The sermon for December 24 was based on Matthew 1:18-25.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

I've noticed a common theme running through the Christmas programs on television. It has to do with the real meaning of Christmas. It seems that amid all the hustle and bustle of this season, or perhaps on account of it, people are forgetting what Christmas is all about. The world is too full of tinselly distractions which pull you away from the real meaning of Christmas. Contrary to what the modern Christmas stories tell you, the real meaning of Christmas is not found in generously giving gifts to everyone you know. The real meaning of Christmas is not being together with family and friends, no matter how pleasant (or unpleasant) such visits may be. You might even find yourself wondering about the true meaning of Christmas. The meaning of Christmas is a mystery, the greatest mystery of all time. It is no wonder that so many Christmas programs miss the point.

In tonight's lesson the greatest mystery unfolds before you. A virgin conceives and bears a Child. God becomes man. Heaven and earth are joined in the person of a little Baby. How can that be? How can a virgin conceive a child and still be a virgin? How can God take on human flesh and still be God? For that matter, how can God take on human flesh and still be a Man? The Incarnation of Jesus Christ is among the greatest mysteries of the faith. Mystery is what you cannot understand. But this mystery is what you confess to be true. This mystery, God incarnate lying in a manger, is what you celebrate tonight.

This mystery is foundational to the teaching of Scripture. It is one which the Christian Church cannot lose without losing the truth. If you lose the mystery of the Incarnation, you lose the real Christ. And if you lose Christ, you lose the forgiveness of your sins, and if you lose the forgiveness of your sins, you lose fellowship with God in heaven. The stakes are that high. You dare not let reason overtake God's Word.

There are times when your reason conflicts with the Word of God. There are times when Scripture teaches things that you cannot comprehend. A virgin bears a child. God becomes a man. God dies on the cross for the sins of the world. Indeed, many times the Bible clashes with human reason. But when that happens, it does not mean that the Bible is unreasonable. No, it means that it is above reason. God's Word far exceeds fallen reason. There are times when reason must be held captive to God's Word. There are times when reason must be ignored, so that you confess the plain truth of the Word.

You might think that, since the Word is so full of mysteries, so full of things hard to understand or impossible to comprehend, you might as well not read or hear or learn what God's Word says. This is not so! On the contrary, precisely because God's Word teaches the mysteries of the faith, you should "not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it." Hearing and learning the Word of God is the only way you will be able to confess the mysteries of the faith. What you do not understand now, God may unfold for you later by the Holy Spirit through His Word. Even what you may never understand, God will cause you to believe and confess as true by the power of His Word.

In this lesson from Matthew 1, God's Word speaks what you cannot understand or comprehend. Yet, you confess the virgin birth of Jesus Christ and all that that birth means. St. Matthew says, "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with Child of the Holy Spirit."

What a mystery this is!-to be found with Child of the Holy Spirit. This is not a symbolic myth. Rather, this is the way of God's salvation. This is God working in a way that neither Mary, nor Joseph, nor you can understand or comprehend. This mystery means that Jesus is God. The Church spells it out like this, "[Jesus is] the only-begotten Son of God, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made."

At that first Christmas, God entered this world. The Babe in the manger is God. Being God, He was able to live the perfect life that the Law demands, for no one else could fulfill the Law. The Law of God demands perfection. You are to love Him with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind; and you are to love your neighbor as yourself. You are to return good for evil and to pray for your enemies. You are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

But who could ever do such things? The perfect Son of God could. And He did, because He is God. He is the perfect One, the sinless One, and the holy One, all by virtue of the fact that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. He is the One who knew no sin, from the manger all the way to the cross.

Everything the Law calls you to do and not to do Jesus Christ has already done perfectly. Because He became man, He did it in your stead, in your place. As St. Matthew quotes Isaiah 7, "Behold, a virgin shall be with Child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel." This means that Jesus is God with us. Jesus is God become man to live in your stead.

Indeed, unto you a Child is born. Unto you a Son is given. This is how God relates to you. "The Word is not in heaven, that you should say, 'who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?'" No, Jesus became a Man. The incarnate Word of God has come to you.

The Incarnation of God is crucial to the faith. For your salvation, God must have become a man. For the curse of the Law is upon men. Adam ate what God had forbidden, and the curse of the Law followed. But "Christ, the second Adam came To bear our sin and woe and shame, To be our life, our light, our way, Our only hope, our only stay." Jesus became a Man to take the wrath of God upon Himself. He came to bear your sin, your woe, and your shame. He came as the Word of God among you. "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us."

Moreover, the Word became flesh and dwells among you now. In this preached Word, Christ the Word now dwells among you with His gifts of grace: forgiveness, hope, purpose, life, and salvation. In the sacraments, Christ the Word now dwells among you. You may not understand or comprehend all the teachings of God's Word, but you have received the Word made flesh in Christ. The God/Man has come into the world. He lived the perfect life, and He did it for you. He did it, as a man, as flesh and blood in your stead. He bears the name Jesus, because He came to save His people, to save you, from your sins.

All this is such a tremendous mystery: that God would love you enough to come to your rescue; that He would be conceived by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and be made man; that He would offer Himself on the cross for your sins; that He would unite you to Himself in Baptism and offer His Body and Blood in the Supper for the strengthening of your faith and the forgiveness of your sins. All these things are mysteries! All these mysteries you confess as true, whether you understand them or not, for God has revealed them to you by His Word. So leave all the hustle and bustle of this season outside. Cast away all the tinselly distractions of this world. Take time on this most holy of nights and ponder the mystery and meaning of Christmas. God became a man for you. Amen.

The Peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Last Updated: 7/15/2008