The deeper meaning of Christmas

13 December 2009

John 1:1-14

In a real sense, it can be said that Christmas has become a shallow season, marked out by …

A frenzied sense of consumerism.
A flippant expression in our Christmas celebrations, which discounts depth.
An unhelpful concentration upon the immediate … at the expense of the eternal.

For these reasons, I would like to turn your attention to the fourth gospel, which does not have what we know as ‘Infancy Stories’ and yet does include perhaps the most profound commentary on the meaning and purpose of the coming of Jesus Christ. I want to talk about ‘the deeper meaning of Christmas’.

The Gospel of John was almost certainly the last of the gospels to be written. The gospel was penned at a time when Greek was the dominant culture and the writer appears to be searching for a way to make the good news understandable and appropriate for such a culture. He uses the concept of the logos or ‘the word’ to strike a note of commonality between the Hebrew culture into which Jesus was born and the dominant Greek culture of the day.

The Jews had already conceived ‘the word’ as having great potency. We only have to look at the Old Testament story of Jacob stealing the blessing from his brother, Esau. The word once uttered could not be retracted. The prophets had this sense of speaking a Word from God whether they wanted to or otherwise. It could be argued that the term ‘Word of God’ became shorthand for God himself.

On the other hand, the Greeks promoted the idea that underlying creation was ‘the logos’, a principle of creation, reason and order. It was ‘the logos’ which prevented creation from spinning into chaos. John takes a bold step of defining this logos, this creative and energetic word of wisdom, as having been embodied in the actual Person of Jesus Christ.

However, then, you understand ‘the word’, it becomes much more than the spoken or written word. It is the communication of personality. The using of a broad concept of ‘word’ helps us to see that Jesus has not only a local significance, but also a universal meaning. It is this thought that also lies behind our understanding of ‘the pre-existent Christ’, which is a natural way of talking about how ‘God was in Christ’.

In searching for the deepest understanding of Christmas, we must take note of the great contrast which will continue throughout the Gospel of John – and that is between light and darkness.

Text – John 1:5 –
‘And the light shines in the darkness …’

Light is one of the great themes of John’s gospel and occurs on at least twenty-one occasions. The light of God’s love and grace was already shining before the universe was created. When I lived in the northern hemisphere, this was the time of the year when the world plunged into long periods of darkness. In fact there are some places in northern Scandinavia and Iceland where it hardly gets light in the middle of December. How people long for light. There is a light that all of us long for – north or south … and it is God’s light which we must enjoy, if we are to thrive.

Light alongside life are elemental aspects of religion and are found the world over. We read at the beginning of Genesis: ‘the light shone in the darkness’ (Genesis 1 : 3-5). God is seen to separate light from darkness and we read, ‘God saw that the light was good.’ (Genesis 1:3)

His light shines in the chaos of our world – v. 5

Essentially, John says three things about this ‘logos-light’:

It was the light of and for people – v. 4
It shines in contrast to the darkness – v.5
The darkness has never ‘overtaken’ or ‘overcome’ it.

The chaos then

The concept of ‘chaos’ can be a fearful one. I search for an understanding of this difficult word. Our problem is that we think of ‘turmoil, confusion and discomposure’ when we think of chaos. This word comes from the Greeks and indicates a ‘vast chasm or void’. I see the word, then, much more in terms of ‘disorder, disarray and emptiness’.

The writer’s placing of John the Baptist throughout the passage is strikingly important in the his thinking. The way the author takes for granted that his readers know John’s identity indicates the importance of the Baptist and how he is well established in the developing church. There had been four centuries of prophetic silence and the domination of Jewish society by Rome was a painful experience.

How confusing it was for a people who were longing for the coming of Christ. The gift of his grace would pierce the darkness and the chaos. Later in the passage, the writer would talk about ‘the true light’ (v.9). This is ‘real’ as opposed to ‘false’, ‘genuine’ as opposed to ‘counterfeit’.

