Title: WHAT CHILD IS THIS?

Focus: The Christ-child is truly human and truly divine; he is one of us, yet truly unique.

Focus: To move the people to worship Christ in wonder and awe, marveling at his identity.

Text: Luke 1:26-38

 

INTRODUCTION

            Have you ever heard of that bird that built her nest and then laid an egg in it? Believe it or not, but the bird laid the egg in her nest so that she could be hatched in it. By now you must be thinking that Pastor Jack is “loosing it.” I am not making any sense, you say. You are right. It’s silly to talk that way about a bird building a nest and laying an egg in it, so that she could be hatched therein.

 

            Yet, on this fourth Sunday of Advent, I ask you to stand back and observe the wonder of it all—the wonder of Christ’s coming in the womb of Mary. Reflecting on the birth of the Christ-child, poet Robert Southwell, in 1578 wrote these opening lines:

“Behold the father is his daughter’s son, The bird that built the nest is hatched therein, The old of years an hour hath not outrun, Eternal life to live doth now begin,….” Southwell invites us to ponder and marvel at the first coming of Christ in the flesh. The story of Christmas is filled with mystery and wonder. I hope that you seize the mystery of it all. For you see, the Christ-child is truly human and truly divine; he is one of us, yet truly unique.

 

THE PASSAGE

            Did you notice that the angel’s birth announcement to Mary stands in contrast to his announcement to Zechariah? You cannot help but compare the two birth announcements found in Luke’s gospel. And when you do so, you’ll discover some differences that underscore the wonder, the superiority, and the significance of Christ’s birth.

 

            Listen, for example, to Gabriel’s birth announcements and compare the two. In Luke 1:13-17 Gabriel addresses Zechariah the high priest and announces the birth of a son by the name of John. In Luke 1:26-38 Gabriel announces the conception of Jesus. There are similarities and differences in these announcements: (cf. Hans-Ruedi Weber, Immanuel)

 

Lk. 1:13-17	Lk.1:28-35
Zechariah   Do not be afraid.   Your prayer has been heard.   Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son.   Give him the name John.   He will be great in the sight of the Lord.     Never touching wine, filled with the Spirit, forerunner like Elijah.   He will prepare a people fit for the Lord.	Greetings, you who are highly favored.   Do not be afraid.   The Lord is with you.     You will be with child and give birth to a son.   Give him the name Jesus.   He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.   On the throne of David, conceived by the Spirit, king over Israel.   His reign shall never end.

 

The similarities are striking; the differences, however, cast the Christ-child in mystery and wonder. What child is this?

 

            The entire passage announcing the conception of Jesus leads us into the realm of (no, not magic, or fantasy but) divine mystery. Note the four movements in this passage:

 

1.      God sent Gabriel on a mission:

In two short verses (vs. 26, 27) we receive answers to various questions: When? “In the sixth month” of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. What? “God sent the angel Gabriel.” Where? “To Nazareth, a town in Galilee.” To Whom? “To a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph.” Her name was “Mary.”

God is making a move that will shake up Mary and forever change the course of world history.

 

2.      Gabriel meets Mary: (vs. 28, 29)

The angel greets Mary with a covenantal greeting: “The Lord be with you.” Mary is electrified, scared, all ears nevertheless, because she is a devout, godly woman who knows the Lord as Israel’s God; and she knows the stories of God’s dealings with his people. She knows the stories of God’s startling birth announcements to Abraham and Sarah re Isaac; to Hagar, Sarah’s maidservant, re Ishmael; to Hannah re Samuel; to Manoah and his wife re Samson. What can this wondrous encounter between Gabriel and Mary mean?

 

3.        Gabriel delivers his message:

(vs. 30-33)  He calms Mary and he places Mary in relationship to God, saying: “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.” Then Gabriel declares some wondrous things to Mary; and Gabriel exalts the child that Mary would give birth to: “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

What child is this?

 

4.        Gabriel explains the con-

ception: (vs. 34-38).  In response to Gabriel’s message, Mary asks the question: “How will this be since I am a virgin?” Though pledged to be married to Joseph, Mary has not practiced sexual intimacy. For she is a devout Jew, a daughter of Abraham and Sarah, committed to God’s will expressed in the Law of Moses. Gabriel replies: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” In other words, this is not an ordinary child, conceived in an ordinary way. No, this child called Jesus is one-of-a-kind, like us in every way, yet unique.

