“FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH”
Saint John 1: 1-14
The Feast of The Nativity of our Lord: 25 December Anno Domini 2018
Father Jay Watson SSP
But where’s the Shepherds, Heavenly Host, the Manger in the stable, The Blessed Virgin herself? Why do we have John the Baptist again for Christmas Day?
Because there is no point to The Incarnation and The Nativity without the Word of God. There is also no point to Good Friday, The Resurrection, The Ascension, without the Word of God. Christ’s Bride, the Church, is only made one—in, with, and by, Him—The Word of God. The Church is only Church through Pentecost—The Word of God going forth to all nations so that The Holy Ghost can call and gather the Elect by THAT Word!
The Theology (God’s Words) of Christmas is based on both the theology of Christ and the theology of The Mass. And while the Christ, The Messiah, The Anointed Redeemer, only existed as Jesus The God/Man from the point of The Incarnation—up to now—and hereafter forever and ever, Amen. The Son of God, The 2nd Person of The Trinity has always existed. He is an: Is, Was, and Shall Be. The Son is God of God, One with The Father and The Spirit. The enfleshment of God by The Holy Ghost of The Virgin Mary is the greatest mystery of all. Hallelujah!
Before Bethlehem, before Gabriel’s Annunciation to Mary, The Word was.
“In the beginning was the Word.” That means before Genesis 1.1, before anything, The WORD. The WORD as I AM…Divine and Holy BEING. That is beyond man’s understanding. Only Revelation through God’s Word—first spoken, later recorded in writing, forever preached and taught—only Divine Revelation gives man the truth and reality. As the Proper Preface states: “For in the mystery of The Word made flesh Thou hast given us a new revelation of Thy Glory.” And, though not comprehended it is nonetheless believed and held-onto by all of you via the gift of Faith—which God Himself works in you. Hallelujah!
The Being, “The” Babe, in the manger that arrived two-thousand years ago—that we celebrated last evening, and now, is The Word that Is God. Jesus The Word enfleshed, Who would heal the lame and leprous, restore sight and hearing, and life itself, is the same Word that made all things in existence out of nothing…nothing save His creative, bestowing, loving, giving, saving, WILL. The essence of The Word is to give, protect, and preserve.
So, Jesus is God. And Jesus’ Work has always been to create and protect. With man’s fall in the Garden, with your falling last week, yesterday, tomorrow, and the remainder of your earthly existence, Jesus’ Work continues. He saved your failures and worse, by being perfect and obedient. He kept The Commandments you can’t even recite word for word. He suffered and died on The Cross for the fitting and fair justice which should have been meted out to you.
So, The Christ is the answer, the long-awaited promise of God, delivered in the flesh. Jesus in Scripture is “input.” The events of Luke 2 and Matthew 1 are the “then” FOR NOW—today! The second part of The Incarnation and Nativity’s goodness is “The Mass.” We say “Mass” not to be edgy or smart-alecky, but to keep unity with our Reforming Catholic forefathers and our “norm that is normed” The Evangelical Symbols of the 1580 Book of Concord. By “Mass” we mean Jesus’ Sacrament of The Altar. We mean His consecrating Words making bread and wine His true and real Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in, with, and under the elements of The Lord’s Supper.
Yes, though it may seem like a class of “SounDoctrine” the real and genuine Christmas message this morning is the same talking point every Sunday. The Light shines in the darkness. In Jesus is Life itself. Not temporary bodily functions but LIFE ETERNAL. Joyous, Angel Heralding, Peace among men, (Sanctus) Bells jingling, LIFE. Not a “White Christmas” but a White in The Blood of The Lamb Baptismal regenerating Christmas.
Those, unlike you, that crave warm-fuzzies and a “soft-focus” narrative, will be torn up by the Muslims and other hard-hooved Satanic shock troops. Only the Light and Life of Jesus’ Body and Blood; only the clear ringing voice of His Word loosing you of sin in the forgiving absolution “your sins are forgiven you” is the “power to become the sons of God…to believe on His + Name.”
The Word says: “…[you] were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man.” That’s correct, in that, you were not born, nor saved, by your blood, your parents blood; you were not secured and justified by your flesh your will. But you were buried into death and raised again into everlasting righteousness in the Body and Blood of The God/Man Who did it all for you, starting at His Incarnation and Nativity, continuing through His active and passive obedience/Calvary, and touching you this Christmas morn in the morning Christ-Mass.
To behold “the Word made flesh, that dwells, LITERALLY, among you; to behold His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of The Father, full of grace and truth:” “Take eat, Take drink!”
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of The Holy Ghost
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