The Nativity of Our Lord

Jesse Jacobsen

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Time-stamp: <Sat Dec 24 21:14:41 2005>

In Nomine Iesu

The New Day follows our Morning Star

Lately my various duties and schedules have kept me up late at night, and I've missed the early mornings outdoors, when the sun is just coming over the eastern horizon. But maybe you love mornings as much as I do. The air is crisp, and the world waits in anticipation of a new day. The light streaming across the sky promises that the lingering chill of night will soon be gone. But out in the Western sky above the distant treetops shines a lone, morning star. That bright star began its journey across the sky well after dark the night before. Anyone who recognized it then would know that when that star's journey is done, the sun would be rising and the day dawning. The morning star guarantees the coming of the new day.

Jesus said in Revelation 22:16, “I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” Jesus is the morning star of our salvation. He is the one who brings the day that is to come. He first entered the sky far into the night, in the fullness of time. His journey across the sky was predicted by the prophets, announced by the angels, tracked by the evangelists and explained by the apostles. Now He shines low in the Western sky, and we know that the final day is about to dawn.

So come into His light, gather and hear God's Word concerning Jesus, who is the Word of God in flesh. Receive His light, and receive life. Our theme is this: The New Day follows our Morning Star. The present darkness will be gone, and the glory of our Lord will be revealed.

John 1:1–14



In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became 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.

So that the present darkness will be gone

Remember our first main point this morning: the New Day follows our Morning Star so that the present darkness will be gone. What do I mean by darkness? I don't mean the night time. By darkness, I mean the same thing that John, the writer of our text, means. It's the darkness of death, of sin, of unbelief. The darkness we experience at night or in a closed, dark room is not a bad thing. Ordinary darkness helps us rest and prepare for the next day. But this present spiritual darkness is not the same thing. It destroys. It hurts. It kills.

Where is it? The present darkness fills the world we live in, and is also found within ourselves. Now, it's true that God has placed the desire into every human being to find Him and perhaps even to serve Him. But that desire is not enough to dispel the darkness of death, sin, and unbelief in the heart of man. The desire to find God leads many to live lives that are righteous by our standards. In that sense, there are many good people in the world. But it's not enough, because God's standards are higher. Only pure light is enough. The slightest spiritual darkness is damning.

Our text says, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” Why did the darkness not comprehend it? That's like asking why circles are round. It's in the nature of spiritual darkness not to comprehend the light. It doesn't want to, because it's the opposite of light.

Let's consider an example. You may have heard a lot recently about the name of this day. Some Christians are making a big deal about calling it Christmas instead of just a holiday, or a season, or even “X-mas.” One person simply wanted the true meaning of Christmas to be preserved, so he said, “The meaning is more important than the name you call it.” Christmas is a celebration of Christ. But you know what Christmas meant for this particular person? It meant that we should all commit ourselves to Jesus' most important message: love one another.

That sounded pretty good, up until the last part. To this person, Christ's chief message was “love one another.” Did Jesus teach that? Yes. It was an important part of His teaching, but not His chief teaching. It's so easy to forget — for any one of us to forget — who Jesus Christ really is, and what He really says. That's even more important than knowing what Christmas is. You can think, “what a dummy” about someone who doesn't really know the Gospel, but what about you?

Even you and I can forget the Gospel, when we don't think we need it. Are we doing OK? Do we need any help from God? Are you full of light already, without Jesus? Don't be deceived; you're not. By ourselves, we have just as much darkness within us as anyone else in the world, though we don't usually detect it.

If you've spent time outdoors on a bright day and then walked inside a building, you know that it takes a while to adjust. But eyes do adjust. A dark house eventually seems brighter. In fact, it may seem quite brilliant after a while, but your eyes will have to adjust again when you go out into the sunshine. If you listen to the radio really loud, and then turn it down, it may seem too quiet. But if there are no other noises to compete, the ears adjust and soon you can hear it just fine.

You and I tend to judge our own spiritual health with our worldly senses, and our own sense of right and wrong. If we feel OK, then we must be OK. But that's foolish. We need a standard outside of ourselves, something that doesn't change with our surroundings. Without that, we will not have the true measure of ourselves, because of the spiritual darkness at work within us. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

We need a magic mirror, like the one in Snow White, that always tells the truth. We have such a mirror in God's Word. A familiar teaching of Jesus serves as that mirror: “love one another.” Now hold that mirror up to your own life, and see the reflection. Do you truly love others as yourself? In 1 John 2, we read, “He who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” Do you truly love your neighbor? There is really no gray area between love and hate. This may not be the chief teaching of Jesus, but it reveals the darkness within our own hearts.