 

            So then, in four movements, Luke paints a picture of wonder. It starts with God sending Gabriel on a mission. And it ends with Mary being pregnant with a child that is conceived by God the Spirit. What wondrous child is this?

 

TRULY DIVINE  / TRULY HUMAN

            Do you know that each one of us has approximately 6 quarts of blood within us? In one day our blood travels nearly 12,000 miles; Our hearts beat around 35 million times per year. And in an average human lifetime, the human heart pumps a million barrels of blood—enough to fill three supertankers.

 

Some scientists maintain that the average adult human body consists of 50 trillion cells; others say 10 trillion. These are simply estimates. Then consider that each human cell contains the complete blueprints for our whole self. Scientists refer to those blueprints as DNA. And scientists tell us that only 1% of that DNA seems to contain all the information needed for building our bodies, repairing cells, and fighting diseases. The psalmist was right on the mark when he said: (Psalm 139) “I praise you, (O Lord) because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Surely, folks, a baby is a miracle from God; and we are mysteriously complex.

But what child is this--this child called Jesus? He is truly human and truly divine; he is one of us, yet truly unique.

 

            Jesus is truly human in that he was born of Mary, a daughter of Eve, a member of the human race. Jesus shares similar human cells, DNA, bones, flesh, muscles, and blood. He is truly human—one of us. But here’s Jesus’ uniqueness: he is also truly divine. Note:

 

a.       Jesus is without sin: even though he shares in our human nature, in some mysterious and miraculous way (as seen in his divine conception in Mary’s womb), Jesus does not share in a sinful, corrupt human nature. Though open and vulnerable to temptation and sin, Jesus’ human nature is free from the stains of original sin. All persons are conceived and born in sin. Not so with Jesus. Note also that

 

b.      Jesus is conceived by God the Holy Spirit: Gabriel explains to Mary, saying: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” The word “overshadow” points to Jesus’ divine conception and therefore his divine nature as well. It’s a word that connects Mary and all God’s people with the story of God and his people Israel. The word “overshadow” points to God’s royal power and sovereign presence.

 

            For example, when God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, he did so in the power of his Holy Spirit, which hovered above the waters, when the earth was “formless and empty,” and when “darkness was over the surface of the deep” (Gen.1:2).

 

            Then, later in God’s dealings with his people, God led the Israelites out of the land of Egypt into the promised land of Canaan. And God did so by overshadowing his people—by leading them with a cloud of glory by day and a pillar of fire by night.

           

When God met with Moses at Mount Sinai, Moses went to the summit or top of the mountain and God overshadowed the mountain with an awesome cloud. And when the priests would enter the tabernacle and approach the ark--signifying the presence of God—they would observe Cherubim, overshadowing with their wings, the ark of God.

 

Clearly, when Gabriel refers to Jesus’ conception as the work of God’s Spirit “overshadowing” Mary’s womb, we are left with one conclusion—wondrous though it sounds: Jesus is truly divine. The mystery of Jesus’ identity only deepens when you realize that Jesus is the eternal Son of God who has no beginning and no end. As John says at the beginning of his gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”

What child is this? This Christ-child is truly human and truly divine; he is one of us, yet unique.

 

This morning Kelsey Boer professed her faith in the triune God; she has responded to God’s love, expressed to her in her baptism, and Kelsey has embraced the wondrous story of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ. Kelsey’s profession of faith is a sign of God’s Spirit at work in her heart. So is our solidarity with Kelsey, as we too professed our faith as summarized and sung in the Apostles’ Creed. I hope that you marvel at God’s work in our midst.

 

And on this fourth Sunday of Advent, I simply invite you to ponder the identity of Jesus. And I pray that you will have a deep sense of mystery and wonder. Here’s what I invite you to do:

 

PONDER the miracle of Christ’s birth. Ponder and participate in that miracle by embracing through faith the story of Christ’s conception.

 

Then PRESERVE the story. Preserve it by NOT caving in to rationalism saying that divine conception is impossible, or by saying that Mary conceived because she had intercourse with Joseph. Preserve the story as told in scripture. And then

 

PEDDLE it. That is, pass it on as told in the Scriptures. With wonder speak about it. With awe, praise God for it; and with thankfulness in your hearts, pass it on.

 

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.