involved with his creation and has always been at its centre. His coming as creation, as a human being, demonstrates this to us. In doing so, Jesus validates, rubber stamps, the uniqueness of our creation as people in the image of God.
For the Jew, the Word spoken at creation was also the Word that had been read and preached, that is, spoken, in Israel ever since the time of Moses, ever since God spoke to Moses on the top of Mt. Sinai and the law was given. John writes, “The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” In saying this, John is not saying that the law is less than grace. But rather, that both law and grace are God’s life-giving, world-changing speech. It is in the Word becoming flesh that we get to see the revelation of the mysterious God who hid in the clouds and the storm on Mt Sinai when He gave the law to Moses. In this revelation, we discover that this awesome, even fearsome God is the God of grace and truth.
“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. “ So we see that this Word is not only a creative Word, it is a revelatory Word in that by Him, Jesus, we come to know exactly what the Creator God is like. That the Word should become flesh is the mystery that lies at the heart of the Christian faith. It is a mystery that the other two great Abrahamic religions, Judaism and Islam baulk at; that the one true and living God should pour out his very self, that the playwright should come on stage and take the leading part because nobody else can play it.
In Jesus, we see God. In, Jesus, we come to know what God is like. He is the only One who could show us. John writes in vs. 14, “we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” And in vs. 18, “No one has seen God at anytime. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He declared Him.” Jesus is God’s conversation with us about Himself. No one has ever seen God. But, in Jesus, we see Him because he is there before us clothed in flesh. As God’s only begotten Son, he declares Him to us- full of grace and truth.
People think many things about God. Some think of him as a watchmaker who made the earth and left it all to wind down. Some think of him as a policeman waiting to jump on you if you break the law. Others think of him as a doddering, old man who turns a blind eye to every misdemeanour his kids do and so I could go on. But, in Jesus, we meet him as the One full of grace and truth for Jesus reveals to us God’s glory, who God is in him.
So, what is grace and truth? Grace is compassion for people. Grace is being better to people than what their actions deserve. It’s trying to understand their struggles, caring for their needs, and relieving them of their burdens. We see this grace in the ministry of Jesus over and over again. The ultimate expression of this grace was when He died on the cross for us for the forgiveness of our sins.
Jesus also came with a passion for the truth. He spoke the words to people that they needed to hear even if they did not want to hear them. He was faithful to his principles even when doing so angered the authorities. He refused to compromise his message even when he knew he would lose followers as a result, even when he suspected that if he continued to proclaim the message that he did, it would cost him his life on the cross. Jesus was committed to grace and truth. He lived them both in perfect balance. He lived a “both-and” life, not an “either-or” life.
Now, there is more to this what we call, “incarnation,” Word becoming flesh, God becoming human, than meets the eye. Because Christmas is more than just God becoming flesh in Jesus, it is about God becoming flesh in us, you and me. Part of the whole point of John’s gospel is that when the Word become flesh accomplishes his work of glory, love and passion, he pours out his Spirit on his own followers so that they too can become Word-become-flesh. John 1:12, 13 says, “But as many received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Through this incarnated one, we too can become children of God, born not in any human way, but by the new birth from God as John writes in Ch 3:5, “of water and the Spirit,” of which the Church has interpreted over the last two millennia as being the sacrament of baptism.
In vs. 16, John writes, “And of his fullness, we have received grace upon grace.” Through Christ, God had poured himself out for us and into us. By his Holy Spirit, he has given us “grace upon grace.” By that, John means that we have every grace that we need to live the Christian life, that we have every grace to live a life “full of grace and truth.” A life that is like Christ’s life- a light that shines in the darkness.
In this world, there is much darkness. It is found in many places. For now, I would like to just focus briefly on one place- the media. This is because we are thinking about Christmas as being more than a story and it is the media that stories us more than any other influence on our lives. Much of what is pedalled in the media opposes the will of God as revealed to us in the Word of God, the Bible. Have you ever noticed the difference in the way the media covers liberals versus conservatives? When it comes to left-wing social policies and biases, the media functions more as advocates than reporters. The media by and large is pro-abortion, pro-euthanasia, pro-gay rights and pro-Palestinian. Those with any other points of view are branded as misogynistic, homophobic, antiquated, judgmental and hard-hearted. Now, there are some Christian individuals, Churches and denominations who have not endeared themselves in their opposition to those stances that are against God’s Word. This is because they have forgotten about grace and only spoken truth. In these sensitive issues, Christians need to speak with “grace and truth” in balance. It is not always easy. But, the world needs that story. The world needs our light to shine. God needs us to incarnate his life into the world, by grace and truth.
This is why worship is important for us as bearers of the Christ-light. Many, many stories confront us every day, when we turn on the radio, the TV, boot up the computer, buy a magazine or newspaper. Stories that if we are not careful can derail us from our calling to be “Word become flesh” in the world.
In order to keep our heads above water in this world, we need to worship regularly: to hear God’s story, to enact the liturgical story and to receive the meal that arises from Jesus birth in that in bread and wine, in earthly, fleshy, things we can say “This is my body. This is my blood, given for you.”
Christmas, the Word become flesh and living among us full of grace and truth, is not just a story about some hard-to-believe events that did happen 2,000 years ago, it’s a story that is as fresh as today. Because, Christmas isn’t a spectator sport, it’s a story about us. It’s more than just the meaning of Jesus life, the birth of this baby in a manger, it’s the meaning of our lives. It’s more than finding out who Jesus is, it’s finding out who we are. It’s more than finding out what He did, it’s about finding out what we are to do. Christmas gives our lives meaning, identity and purpose everyday that we live. Christmas is indeed, more than just a story. Amen.