The chaos now

In our developed and sophisticated world, we can feel that it is almost offensive to talk about our world in terms of chaos. However, when one considers …

The senseless inequalities between rich and poor.
The prevailing spirit of division which defines our political landscape.
The mindless acts of terrorism which have become an everyday experience for many throughout the world.
The jarring and unhealthy differences between religious leaders.

… you are bound to acknowledge that chaos still exists today.

Just as the light was refused and rejected, it is today. This should not surprise us. However, it does not prevent us from wanting to declare the true meaning of Christmas … knowing that he still brings hope and joy to all who receive him.

The light which always dispels chaos

The work of Christ is seen at one moment in time – and yet this is an eternal gift and is seen across all of time, and within human experience. While it is true that he is known in human flesh for just a short period of time, his kingdom speaks across all the pages of history. The promise of God is that even in the worst of times we are never alone. For our God is named ‘Emmanuel’ which speaks of the gift of One who is always ‘God with us’.

When David Livingstone first left Scotland to sail for Africa, he was met at the pier by a number of friends who were fearful for his safety and they sought to persuade him not to sail. Livingstone opened his Bible and read, ‘Lo, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ Turning to his friends, he declared, ‘That, my friends, is the word of a gentleman. Let us be going.’

His light shines as a witness – v.7

The concept of ‘witness’ is an important and recurring theme throughout John’s Gospel. We remember that this is the purpose of John the Baptist (1:29); we recall the Samaritan woman (4:39); the works of Jesus (5:36; 10:25); the crowd (12:17); and the work of the Holy Spirit (15:26f). In all these ways, John speaks about the Living Word as a witness.

It is a witness from God the Father

What we see in the gift of Jesus Christ at Christmas is flowing from God himself. That is why we talk about ‘God in Christ’. If you have ever walked around an art gallery displaying paintings of the nativity from another age, you may struggle with the artwork that shows Jesus in an almost angelic light, very often with a halo or at least with light shining from his head. However, there is another way of looking at this: what the artists were trying to say in their own faltering and yet sincere way is that …

This is not just any child.
This child stands out from the rest.
This child is about God living with his people.

We endeavour to understand how we can talk about this today … but, in our efforts to grasp this truth, we enter into the depths of the Christmas message.

It is the witness of Jesus himself

This gift of God which is in Christ will be observed throughout his ministry. It will speak most clearly in the death and resurrection of our Saviour.

Lee McGlone wrote, ‘Does God have a word for the world? Indeed! It is God’s divine eternal communication to the world – embodied in the person of Jesus Christ. God spoke his word clearly but not loudly. He spoke it plainly but quietly. It was spoken in humility but would profoundly affect the whole world. If, my friend, you are waiting for the shout, you may miss the whisper. To all those who receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gives the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.’

It is a witness seen in those who belong to him

The idea of witness which is opened up by John the Baptist and his ministry is taken a step further. As Kingsley Barrett sums it up, ‘The purpose of John’s witnessing, though not its actual result, was that all should believe in Jesus.’ This is demonstrated in the latter part of the same chapter (John 1:35-37) as two disciples heard John’s witness and believed.

We are called to share this passionate desire to witness to the Lord Jesus Christ – and, for us, Christmas moves from shallowness to a moment when we can speak about God’s greatness and goodness.

Such a gift of witness is a picture of the grace of God. Out of the fullness of God’s divine and human nature, we receive a succession of favours … what R E O White called ‘one grace piled upon another, grace renewed, adapted, multiplied, as our needs change.’

His light can be refused – v.11

This verse can be considered the low point in the Prologue. ‘His own’ would appear to be the people of Israel. Bruce Milne observes, ‘There can be no more poignant expression of human folly and perversity than Israel’s rejection of Christ.’

A refusal borne of arrogance

For centuries, a people had been waiting for a promised Messiah. And when he does come, the arrogance is painfully obvious as he is rejected by the same people … and furthermore they conspire against him in order to see him crucified. This must not develop into anti-Semitism, because it applies to all of us in one way or another.

This arrogance is displayed in human nature as:

An overbearing pride in our own goodness.
A presumption that he will come for us before others.
A contempt which denies the humility of the gift (Philippians 2:5-11).

A refusal demonstrated in hesitancy

This refusal has other aspects to it, which may appear harmless, but they demonstrate danger in the way of discipleship:

A reluctance to embrace the gift of Christ.
An uncertainty about our availability to follow.
The ‘sitting on the fence’ when resolute and determined commitment is necessary.

A refusal which has implications for our lives

The refusal of a nation or a people is not a cause to point the finger … for it happens in our time also. G Stuttert Kennedy was a chaplain in time of war. In his powerful poem Indifference, he reflected:
When Jesus came to Birmingham
     they simply passed him by,
They never hurt a hair of him,
     they only let him die;
For men had grown more tender,
     and they would not give him pain,
They only just passed down the street,
     and left him in the rain.

His light, when received, brings new power to life – v.12

If verse 11 is the low point in the Prologue, then verse 12 must be the high point. John lived at a time when the world confined its understanding of ‘salvation’ as applicable to specific groups only. The powerful ‘all’ of Christianity is not spoken at any time more clearly than at Christmas.

The infancy stories speak of ‘Wise Men’ and ‘Shepherds’ ... both are so different, yet they reinforce the inclusive nature of faith. The gift of God is what changes all things.

The gift of power which changes everything

People are not by nature children of God, as though by some virtue empowered from above. It is only by receiving Christ do they gain the right to become the children of God. To receive Christ is to believe on his name.

In Auden’s Christmas oratorio, For the Time Being, it is King Herod, a thoroughly reasonable and ultimately practical person, who prays for a God he can recognise on sight, one who is not the least bit extraordinary – someone like himself. Is that what we want, too? A Saviour who looks, talks, walks, and acts exactly like us? This is not the one to whom John the Baptist points! John stands there for eternity, interrupting our carefully planned Christmases with his thought-provoking announcement: ‘Among you stands one whom you do not know.’

The gift of transformation which is totally unknown to this point in time

This is a new beginning which marks out the uniqueness of the time. All time can feel extended:

A year is a long time for the teenager who wants to learn to drive.
A month is a long time for the pregnant woman in her last month of confinement.
An hour is a long time for two lovers longing to meet again.
A second is a long time in a near road accident.

A most difficult aspect of Christmas for children is waiting for it to come … it can feel like an eternity. Waiting can be an unknown quantity in the lives of the young, especially in a world where we hunger for immediate gratification.

There are so many examples of how, when we become sick, we want to be made well immediately, not later. Medicine, doctors, pastoral care and love are so often rejected if they are not in line with our swift timeframe.

The gift of life itself which will mark the real meaning of Christmas

The hymns of this season remind us of the spirit of expectation. ‘Come, you long-expected Jesus’ and ‘O come, O come, Emmanuel’. The day of fulfilment will come, but, in the meantime, we will need to wait … this helps us to understand the proper meaning of Christmas.

We live at a time when it would be so easy to give in to the darkness of human suffering often inflicted by sin and selfishness. Such a sight can easily lead to despair. The Gospel holds out a glorious hope … while we pursue other promises of hope. Such a message points to the deeper meaning of Christmas.

James Cox tells of a person who lived at the North Pole during three months of darkness. You never see the sun. The person says, ‘I ached and hungered to see the dawn.’ Then one morning in February, they climbed to the top of a windswept ridge and sat quietly, facing east; the sky was a grey sheet. Then it became a pale blue, which deepened. A silent rush of colour changed their whole outlook.

In our world, many ache and hunger for the gift of life in Christ. Christmas is that morning for the world when the grey sheet of history becomes a silent rush of colour in the cry of a child.

Christian Life