Advent Midweek 2 – “Now in flesh appearing!”

Advent Midweek 2 – “Now in flesh appearing!” – Text: John 1:14 (LW 41 v.2)
12/8/05 – Vicar Matthew Peters – St. Paul’s, Union Grove

LW #41 v. 2
Highest, most holy, Light of light eternal,
Born of a virgin, a mortal he comes;
Son of the Father Now in flesh appearing!
Oh, come, let us adore him…
Oh, come, let us adore him…
Oh, come, let us adore him… Christ the Lord!

Readings:
Old Testament Isaiah 7:13-14
“The virgin will be with child…”
Epistle 1 Corinthians 15:20-23
“Since death came through a man…”
Gospel John 1:6-14
“the Word became flesh…”


Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The second verse of “O Come All Ye Faithful”, as we just sang from the Blue Hymnal’s version, tends to remind me of some sort of advertisement – maybe something you’d read on a theater marquis – “Now in Flesh Appearing!”
Here in the Advent season, we surely anticipate this fleshly appearance of Jesus. But have you ever considered how strange the emphasis of this verse might sound if you don’t understand what it is trying to relate?
Highest, most holy, Light of light eternal… Ok, its an important person – the most important, the most holy. We are talking about God.
Born of a virgin, a mortal he comes; … A virgin? Anyone who has taken a biology class might wonder at this – that’s not how it works! A mortal? Being mortal means you can die – but I thought we were talking about God here!?!
Son of the Father, - yep, we’re talking about God’s Son…
Now in flesh appearing! – In flesh! God has flesh!?! He is incarnate, from the Latin: in-carne, roughly translated: ‘in the meat’!?!
We’re not talking about something that just represents flesh, or looks like flesh, but actually human, physical body and blood!

John chapter 1:14 – The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

So what’s the big deal? God can choose to do what He wants right? If he wants to come to earth to get a nice tan, that’s fine, right? Although, why would He want to? I’m sure God has it pretty good being the Omniscient and Omnipotent Spirit in the Sky. What could make Him want to come and become fleshy? Become a mortal? Why would He, “[make] His dwelling among us.”?
Take a good look around you, here at God’s house we are certainly all perfect and well kept… right. But out there in the world we know its another matter. Look at our flesh-covered world. Sure there is happiness and joy to be found – but look at the pain, the sorrow, the misery… the death. Flesh means – now that sin is in the world – flesh means weakness and despair.
You quickly see that there is nothing alluring about becoming a human for Jesus…
What good are humans anymore after all? God made us perfect, and we sinned. God gave us the world to care for, and we messed it up.
And, since we know that God is all powerful, and that God has supremacy, we realize that for something like Jesus coming in the flesh to happen it must have been done on purpose. With God there are no accidents – especially when it comes to such a thing as this. God wanted to come in the flesh. The Father willingly sent His Son to dwell upon the earth. But why would He want to do a thing like that?
Because He loves us. Because God loves us. As soon as sin entered into the world, God knew what He had to do for His children – not that He had to, but because He wanted to.
Genesis 3:15 – God speaking to the serpent: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
The first promise of a savior. And that promise of salvation continues throughout the Old Testament, to all the Patriarchs, through all the Prophets – and onward up until Christ. So the incarnation of Jesus Christ was the good gift given to us by God…

Again, it might appear odd that the all-powerful God might be so humbled as to take on our flesh. Why didn’t God just take out his heavenly eraser, and declare that sin was gone? Why didn’t He come and just tell us that He was giving us a second chance? Why this body – why was he born? Anyone who knows anything about childbirth knows that that’s not a very ‘god-like’ thing to do!
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

Along with being all-powerful, and all-knowing, God is always just. He is fair, He plays by the rules that He has declared. And remember His first rule that got broken was that if Adam and Eve would eat of the tree they would die. They would mortally die, and their spiritual death would have followed as well if it had not been for the promise that God made them.
Someone had to suffer for their sins. Someone had to suffer for our sins. That is part of being fair: for every action there is a result. But the payment need not come from us… but it did need to come from a human. Problem was, that there were no humans perfect enough to do the job on behalf of even one other person. So God sent His Son.
Jesus Christ – the incarnate God – True God/True Man – was born to a virgin on Christmas Day. His coming is what we celebrate this Advent season. But we celebrate not only because God decided to pay us a visit as a little baby, but because of what that baby Jesus was sent to do. What He has done for you and for me.
Christ grew from that Christmas baby into a man, a man who lived a perfect life – meaning no sin. And this was accomplished for us because Jesus is fully man, and also fully God. This perfect life lived, He deserved no punishment. Jesus did not deserve the same punishment that we deserve, but He took it. In fact, He took more than His fair share – He took the punishment for the sins of all mankind upon himself when He died upon that cross! Because of Him, all who believe in that baby to be born on Christmas as their Savior, will be saved from their eternal damnation. Your sins are washed clean because God shed His blood on your behalf!

How do we know this to be true? God Himself has told us. It is not a coincidence that John’s Gospel writing begins with this declaration of the incarnation:
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus came into the flesh for a purpose – He is full of grace and truth – and God’s Word, Jesus Himself declares that, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” (John 14:6)
And we have been given the word of God in the Holy Scriptures. Through the Bible we know of this grace and love that has been given to us by God. Through the Holy Spirit we are given faith to believe in Him, and through the Word and Sacraments we are saved and strengthened.

So as we approach Christmas throughout this Season of Advent. As we observe the trees and the lights – the garlands and the wreathes – the tinsel and the snow – remember that Christmas is about God sending His Son in the flesh… for you! Sending Him not only to live perfectly, but to die so that you can confidently say this day and always, that all of your sins are forgiven, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.