Pastor Tim Patoka
Good News of Great Joy
December 25, 2023
God Became Man John 1:1-18 Everybody likes to hear of Christmas miracles, of times when somebody in need receives a stroke of good luck so they can celebrate along with everyone else. There are entire movies based on this concept in never-ending supply. But if possible, we prefer to hear about Christmas miracles that really happened. Heading into Christmas of 1917, the family of World War I service member, Archie Clikeman, didn’t have plans to celebrate that year. That’s because Archie was missing in action and presumed dead. The family’s Christmas celebrations were going to be cancelled until a nosy postmaster in rural Parker, South Dakota read through the Christmas postcards waiting to be sent out. The postmaster saw that Archie had sent a Christmas postcard from a prisoner of war camp, proving he was alive and likely to come home soon. Knowing what good news this would be, the postmaster made a special delivery to Archie’s family so they could be filled with great joy. And with that Christmas miracle, Archie’s joyfully celebrated Christmas that year. As joyful as that good news was, we have a better message of good news that brings us great joy: how God became man at that that first Christmas. Last night, we heard how Jesus was born. This morning, we learn of its significance from John chapter one spells it out for us. When Jesus was born, he became both true man and true God so he could redeem from our sins and give us the right to become children of God who became man for us. Before Jesus was born on Christmas, he was already true God. John shows this in a number of ways. He calls him the Word, a philosophical term used among Greek and Jewish thinkers for 400-plus years to describe the rational, divine intelligence that binds all things together and governs over all. When John identifies Jesus as the Word, he puts a face on that link between God and us. John also shows that Jesus was already true God by calling him so and describing how Jesus was active in the creation of our universe. It’s because Jesus already existed that John the Baptist could say Jesus was around before him even though Jesus was born six months later. When that first Christmas came, Jesus went from being just God to now both God and man. John describes this happening by simply saying, “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14 EHV). We can also phrase it in today’s good news from the angels that brings us great joy: God became man. In becoming human, Jesus now 1
Pastor Tim Patoka
Good News of Great Joy
December 25, 2023
has flesh and blood like us and matured liked us: starting off as a cute, tiny infant who could fit in an animal’s feeding through, growing in wisdom and stature as boy and teenager, and reaching full maturity as an adult before his prophesied death on the cross. He continues to be this true man now that he’s risen from the dead! But before he made a name for himself, Jesus looked no different than your typical, first-century Jewish man. That’s why he needed someone like John the Baptist to point people to him and tell them to listen to him. As Christians, we confess our faith that Jesus is both true man and true God ever since God became man on that first Christmas. But that’s not what those lost in sin’s darkness say. John is correct to compare the difference between Jesus and sin as light and darkness. Jesus is the light of life that shows God’s solution for our sins and how we get to heaven. Sin is the darkness that keeps us lost and stumbling until we fall into everlasting judgment. Those who are lost in sin’s darkness do not recognize or accept Jesus. They don’t recognize him as true God and true man or accept him as their Promised Savior from sin. In fact, when push comes to shove, they go so far as to actively reject him and war against him! And Jesus’ birth on Christmas, when God became man, is just one area in society where we see the darkness of sin clash against the light of Jesus. It’s a clash we find within ourselves, even we who have gathered today to celebrate Jesus’ birth when God became man. Our rational minds wonder, “how can Jesus be true God?” There’s no way you can exist before you’re conceived or born. Life begins at conception, not before! To say that Jesus not only existed before but is God himself and participated in creation? Impossible! No living person is comparable to God in any way! Or our minds wonder the other question, “how can Jesus be true man?” God is present every and greater than all. No human body can match that criteria or contain God. To say that God became man is like trying to fit all the world’s water into a single glass. It can’t be done! So, neither can Jesus be true man. Instead, he must have a different kind of body than ours that isn’t really like ours. In other words, he must not be true man. Perhaps this clash between sin’s darkness and Jesus’ light isn’t found in your mind but in your heart. What is that most brings you joy at this time? Is it your relaxed schedule or time off from work and school? Is it your beloved traditions with friends and family? Is it your improved standard of living because of all the toys 2
Pastor Tim Patoka
Good News of Great Joy
December 25, 2023
and gifts you now have? Is it your annual celebration of Jesus’ birth, when God became man, to save you from your sins? Maybe it’s helpful for you to investigate your heart’s joy in this way. If you were to remove all your celebrations over Jesus’ birth, how different would your next schedule look? It is addition by subtraction? Or would it put a damper on everything? Not even we who gather for worship on Christmas Day can avoid the clash between the darkness of our sinful nature and the light of Jesus who was born to us. Our hearts and minds do not find our greatest joy from the angels’ good news that God became man. Thankfully, our Lord shines away our darkness so that we can confidently rejoice in the truth that Jesus is both true man and true God. As God, Jesus has no beginning because he has always been around. He was with God and participated in the creation of all things. That means he existed long before the first prophecy of Christmas was ever given or God became man on Christmas. When the set time had fully come, “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14 EHV). And so, Jesus continued to exist but now as true God and true man who looked like your typical, first-century Jewish man. We’re also confident that Jesus is true man and remains so today. God is not bound by the laws of science like we are. He is all-powerful and can break them when and where he wishes. Plus, our Lord is not like water that has a fixed, unchangeable physical presence. He’s different! That’s why Colossians chapter 2(:9) can tell us, “For all the fullness of God’s being dwells bodily in Christ” (EHV). That’s not done by changing Jesus’ body so it’s different than ours. He’s true man and true God without mixing the two or separating the two. This truth of Jesus born as true man and true God is our greatest joy at Christmastime. John briefly describes why in this prologue to his entire Gospel. But our Second Reading gets to the point. As true man, Jesus was born under the law that also demands perfection from us. If someone is perfect, eternal life is theirs! If someone isn’t, then they deserve eternal punishment. As true man, Jesus is like us in that he was under the law and expected to fulfill its every demand. As true God, Jesus did what we cannot: he kept this law perfectly and earned its reward of eternal life. But he didn’t keep this for himself. Rather, he made himself our substitute by taking our place under the law and receiving the punishment that should have been ours by dying on the cross. Then he exchanged our sins for his righteousness so 3
Pastor Tim Patoka
Good News of Great Joy
December 25, 2023
that we receive the law’s reward of eternal life. If Jesus were not true man and true God, he could not have done any of this. But because he is, this is most certainly true. And it all stems from the angels’ good news for today: how God became man to redeem you and me. Because of that, we get to call ourselves children of God. Listen to how John describes this happening to us. “The real light that shines on everyone was coming into the world….to all who did receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. They were born, not of blood, or of the desire of the flesh, or of a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:9, 12-13 EHV). By God’s grace, we are born of him so we may recognize and rejoice in who was born on Christmas: our Promised Savior, Jesus Christ, true God and true man. Through faith in him as such, we receive that righteousness and eternal life which is only possible because God became man. As you continue your Christmas celebrations, be filled with great joy over the angels’ good news: God became man to redeem you and make you his child through faith. When you look in the manger, recognize who is there: Jesus Christ, your Promised Savior, who is true man and true God. As true man, he took our place under the law. As true God, he kept it in our place. Because he is both true man and true God, righteousness, salvation, and eternal life is now ours through faith. And where does it all start? Right here on Christmas when God became man. Amen.
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