The Incarnation of Jesus Christ (John 1:10-14)
Billy Milton
‘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.’ John 1:14 (NKJV)
A few years ago I had the privilege of visiting Israel with a group from Berkhamsted and we had a great time looking round the various Old and New Testament sites. We saw all the major religious sites and visited places like Bethlehem, the Garden Tomb, the possible site of Calvary and so on. When I came back I was talking to Peter Swaffield about the trip and what had impressed me and what hadn’t so much. I asked him what had impressed him the most and he thought for a moment and said, ‘Standing by the Sea of Galilee one evening, looking up and thinking, God, your feet touched this earth in the shape of Jesus right at the spot I’m standing.’ He’s right you know, that is pretty impressive - Jesus Christ, known as the Word in our passage, became flesh and dwelt amongst us.
I’m going to tell you something now, and I’d rather you didn’t spread this around the town, but one of my favourite movies, which is shown every year at Christmas, is ‘The Prince and the Pauper’. I watched it again this year. There you go, my shameful secret is out! As you are probably aware the story involves a prince and a pauper exchanging identities and lifestyles for a period of time and going through various adventures in their new and unfamiliar worlds. Every time I watch it I can’t help thinking of the Christian message behind that tale. Jesus, the prince, left his splendid surroundings to slum it with his creation and one day we, the paupers, will go to the palace because of his love for us. In order that we might get to know who God is, Jesus came and lived amongst us. He forsook all the trappings of heaven and slummed it with us! We read in Philippians 2:
‘Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death on the cross.’ Philippians 2:5-8 (NKJV)
That’s incarnation and it’s unique amongst the world religions. The gods of ancient Greece or Rome would not have dreamed of mixing with their sinful and soiled followers. Jesus did! And not only mixing with us but dying for us. The incarnation of the Son of God was absolutely necessary to make possible our salvation.
The Bible makes it quite clear that the blood of animal sacrifices cannot take away sin. We read in Hebrews 10:4-7 (The Message)
‘The plain fact is that bull and goat blood can’t get rid of sin. That is what is meant by this prophecy, put in the mouth of Christ: ‘You don’t want sacrifices and offerings year after year; you’ve prepared a body for me for a sacrifice. It’s not fragrance and smoke from the altar that whet your appetite. So I said, I’m here to do it your way, oh God, the way it’s described in your Book.'’
Hebrews 9:22, Revelation 13:8, I Peter 1:18-19, Hebrews 9:26 - all of these and many more passages tell us that for us to be rescued and for us to know peace in our lives, Jesus had to come amongst us and do the job once and for all time. The incarnation (Jesus with us) is the best news you are going to hear all year, I promise you. Let me say something further which you might not actually agree with - the incarnation is the best news that this town will hear all year!
Why do I say that? Well if you are a Christian I hope you are going about with your spiritual antenna raised because, if you are, what I’m going to tell you is not going to be news. The next 5 points came from a Baptist publication called ‘A Call to the churches’ and I know James has a copy which I’m sure he will lend you if you want to read a bit further.
So why do I believe people need to hear about the incarnation? Well…
- People are hurting - for many people the norm is family break-up and unhappy relationships in general. Even with the prosperity of this town, or maybe even because of the prosperity of this town, people are lonely and aimless. I speak to them every week and my heart bleeds for them. They need to meet Jesus.
People need to hear about the incarnation because… - There’s nothing left to believe - postmodernism has subtly convinced most of us that there is no such thing as truth and to suggest that Jesus is the truth is offensive. So people have nothing to anchor their lives upon… except the pursuit of money and fame. At the risk of being uncool and un-PC - people need Jesus.
- Community life is being eroded - being in love with oneself is the deadly virus of our mainly affluent western society. The rise of the ‘just do your own thing’ ethos has eroded community everywhere, including the churches. There’s a severe shortage of genuine relationship and intimacy and, adding to this disaster, is the spreading bankruptcy where relationship skills are concerned (commitment, cost, loyalty, effort, patience and forgiveness). Did you know that Jesus specialises in community? He is a member of the ultimate community - the Trinity. People need to get to know Jesus to discover for perhaps the first time what real community is.
- The flight from Christian values. Religion is now seen as a private matter that has nothing to do with public life. Christianity is now viewed as just one more option amongst many and therefore is de-valued in the public mind. But despite people rejecting and fleeing from Christian values I know, and probably you do too, people need Jesus in order to be whole.
- Our ‘pluralist society’ - put in simpler terms and to quote Snoopy - ‘It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere.’ I hope that you are aware that Snoopy was hopelessly and dangerously wrong? It does matter what you believe and could in fact be a matter of life and death. If it doesn’t matter what you believe then ask yourself this, Why did the Word become flesh and dwell amongst us? What was that all about? Was it just to provide us with just one more option in the religious smorgesborg? I don’t think so. People need to hear of the only way to the Father - Jesus Christ.
So where does that leave us? What is your obligation if you profess to be a Christian - a follower of Jesus? Well the people in our town can no longer see Jesus in the flesh. He died, rose and went to be with his father almost 2000 years ago. In order for them to get to know Jesus you need to be Jesus for them. The Bible calls us his body - we need to be his body. When people look at us whether we’re working, playing or worshipping they need to be able to catch a glimpse of Jesus.
People need to hear about Jesus and to see the difference he can make today. Verse 14 tells us that he was ‘full of grace and truth’. The world needs that type of incarnational living again today.