Imagine, being assigned to write a biography of a friend. How would you start? What would you choose to say? The gospel author John uses his first chapter to introduce us to his friend Jesus. But instead of writing about His smile or favorite hobbies, John chooses to say things like:
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 was not any thing made that was made. [John 1:1-3 [ESV]]
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own peopledid not receive him. [John 1:9-11 [ESV]]
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. [John 1:12 [ESV]]
When asked “who is your friend Jesus?” John replies:
[He is] the Word [that] became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” [John 1:14].
To be sure, John had other friends. You’ve heard of some of them: Peter, James, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, and the rest were just a few. But this is not how he tells us about them. (Read on in John chapter 1 to see the difference for yourself). John declares a different type of excitement as he sketches a picture of the Jesus revealed to him in both body and spirit.
The famous church father and legendary preacher John Chrysostom (d. 14 September 407) once preached a Christmas Day message in which he called his congregation to marvel at the incarnation.[1]
There is something which long ago patriarchs painfully longed for, prophets foretold and the righteous set their hearts on. Now it has come to pass and had its consummation today. God was seen on earth through flesh and dwelt among humankind. So then, beloved, let us rejoice with great gladness. For if John leapt in his mother’s womb when Mary visited Elizabeth, consider that we have actually seen our Saviour born today. So now we, much more, must leap, rejoice, and be full of wonder and astonishment at the grandeur of God’s plan which exceeds all thought. [2]
This other John notes that if people were excited about Jesus before He arrived in the flesh, then consider how we should feel afterwards. Much has been said about modern believers struggling to live in a “post-Christian era,” and it is true that fewer people claim to follow the faith in America today. However, we may live in a post-Christian era, but thank God we also live in a post-Christmas era! The savior has already arrived in the flesh!
In John 1:4, the Apostle includes an Old Testament image of light that Jesus Himself often employed. “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind” [NIV] writes John echoing Isaiah’s illustration of a people walking in darkness and finding a great light (Isaiah 9:2). The dawning of this light is interpreted anew as John Chrysostom continues to borrow one of his namesake’s favorite metaphors to continue his Christmas sermon:
Think how great it would be to see the sun coming down from the heavens, running on the earth and sending out its beams on everybody from here. If the sight of such splendour would astound all who behold it, consider and contemplate now how great it is to see the sun of righteousness (Malachi 4:2),[3]sending out beams from our own flesh and illuminating our souls.
Chrysostom believed the dawn’s early light of that first Christmas morning should inspire a world holding its breath for redemption. Radiant beams illuminated souls where it had been always night and never morning. Now, we display the light of Christ to others as our own little cities on our own little hills. Finally, all humanity could live with hope in this post-Christmas era.
[1]An interesting anecdote: Chrysostom also argued that Jesus was literally born on December 25th during this sermon. Notice the more literal usage of the word “today” in these quotations.
[2]“John Chrysostom - Homily on the Date of Christmas, sections 1 and 2.”
[3]Malachi 4:2 prophesies of restoration of the faithful by stating: “But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.”