The Word Made Flesh - John 1:14 - December 25, 2022

 John 1:14 The Word Made Flesh

Good morning and Merry Christmas!

Turn with me in your Bibles this morning to John chapter one. We are going to set aside our study of Luke’s Gospel for today and look at John’s Gospel instead. We are going to read verses 1-18 which is on page 886 in the pew Bibles but we are really only going to focus on verse 14.

This section from John’s Gospel is his nativity account. He doesn’t include any virgins or shepherds or angels or even mangers in stables. There are no cattle lowing, or little drummer boys, there are no stars shining, nor wise men wandering, but without the truth contained here there is no Christmas.

Let’s look at it together.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Let’s pray.

So how is this a nativity account? Let’s compare it to Matthew chapter one.

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Matthew and Luke both give us the accounts of the arrival of Jesus as a baby born to a virgin in Bethlehem. These are the images on our Christmas cards and the subject of our Christmas carols, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But John gives us the account of the spiritual realities of Jesus birth, that He wasn’t just some random baby that grew up to be a good man and a good teacher, John shows us that He wasn’t just a really special baby that grew up to be a great prophet.

John’s account shows us that Jesus is God.

Paul wrote in Colossians 1:19, For in [Jesus] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell… And again Colossians 2:9, For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily…

Hebrews 1:1-3 says, Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 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. 3 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.

The baby born in Bethlehem was not just some baby, and not even some special baby, the baby born in Bethlehem is God made flesh the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. 

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John calls Jesus the Word, logos, the very expression and content of God’s special revelation of Himself.

And that Word became flesh. Not just, “became a human being,” or, “became a man,” but, “became flesh.” It’s a much more visceral picture that includes all the frailties and weaknesses of our own flesh yet without sin. Flesh is a term that is never flattering in Scripture, it’s always pictured as weak, it’s not a symbol of strength at all. This is further evidence of Christ’s humility.

Paul wrote again in 2 Corinthians 8:9, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

John writes that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The Greek word for “dwelt,” means to tabernacle, to literally pitch your tent, the Word became flesh and pitched His tent among us.

This is how the Lord manifested His presence with Israel as they wandered forty years in the desert, in the Tabernacle, the tent of meeting. He did it in the Old Testament in a literal tent, and in the New Testament in a figurative tent of frail human flesh.

JP Lange wrote, “Faith lifts the veil of Christ’s humanity and worships His divine glory.”

That’s exactly what we are after this morning, to lift the veil of the human baby in the manger and worship the divine Son of God in all His glory.

John says that we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. 

Now there is some debate among the scholars as to whether John meant that he and the other Apostles alone had seen His glory, or if he meant that the whole church had seen His glory. While it’s true that the Apostle John witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration, and he saw Jesus after He had been raised from the dead, I’m left wondering, haven’t you seen the glory of the Lord Jesus?

Haven’t you witnessed answers to prayer, haven’t you witnessed people come to faith in Him? Haven’t you seen with your own eyes Jesus at work in the lives of individuals and churches through the power of His Holy Spirit? I think we all have, at least to some degree.

His glory is the glory of God’s One and Only Son, completely unique, as Hebrews says, the exact imprint of God’s nature. And what is God’s nature like? Full of grace and truth.

Jesus is grace and truth personified. Some people think that we give gifts at Christmas because the wise men gave gifts to Jesus, but I think we give gifts at Christmas because we have been given the gift OF Jesus. That’s exactly what the word “grace” means, it means, “gift.”

John Calvin called Jesus, “An inexhaustible fountain of grace and truth.” What a beautiful picture!

Warren Wiersbe wrote, “The Law could reveal sin, but it could never remove sin. Jesus Christ came with fullness of grace and truth, and this fullness is available to all who will trust in Him.”

Jesus, in His fullness is the gift that is available for us this Christmas, when we give our lives to Him by faith, He gives us so much more in return, He gives us Himself, an inexhaustible fountain of grace and truth.

Amen.

Two Sons and Sweet Providence - Luke 7:11-17 - December 18, 2022

 Luke 7:11-17 Two Sons and Sweet Providence

Good morning! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter seven and verse eleven. We are going to look at verses 11-17 this morning and that’s on page 863 in the pew Bibles.

This is a pretty dramatic scene that we are going to observe here in Luke’s Gospel this morning. It takes place in a little hamlet called Nain, a word which means, lovely. This tiny village was just south of Nazareth on the border of Samaria, made up of just a few families, one of which has just lost a son.

Warren Wiesbe pointed out the dichotomy of this account with its two crowds, with two different destinations, two sons, and two enemies. We’ll also catch a glimpse of Jesus’ compassion, His power, and His providence. Let’s look at the text together.

You’ll remember from last week Jesus had just healed the Centurion’s servant in Capernaum and now here we are twenty-five or so miles south of Capernaum just outside of Nain.

11 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Let’s pray.

So the first thing we notice in this account is the two crowds heading in two different directions. Jesus was being followed by a great crowd that included His disciples as well as all kinds of other people and they were headed to the city.

The second crowd was with a widow, a considerable crowd from the town, in a funeral procession headed toward the cemetery. The funeral was for the only son of the widow, a young man, not still a child but not yet of marrying age.

It doesn’t take a lot of head scratching here to see some spiritual symbolism at work in these two crowds and their intended destinations.

One crowd, the one without Jesus in it, is headed for the cemetery, they are surrounded by the sting of death and grief, and are literally headed to the grave.

The other crowd, the one with Jesus leading it, is headed for the city, a place literally called, “lovely.” This crowd was rejoicing at God’s blessing, the recent healing of the Centurion’s servant, and the presence and teaching of Jesus.

Wiersbe said, “Spiritually speaking, each of us is in one of these two crowds. If you have trusted Christ, you are going to the city. If you are ‘dead in sin,’ you are already in the cemetery and under the condemnation of God. You need to trust Jesus Christ and be raised from the dead.”

So there we have two crowds and their two destinations, one representing life and salvation through faith in Jesus and the other representing the death and condemnation that result from rejecting Jesus.

And in those crowds we have two sons, two only sons, one dead, the only son of his mother who was also a widow. Though she was now surrounded by this crowd she was most likely on her way to a life of destitution and poverty with no family to help and care for her.

The other Son, the Author of life, according to Acts 3:15, the only begotten Son of His Father, completely unique, God who put on flesh and was born in that stable in Bethlehem and walked among us. God with us, Immanuel.

The first son was dead but was actually bound for life even though he would eventually die again, while the second was alive but actually bound for death even though he would be raised from the dead never to see death again!

The two sons represent two enemies, life and death.

Just this week several families here are grieving the loss of loved ones. Do you ever wonder why we weep when people die? It is because death is an enemy that separates us from those we love even if only temporary as is the case with believers.

1 Corinthians 15:26 calls death the last enemy to be destroyed, but it will be destroyed by Jesus at His Second Coming.

And in this dichotomy of two crowds with two destinations, and two sons, and two enemies, we have on display the compassion, the power and the providence of the Lord Jesus.

13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”

Here we can see the love the Lord has for people, that’s what compassion really is, an expression of love for the suffering. But Jesus’ compassion for this grieving widow who had lost her only son didn’t end with words.

I often struggle with this. When talking with someone who has experienced a loss like this I want to be able to say just the right word to make the pain stop, to truly comfort those who are grieving. I want to say that everything is going to be alright, as if it really will be, but it’s a lie… 

And if Jesus had stopped with just saying to her, “Do not weep,” His expression of compassion would be just as empty. But Jesus is not just talk.

13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

Jesus’ compassion is accompanied by His power. Jesus has power over death. Jesus is not just compassionate but He is the compassionate life giver.

Here we can see the symbol of spiritual restoration, the young man was dead and bound for the grave until Jesus intervened and brought him back to life.

John Calvin wrote, “By touching the coffin he intended perhaps to show, that he would by no means shrink from death and the grave, in order to obtain life for us. He not only deigns to touch us with his hand, in order to quicken us when we are dead, but, in order that he might raise us to heaven,  he himself descends into the grave.”

Jesus’ compassion for the suffering and power over death were on full display in this scene, but the fact that this scene happens at all is evidence of His providence.

JJ vanOosterzee wrote, “The time of the death and the burial of the young man – the road taken by the funeral train – the meeting with the Lord directly at the decisive moment – nothing of all this is casual here. Time, place, and circumstances, all are ordered to reach a glorious goal; comfort to the afflicted; glory for the Lord; revelation of the quickening power of God.”

If you’re wondering if I’m saying that the death of this young man, the grief and loss felt by his mother, the feeling of desperation and loss of hope for her had some purpose, the answer is yes.

Comfort for the afflicted, glory for the Lord Jesus, and the revelation of the life giving power of God, that was the purpose. Not only that but people have been able to read this account for hundreds of years and have been able to see a little bit more of what God is really like and perhaps put their trust in Jesus. 

This is all part of the plan. This is God’s providence. So maybe the things in your life aren’t as out of control as they seem.

Jesus said in John 5:24-29, “24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. 

25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. 

The dead man heard the voice of the Son of God and lived, may all those who are spiritually dead hear His word and believe the One who sent Him and so have eternal life in Him.

Amen.

Humility and Faith - Luke 7:1-10 - December 11, 2022

 Luke 7:1-10 Humility and Faith

Good morning! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 7. This morning we are going to look at verses 1-10, that’s on page 863 in the pew Bibles.

We missed you very much last Sunday but Sam and I successfully completed our Outdoor Emergency Care Technician training and we start work on the Ski Patrol at King Pine this afternoon. Thank you very much for your prayers, they were needed and felt all along the way.

As we turn our attention to the Gospel of Luke I want us all to keep in mind one simple phrase. It’s from both James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5, a quote from the Septuagint, which is the Greek version of the Old Testament, from Proverbs 3:34: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

What we are about to examine is an actual account of this principle at work in the ministry of Jesus is Galilee. Luke 7:1-10.

After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. 3 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” 6 And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9 When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

Let’s pray.

It’s not lost on me that it’s Christmas time. It seems every year I have to explain why I don’t like Christmas but if I give my reasons a spiritual spin I usually get away with it.

Busyness, and pressure, and noise aside, there is a reason that this season is troubling to me that is evident in our text this morning. Though God, in His grace, gave us Christmas by being born in humble human likeness, to humble parents, in the most humble way and place possible, culture has turned Christmas into a celebration of pride. Even Charlie brown’s Christmas pointed that out years ago that Christmas had gone commercial, everything showy and flashy, it’s nonsense!

Here in our text for this morning we can see the exact opposite at work in the life of the Centurion in Capernaum.

Now Jesus had been in Capernaum before, half of the Apostles were from Capernaum so it’s no surprise that when He returned there everybody in town heard about it. It wasn’t a big place after all.

One of the people that heard He was back was the Centurion. A Centurion, as the name suggests for you Latin scholars, was the commander of a company of a hundred soldiers. This was a person of influence in Capernaum for sure. But what else do we know about centurions? 

They’re Romans, those soldiers that they commanded were Roman soldiers, which tended to make them not friends of the Jewish people, after all, they were an occupying army in Israel.

And because they’re Romans they are also Gentiles. A Gentile is anyone who is not Jewish, anybody who is not descended from Abraham. I am not Jewish, I am Welsh, which makes me a Gentile. For the Jews at the time Gentiles were unclean and the Jewish people were forbidden from even sharing a cup or plate that had been touched by a Gentile. Entering the home of a Gentile would make them unclean so needless to say, they didn’t hang out together.

But this particular Roman Centurion had a more friendly approach. He showed his love for the Jewish people by building them a synagogue and had good relations with them. This wasn’t a mark of his office but of his character. Centurions had to be a certain kind of person, reliable, steadfast, and steady. They needed to be able to stand their ground even to the point of death, but that didn’t mean that they were required to be nice to anybody. This particular Centurion however was.

In verse two we learn that the Centurion had a servant who was very sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him.

This also speaks to the character of the Centurion. Servants in Rome were not employees they were slaves. As slaves they were legally treated as property with no rights of their own. It was recommended that when farm implements got old or broken they should be replaced and the same was true about slaves according to one historian.

But this Centurion didn’t see his servant this way, Luke says that he highly valued him. And when he got sick the Centurion looked for a solution. It just so happened that Jesus was in town again.

Verses three through five also show us that the Centurion was a person of influence, not just because of his station but because of his character.

3 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.”

The elders of the Jews in Capernaum were not coerced into saying these things. The Centurion had been good to them and their village and they wanted to return the favor and Jesus had the power to do so. 

For the elders to say that he is worthy to have Jesus heal his servant was a big deal, these were not the words of the oppressed but of friends. Either way, Jesus agreed and started towards the Centurion’s house when He was greeted by another envoy.

6 And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

So the Centurion starts by sending his kind of outer circle to Jesus. “Jesus is Jewish so I‘ll send the Jewish elders with a formal request.” But now he sends his friends to Jesus saying that he was unworthy to have Jesus in his house. He also recognized Jesus’ authority as he would have known that Jesus cast out demons in Capernaum before and had healed other people there as well.

To be clear, the Centurion is not claiming authority over Jesus, he is recognizing the authority OF Jesus, that He has the power to say the word and things will happen, just say the word and my servant will be healed.

And how does Jesus respond? He marvels!

9 When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

This is only one of two places that New Testament records Jesus marveling, the other is when He marveled at the lack of faith of the people when He was rejected in Nazareth in Mark 6:6.

Now we can clearly see that Jesus has the power to heal, He has the power to work at a distance, He shows compassion on the Centurion and his servant, and he is worthy of our praise for those things.

There are some things about the Centurion that I think we can all learn from.

First, the Centurion had two options when his servant fell ill, pride and humility.

If the Centurion chose pride things would have gone very differently. He could have sent soldiers instead of friends and commanded Jesus to come and heal his servant on pain of death. Or, he could have tossed out the sick and dying slave like a broken farm implement and gone out and bought a new one. He could have blamed the God of the Jews for the sickness and impending death of his servant. Any number of things could have been different if the Centurion responded to this difficulty with pride.

But instead he responded in humility. The elders of the Jews were willing to seek out Jesus for him because of his love for them and their nation. His friends were willing to go to Jesus because they loved the Centurion and most likely loved his highly valued servant. Love only grows in the soil of humility.

Johann Heinrich Majus (1653-1719) said, “The better a man knows God and himself, the humbler he will be.”

The Centurion knew the reality that he was unworthy to have Christ in his home, he was unworthy to even go speak to Him in person but he had the faith that Jesus could do for his servant what he was asking and so did his friends that sought Jesus on his behalf.

This is exactly how we all should come to Jesus. As Alistair Begg put it, “When we come to Christ we come face down.”

The Centurion came to Christ in humility, in faith, even without full understanding. The Centurion knew that the power of God was in Jesus though he may not have understood that Christ Jesus is God manifested in the flesh.

His friends came in faith on behalf of their friend, bearing his burdens to Christ, an act we now call “prayer.”

In Matthew’s record of this event in his Gospel in chapter 8 verse 13, Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

John Calvin wrote, “Hence it is evident how graciously Christ pours out His grace when He finds the vessel of faith open. Though he addresses these words to the Centurion, there can be no doubt that, in His person, he invites us all to strong hope. Hence we are also taught the reason why God is, for the most part, so limited in His communications to us: it is because our unbelief does not permit Him to be liberal. If we open up the entrance to Him by faith, He will listen to our wishes and prayers.”

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Amen.