Title: WHAT CHILD IS THIS?

Focus: The Christ-child is the eternal Word of God in the flesh. For our benefit Christ is both fully divine and fully human. That’s the wonder of Christmas.

Function: To encourage the people to capture the wonder of Christmas—that Christ’s coming in the flesh is a truly magnificent work of God, for our benefit.

Text: Luke 1:26-38

Charles Dickens’s Ebenezer Scrooge did not appreciate the significance of Christmas as a holiday. Before his “conversion,” Ebenezer Scrooge thought of December 25 as an ordinary workday. And if one of his employees would protest and plead for a day off to celebrate Christmas with family and friends, Ebenezer Scrooge would likely say, “Christmas—Bah, Humbug!” Clearly, Scrooge did not value the significance of Christmas.

I think that there are still many people today who, like Ebenezer Scrooge, fail to appreciate Christmas. Oh, they may value Christmas as a holiday, as a day of family time, gift giving and cheer. But when it comes to the Christian significance of Christmas, I fear they often “miss the boat.” Let’s face it. We cannot expect Hollywood, or J.C. Penney or the businesses in our shopping malls to explain the wonder of Christ’s birth and the significance of the Son of God taking on our flesh. Merchants use Christmas carols to create an ambience or feel that puts shoppers in the mood to spend their money. Explaining and exploring the Christian significance of Christ’s coming into our world, however, belongs to the church. The question is: are churches succeeding in emphasizing and underscoring the significance of Christ’s birth?

I’m not sure how to answer the question. I, too, enjoy the secular emphasis on family get-togethers, gift giving, Christmas lights and Christmas trees and all the other glitter that comes with the season. But I do think that the Christian church has a special burden or obligation to bring out the wondrous significance of Christ’s birth. Slogans such as “Christ is the reason for the season” are a good corrective to secular holiday cheer. But how many people are able to explain and cherish the reason for the season and unpack the wonder of Christmas?

You see, the Christ-child is the eternal Word of God in the flesh. For our benefit, Christ is both fully divine and fully human. That’s the wonder of Christmas. Have you captured that wonder in your heart, and do you cherish that awesome work of God today?

I still remember the first time that I held our first-born child, Jessica, in my arms. That was a life-changing moment: I’m now a father; I’m holding this precious, innocent life in my hands. Pride and gratitude filled my heart. Wow!!! No doubt, many of you recognize those feelings. And I understand you feel the same when you welcome grandchildren in your life. Babies are precious!

It’s easy to bring that same emotional assessment of babies to the manger of Jesus. And no doubt, Mary and Joseph embraced their bundle of joy, just like so many other parents have done and still do. But ask yourself: what is the Bible’s assessment of you and me and our newborn children? Let me quote some passages to you:

Psalm 14:2,3 “The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (cf. Psalm 53:2,3)

Psalm 51:5“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”

The human condition is in trouble. With our first parents, Adam and Eve, we have fallen into a state of sin. We are conceived and born under a cloud of misery and death; pervasive throughout our human nature is the impulse of sin, which finds its origin in the devil, and which corrupts our bodies and leads to death. Even though our children lie peacefully in their cribs, and even though we are as clean and innocent as freshly fallen snow, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, we are, says the apostle Paul, “dead in our transgressions and sins” (Eph. 2:1ff).

Now if we wish to capture the wonder of Christ’s birth, we must approach the manger in Bethlehem with this awareness: I’m a hopeless sinner, conceived and born in sin. Who can rescue or deliver us from this awful predicament? And then, as we consider this Christ-child in the manger, we must ask, “What child is this?”

The answer? The Christ-child is the eternal Word of God in the flesh. For our benefit, Christ is both fully divine and fully human. That’s the wonder of Christmas.

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Let’s explore this familiar passage in the gospel of Luke together. First of all, note that this passage emphasizes the miraculous nature of Christ’s birth: Vs. 27 “…to a virgin pledged to be married….” Vs. 27b. “The virgin’s name was Mary.” Vs. 34 “How will this be since I’m a virgin?” Vs. 36 “Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.” Clearly, in order for us to capture the wonder of Christ’s birth, we must pick up on the miracle of his conception and birth. What child is this? It’s a wondrous child.

Secondly, the passage stresses the Lord God Almighty as the agent or divine actor in the drama of Christ’s birth. Listen: vs. 26 “…God sent the angel Gabriel….” Vs. 32 “The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David….” Vs. 35 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Clearly, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into our world is a divine work of the living God. What child is this? It’s a divinely sent child.

