The Christmas story must be one of the best known and well-loved of all stories, either biblical or secular. But one thing that often surprises people who don’t know the Bible is that the Christmas story isn’t written as one continuous story in the Bible. I was reminded of this just before Christmas when I was chatting to a non-churchgoing friend of mine who, although they knew the elements of the Christmas story, didn’t realise that the Christmas story is actually an amalgam of stories we find in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.
Those of us who do come to church, or who follow the readings we use in church over Christmas, will know that we don’t have any readings from the Gospel of Mark during the Christmas season, and there’s a very good reason for this. There are no stories from St Mark’s Gospel included in the Christmas story for the simple reason that St Mark’s Gospel doesn’t contain any.
St Mark’s Gospel begins with a very short introduction which says,
‘The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.’
and then moves straight on to the message and ministry of John the Baptist. There’s no mention of Mary and Joseph or their angelic messengers; no journey to Bethlehem or mention of the inn and manger; no mention of shepherds and angels; nothing about Herod, nor about the Wise Men and their gifts; and no mention of the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt and the slaughter of the children of Bethlehem. We find all these things, and only find them, either in the Gospel of Matthew or the Gospel of Luke.
But although the Christmas story we all know and love comes from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, one reading the Church insists must be read, either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, as indeed it was here this Christmas, is this morning’s Gospel reading, the prologue to St John’s Gospel.
Like St Mark, St John doesn’t tell us anything about the events of Jesus’ birth. Like St Mark, St John begins his Gospel with an introduction and then moves straight on to the message and ministry of John the Baptist.
So why does the Church exclude St Mark from its cycle of readings at Christmas and yet not only include but insist that we include this reading from the Gospel of John?
Well, the reason is in the difference in which St Mark and St John introduce their respective Gospels. Whereas St Mark uses a simple, single sentence to introduce his story of Jesus’ ministry, St John uses the prologue we heard this morning. As well as introducing Jesus as the Son of God, St John introduces Jesus as the eternal Word of God; the Word which was with God at the beginning of all things and was instrumental in the creation of all things; the Word which was, and is, God and which has now been born as a human being and lived on earth. The Word, the God, that people have seen with their own eyes and who has given human beings the power to become children of God, sons and daughters of God themselves. So whilst St Matthew and St Luke tell us about the events of Jesus’ birth, the Christmas story, in the prologue to his Gospel, St John tells us in no uncertain terms what Jesus’ birth and the Christmas story is really all about. But what does it mean to call Jesus the incarnate Word of God, or the Word made flesh, and to think of him in that way? And what does that mean for us?
If we go right back to the beginning of the Bible, to the Book of Genesis, we’re told that, before creation,
‘The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light.’
So the first thing God did, before the creation of light, was he spoke. God spoke and it was done. And from this we find an understanding in the Scriptures that God’s Word is equivalent to God’s action, a belief that, if God says something, it will happen just as God has said it will. Such as this from Psalm 33:
‘Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.’
So to speak of God’s Word is to speak of God’s action too. And to speak of God’s Word made flesh is to speak of God’s action in the flesh. In other words, to speak of the Word made flesh is to speak of what God would be like, how God would act and live, if he was a human being. So to speak of Jesus as the incarnate Word, the Word made flesh, is to say that, in Jesus, we see how God would live as a human being and indeed, to see how God did live as a human being, because the Word was God and Jesus was the Word made flesh; he was God made flesh. So what does that mean for us?
We know from the Scriptures that God had tried numerous times, through the law and the prophets, to teach his people the way they should live. We also know from the Scriptures that to live as good, obedient children of God their Father, proved impossible for most people. And so the understanding grew that, in the end, God would do something about this by sending a Messiah to save his people from their sins, from themselves, so that they could live as his children in the way God intended them to. So, in the sending of his Word, it’s as though God was saying to the people, ‘You won’t listen to those I send so I’ll come myself to show you how to live as I want you to live; so that you can see with your own eyes how to live as I want you to live and be my children.’ And this is what John explains in the prologue to his Gospel;
‘And the Word 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.’
Of course, not everyone believed that Jesus was the Messiah, let alone God’s Word made flesh, but John tells us that,
‘…to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the power to become children of God…’
But whilst St John tells us that we become children of God by believing in Jesus, our belief has to be a belief that leads to action. Just as God’s Word equates to God’s action, so our belief has to be about more than words. It’s not enough to say we believe, we have to back up our words by our actions, by the way we live our lives. To put it in modern parlance, we have to walk the walk, as well as talk the talk. But if we can do that, then our faith in Jesus does indeed give us the power to be God’s children.
We obviously can’t be God’s sons and daughters in the same way that Jesus was, and is, God’s Son because he is God’s Word, the Word who was in the beginning with God and is God.
But, if our belief in Jesus leads us to act in the way that Jesus acted in his earthly life then we will, at least in a sense, be a part of the Word made flesh.
We are part of the Church and what is the Church but the Body of Christ, the physical manifestation of Jesus’ presence, the incarnate Word’s presence, in the world today through our flesh? What is the Church for but to proclaim the Word of God in the world and, hopefully, act out the Word of God in the world? So in that sense, the Church is the Word made flesh in the world in this and every generation and because of that, so are we, in our generation.
If we look at it in this way, we are all part of the Christmas story because we all have a part to play in the ongoing ministry of Jesus, the Word made flesh. So let’s take our part in the Christmas story seriously by making our words about God’s Word, lead to actions that match not only our words but the words and actions of Jesus, God’s Word made flesh for us, at Christmas.
Amen.
The Propers for the 2nd Sunday of Christmas can be viewed here.
Parish Church of St Mark Chadderton 