All of this can be hard for Christians to take. It's hard for anyone to take. But Jesus said, “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” Today, dear friends, as we celebrate the birth of Christ, we have the light. The Word of God has been born a human being in this dark world. The Morning Star has come, and shines even now into our darkness.

Our text calls the light of Jesus, “the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.” And then, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.” The name Christ means “Anointed.” He was anointed with the Holy Spirit, because the man Jesus is true God. He possesses a divine nature, and according to that nature, Jesus is one with the Father and the Spirit. Why was Jesus anointed this way? Why did the Son of God become a man? To bear our sins. He came to remove our guilt and bring us to heaven.

The light that Jesus brought to earth means that God does not charge our sins against us. It spells the end of the present darkness. Indeed, the new day follows our Morning Star, so that this present darkness will be gone.

So that the glory of our Lord will be revealed

Remember our second main point this morning: the New Day follows our Morning Star, so that the glory of our Lord will be revealed. This is something to look forward to. Now, you might think that Jesus' glory has already been revealed. Our text says, “And the Word became 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.”

The Gospel-writer, John, was speaking for himself and certain others who saw Jesus' glory while they lived on earth. There were not many. To most people Jesus did not appear glorious. If He had, then perhaps more of the Pharisees and Scribes would have believed in Him; maybe even Pilate and Herod would have believed in Him. But for the most part, Jesus appeared in humility, hardly different from any of us. His glory has not been revealed yet, but it will be, at the coming of the New Day.

The little baby in the manger, grasping a piece of hay as He tries to focus His newborn eyes upon His virgin mother — that such a baby is God in flesh is the greatest wonder. It's the greatest wonder. This union of divine and human is what made it possible for God to bear the sins of us all and experience death as a man. It's what made our atonement possible, and God's pronouncement upon us: “not guilty.” Christmas contains the most profound and beneficial mystery of them all, but it wasn't exactly glorious. The Transfiguration of Jesus was definitely glorious, and His second coming will be glorious, but the birth of Jesus — His first coming — was humble.

Jesus didn't come to Earth for His own benefit. He came at the proper time to save you and me. What a joyful, happy thought. We'd say it's too good to be true, except that the message comes from God. The glory of Christ is that He did it all for us. But that's Christmas then. What is Christmas like now? It's a nice break from the normal cycle of work. It's pleasant to spend time with loved ones and to exchange gifts. But Christmas is also a time of despair for many. It's full of stress, even when you're not preparing to move across the country. It's hard for us to focus on the Gospel, isn't it? It's hard to remember that Christmas is really all about God's love for us, because we are the ones that Jesus came to save.

You may be frustrated with the stress of Christmas. Wouldn't it be nice if a holiday like this were truly restful, the way God established the Sabbath Day for the Jews? But our true Sabbath is still coming. Jesus will return, and only then will the New Day, the Holy Day, the true Holiday, begin. So let's remember the true glory of Christ, that He came to save us.

Paul wrote in Romans 8, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Christ's glory is revealed in us, because we are the ones for whom He suffered and died. The life and the light that He brings come to us exactly that way: through His cross. Like the manger scene, His cross doesn't appear glorious. Rather, it shows the fearsome justice of God against all sin. But with Jesus crucified there, the cross shows God's mercy toward the world, because He wasn't dying for any sins of His own. That makes the cross a symbol of surpassing glory and honor, as far as we are concerned, instead of shame and humility.

Jesus was born to die upon His cross. Through Baptism, we are born again to live forever through His cross. As we are connected to His cross through Baptism, then we are also connected to Him in His glory. Baptism is therefore a true birth, in which we are “born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Through Baptism, the old nature of darkness is being put to death, and the new nature of light and life in Christ is rising to live forever. So while the celebration of Jesus' birth is quite a special time, we celebrate the same things also in Baptism. Jesus was born so that we may be born again through water and the Word.

Now, Jesus was born and lived in humility. Our rebirth in Him happens without any external glory that we can point to, and we live our lives in constant struggle against the darkness. In other words, everything we hope for and trust in is invisible. But the day is coming, and is already at the door, when that will be reversed. The age of faith will end, and the New Day of our Lord will begin. Isaiah 40:5 says, “The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

The New Day follows our Morning Star, so that the glory of our Lord will be revealed. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!

This document was translated from LATEX by HEVEA.