Thirdly, the passage emphasizes the exalted position of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Listen: Vs. 28 “The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you!” And vs. 30 “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.” Clearly, the mother of Jesus has a special place in the heart of God. What birth mother is this? She’s One who is highly favored with God.

Fourthly, this passage makes use of O.T. prophecies to give the miraculous birth of Jesus a context that helps us understand who this Jesus is. For example, the prophet Nathan told King David about a future king, coming from his family tree, who would establish an eternal reign and be the Christ, the Anointed One or Savior of God’s people (cf. II Samuel 7).

The angel, Gabriel, announces the pregnancy of Mary, and gives it historic, prophetic meaning by alluding to Nathan’s prophecies. Listen: vs. 31ff “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.” Here we see the prophetic context, which explains the significance of Jesus’ birth.

Who is this child? He is of royal blood, from the dynasty of King David; he is also from everlasting, the Son of the Most High. He has come to rule and save his people forever more. The Christ-child is the eternal Word of God in the flesh. For our benefit, Christ is both fully divine and fully human. That’s the wonder of Christmas.

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Today, I ask us to do what Mary did: ponder the significance of the Christ-child. I have no action steps for us to follow. Yet, I hope you’ll capture the wonder of Christ’s birth by searching the Scriptures and reflect upon the eternal Word of God in the flesh.

For example, when Adam and Eve fell into sin, God’s Word came to them. That Word came in the form of judgment (you will die); but also in the form of a promise. The promise centered on victory over sin and death, and thus we hear God’s Word say to the serpent: “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.” This is God’s Word spoken at the beginning of time, when we fell into sin.

That same Word of God came to Noah, and to Abraham, and to Moses, and to King David, and to the prophets. Time and time again, God’s Word propped up his sinful people and encouraged them to await a Savior, a Messiah, and the Christ. For centuries the Word of God carried the peoples forward in hope and expectation.

All throughout history, the human race expanded through procreation. Generation after generation produced sinful offspring, desperately in need of salvation. And throughout all these generations—all throughout history—the Word of God moved us forward.

It was not only the Jews who were visited by God’s eternal Word; Gentiles, too, were included in the promise. It’s true, after the days of Noah, when God dispersed the peoples as they built the tower of Babel; the focus of the promise of God’s Word was on Abraham and his descendants. The promise of the Word of God, however, would come THROUGH the Jewish people to all the nations of the world. In other words, Israel was to be a blessing to the nations. (cf. Gen. 12).

The blessing of God’s Word came to people such as Tamar, and Rahab, and Ruth. And the prophet Jonah, too, spoke God’s Word to the Gentiles in Nineveh. And Daniel and his friends witnessed the eternal Word of God in the royal palace and kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar. Ah, we know the stories, how the Word of God came to us in different ways.

But then, finally, the Word of God did something wondrous. He took on our flesh. The apostle John says in the opening 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…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” And elsewhere in his gospel, John says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Congregation, that eternal Word of God, the eternal Son of God came “…to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.” You see, the Word of God that propped up God’s people throughout the ages, now invades and nestles inside the womb of Mary, where the Holy Spirit brings about conception, so that the eternal Word or Son of God can take on our flesh and share in our human nature, becoming one of us, yet without sin.

This is the wonder of Christmas: Jesus is fully human—he is born of Mary; Jesus is fully divine—conceived by the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb, for our benefit.

All human beings, with the exception of a few, receive life through physical procreation. A man and woman join in the act of marriage; conception takes place, and nine months later the woman gives birth. It’s through the process of procreation that God creates human life today.

Here are the few exceptions:

· God created Adam from the dust of the earth. God created Eve from Adam’s rib. Barren Abraham and Sarah had no children. Thus God came with his Word of promise to childless Abraham and Sarah. And behold, Isaac was born. Then, centuries later, the Word of God came to barren Hannah; and Samuel was born. Samuel represented, carried and spread the Word of God all throughout Israel.

Then, in the fullness of time, God came to barren Zechariah and Elizabeth. God spoke the Word and nine months later Elizabeth gave birth to John the Baptizer. These pregnancies and births are all miracle births, announced by and wrought by the Word of God.

But here is the wonder of it all: It was to Mary—the virgin—that the Word of God came, and it was in Mary’s womb that the Word of God was conceived and took on our human nature, our flesh. Thus the Christian church has always emphasized the wonder of Christmas by declaring to the world: “I believe…in Jesus Christ, (God’s) only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.”

Capture this wonder of Christmas and take delight in this truth: The holy conception and birth of Christ is to our benefit. Jesus is our mediator, and with his innocence and perfect holiness he removes from God’s sight my sin—mine since I was conceived.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen!