Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text this morning is from the Letter to the Hebrews, the first chapter:
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power… “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.”
Thus far the text.
Dear friends in Christ,
Merry Christmas! This day we celebrate the birth of the Savior, who is Jesus Christ. He has come from the highest heavens in order to humble Himself, be born of a virgin, and take on our human flesh that He would win for us salvation from our sins.
For indeed, this One, this Jesus, is the One who has long been prophesied. From the very beginning, God promised this One where He says to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” This offspring of the woman is Jesus the Christ.
And this Christ was to be born of a virgin, as it says in Isaiah 7, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” And so the Lord chose Mary, a virgin teenager, to bear forth the Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, yet bearing human flesh and blood.
And Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem, as was prophesied in Micah 5, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” And so He was born in Bethlehem, that Christmas day.
The Christ would have a messenger appointed before Him to prepare the way of repentance and the forgiveness of sins, as found in Isaiah 40, “A voice cries: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.'” And so came John the Baptizer, preaching out of the wilderness and baptizing people in the River Jordan.
This is the Christ who has been prophesied of for many thousands of years, but now, now the Lord is here. And God the Father need no longer speak to us about a Son who is coming, but rather that He would speak to us through the lips of His very Son, the Son of God who came. And so He does. And what is it that this Lord would speak? For this is what Hebrews tells us, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…” What is it that God the Father speaks through His Son?
None other than that this very infant boy, the little Jesus, would grow to take upon the sins of the world. The Messiah came, certainly, to lead us into all truth. And by this Messiah, we would learn the Law and learn to love the Law. The Law of God is good, and it is eternal. It shall stand forever, just as the Lord stands forever.
However, now, in this sinful and sin-filled world, the Law of God stands to accuse us. The Law was delivered through the prophets of old, just as they prophesied of the Christ. The Law points out that we are sinners. The Law points out that we are sinful. And in fact, and in deed, we are. We are grievous sinners. We are awful people. We are horrible friends and family. Think about it. Is your Christmas today going to go without issue? Is your Christmas today going to be filled with sharing? Is your Christmas today going to be the giving of gifts which are received so joyfully?
Or is your Christmas going to have some arguments? Some family squabbles? Is your Christmas instead going to be filled with a bit of jealousy and strife? Is your Christmas going to be filled with children giving themselves over to their sinful nature, I didn’t want this, I don’t like this, but I wanted something different?
Even if it is not “filled” with these things, won’t they happen? And won’t they happen in every family across the globe even this Christmas day? Of course they will, for all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. And the Law clearly tells us this. The Law tells us that we have broken the Eighth Commandment, not speaking well of our neighbor, our parents, our children, whoever, and instead gossiping and snickering, and just being generally unpleasant regarding them. And the Law tells us that we break the Fourth Commandment, showing us that we have disobeyed our parents, that we haven’t liked getting the good things, whatever they are, that they have given to us. And the Law tells us that we break the Ninth and Tenth Commandments, showing us that we covet exactly what it is our neighbor has instead of us being happy they received it, and helping them to keep it. We wants it, and we wants it now.
This is the Law. The Messiah teaches us this Law. But the Messiah doesn’t stop there. In fact, the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, teaches us that the Law is fulfilled by Him. For this is what God would speak through the mouth of the Messiah; “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” This is the Gospel.
The Gospel is the fulfillment of the Law, not that you can do it, but that this Christ, the One who is born this day in the city of David, is Christ the Lord, the One who would die and be raised on the third day for the forgiveness of our sins. We no longer need obey the Law to win our salvation, for Jesus has done this for us. He has obeyed the Law perfectly. And so we trust in this obedience of Christ, for He has granted it to us. And it continually comes to us both in declaration and proclamation, the preaching of the Word, and it comes to us in Sacrament, the physical means with the Word Christ promised, which bring to us the effect of the Cross, the forgiveness of our sins.
But it does not end there. For indeed, those who trust in this Messiah, those who have their hope in this Messiah, He shall come again, and He is coming, even now, to bring to us everlasting life and to resurrect these fragile, feeble bodies we have today.
The Messiah who is born in Bethlehem this day is the Messiah who died on a hill in Jerusalem is the Messiah who ascended from a hill in Bethany is the Messiah who will return to this earth, ushering in a new heavens and a new earth, a New Jerusalem, a new Kingdom of God, in order that we would live forever with Him in peace and harmony.
For this is what Christmas is all about. It is not about you living in peace and harmony with your neighbors. It’s not about you trying to give more this season. It’s not about you trying to make yourself better. That is the Law, and the Law will not save you. Rather, Christmas is about the Gospel, specifically it is about the mass of Christ, the Christ-mass, the gift that keeps on giving, the gift that He has given us in order to preserve us unto that Last Day when Christ will return and remake all things.
For only Christ can do this thing. Through Him, the foundation of the earth was laid. Through Him, the heavens were formed by His hands. Through Him, He will change them all unto His own glory. Through Him, He shall usher in the unending years in order that we might live with Him forever. When someone has this kind of power, you can trust that He has not only the power to save, but in order to usher in, institute means of grace in order to deliver to you the forgiveness we find upon the cross of Christ.
This day focuses us on the Word of Christ, the speaking of God through the mouth of this One who was born as a child. And so we do. He says, “and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me… This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” This Jesus has given us the mass, the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, His Passover Meal, in order that we might eat His true flesh and drink His true blood so that we might receive the New Covenant from Him.
This covenant is not one where we must work in order to win our salvation. This covenant is where Jesus has worked to win it all for us. He shall be our God, and we shall be His people. And so we are. So we look to this Christ, and we look to His Mass, His Christ-Mass, in order to eat and drink the salvation from our sins, the forgiveness of all we’ve done wrong, will do, are thinking about doing wrong.
We come to this altar in this new covenant and we are forgiven. For this is what the mouth of the Lord has spoken, and this is what He will do. This is what the prophets prophesied for, that the Christ would be our peace as we eat and drink Him to His glory and to our hope in the resurrection to come, when Christ has finally, finally returned to this world in His visible human body. We have this hope now, this Christmas, and may then this Christmas hope guide us ever in the hope that leads to everlasting life with Jesus Christ. For this, we say, Merry Christmas! In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment