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Christmas Day
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Scripture citation(s): Hebrews 1:1-12; John 1:1-14
A Sermon by
Fr. Mead
on
Hebrews 1:1-12; John 1:1-14
✛
The Threefold Birth of the Son
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In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Welcome to you this happy morning! It is exciting to see you all here. Dear Lord Jesus, 2012 years on and ever stronger, Happy Birthday!
Saint Luke, whose Gospel we heard at the midnight Mass, tells the Christmas story from the Virgin Mary’s, the Blessed Mother’s perspective. Saint Matthew tells the same story from the standpoint of Saint Joseph’s, the father and guardian’s perspective. But Saint John the Evangelist, the Beloved Disciple, likely a maternal cousin and the closest of all the twelve apostles to Jesus, paradoxically tells the story, which we just heard, from the perspective of God from all eternity. [1]
Saint John summarizes it all in one profound, sweeping phrase: “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.” Jesus Christ is the incarnation, the self-disclosure, of God the Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, addressing us where we live, going all the way from the stable in Bethlehem to the cross on Calvary.
Compressed into Saint John’s confession that Jesus Christ is the Father’s Word made flesh, God incarnate, born in Bethlehem, are two other births of the Son of God.
There is a birth beyond time. [Language is inadequate to the mystery, but it’s all we have.] The Gospel says that in the beginning, before time or creation, the Mind of God perfectly and eternally expressed itself in the Word which was with God and which was God. God does not change; God always has a Mind, a Word, and a Spirit. Or put another way, using Jesus’ words, God has always been a Father because he has always had a Son and they are bound together by the Holy Spirit Whom Jesus has sent down to his people. The Father eternally begets his co-equal and co-eternal Son, and the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from them. This is Good News: God is eternally self-giving; God is One in Three Persons, a Holy Trinity.
There is also the birth of Christ in the hearts of his people: “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” We are here this happy morning: we believe on his name. We have been added to the family of Jesus’ followers, made members of his Body the Church, not by blood, not by fleshly descent, not even by human will, but by God’s gift. God has no grandchildren; only children. Whatever human factors there may be in my presence here (and there are many), I am here because I have been touched by God, invited. God uses all means to save us.
Jesus told a religious leader, Nicodemus, that unless one is born this way, born again in the sense of an awakening of the spirit from above, one cannot see the kingdom of God. Moving further along, Jesus said this new birth leads to an entry into the kingdom of God by water and the spirit – it is the movement of faith into Holy Baptism. And then the child, whether he or she is young, middle aged or old, receives what Jesus has given us through his sacrifice. The manger leads to the cross; and we receive the Body and Blood of our Lord in Holy Communion. The very word, Christmas, indicates this: it means the Christ-Mass.
So whether you are blessed in never knowing a time when you did not believe in God and love the Lord Jesus, or if you are more like old Ebenezer Scrooge who was born again one Christmas not a moment too soon, welcome. Draw near with faith. Receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ who died for you. Eat and drink; feed on him in your heart by faith with thanksgiving. This food preserves your body and soul unto everlasting life.
There are thus three births of the Son of God: 1) from all eternity, 2) in human history, and 3) in the hearts of his people. [2] Today we celebrate this threefold birth of Jesus Christ The Son who is eternally begotten of his Father before all worlds, was conceived by the Holy Spirit in Nazareth, in faithful Mary’s body, and born in Bethlehem. He died on Calvary and was raised by God from the tomb on the third day. He lives and reigns as Christendom, moved by the Holy Spirit, celebrates Christ’s Nativity age after age. And most personally Christ desires to come to each of us and to abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel, God with us.
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.
[1] William Temple, Readings in St. John’s Gospel, p. 367; B.F. Westcott, The Gospel According to St. John, pp. 275-276. F.F. Bruce, The Gospel and Epistles of John, pp. 370-372. If the evidence of all four Gospels is taken and connected, these classic commentaries, upholding ancient tradition, say that the sister of Mary the mother of Jesus is Salome, mother of James and John the sons of Zebedee. This explains why at the cross Jesus entrusted his mother to the Beloved Disciple’s care. (Jn. 19:26-27) By this traditional reckoning the brothers and sisters of Jesus were either stepsiblings on Joseph’s side from earlier marriage (the tradition that Joseph was older) or cousins, “brothers and sisters” in the broader sense frequently referenced in Scripture. And these brothers and sisters apparently did not become Jesus’ disciples until after his death and resurrection.; whereas John was with Mary at the cross.
[2] This idea was first clarified for me in a “Parochial Sermon” for Christmastide by John Keble. He begins with this declaration.
