It’s not usual to preach on Christmas Day about the beginning of John’s Gospel. 

Normally, the focus on this day is on the shepherds or the angels or another aspect of Luke’s version of the birth of Jesus.

So this will take a different direction than normal.

The verses I read from the Fourth Gospel describe a

Journey from 

above to below.

In the words of Miguel Escobar, 

John is often called the “Spiritual Gospel…

because it speaks of Jesus’ ministry on a cosmic scale 

and through highly symbolic, occasionally abstract language.”

Jesus’ origins are described at the very beginning of creation, 

not just in a stable in Bethlehem (or a room in Nazareth).

In John’s prologue, Jesus enters human history from a lofty position, 

providing the gift of eternal life to all, 

showcasing grace and truth.

Jesus is identified with the divine Logos - 

usually translated in English as “the Word”.

And is particularly linked here to 

God’s Wisdom present at Creation 

(In Proverbs 8 we hear: 

When he established the heavens, I was there, 

when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, 

when he made firm the skies above, ..then I was beside him,

 like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, 

rejoicing before him always,

rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.

Jesus’s beginnings are truly not just humble, 

born in a stable, 

but as Sophia, God’s Wisdom, (portrayed in the feminine) 

who was God’s delight throughout the entirety of creation.

—

Now to make the whole gender thing a little more interesting,

Is that while the Word in English is usually gendered male 

(that is, the Word is referred to as “he”)

In the original Greek, the Logos is of neuter gender 

So Neither male nor female.

Now this is a seemingly small matter 

But you know 

These days the transgender community is scapegoated and targeted 

(both north and south of the border).

And so if we insist that the Logos is male,

this shapes our theology as well as how we live out other social issues.

Yet “God’s Word is not bound by human categories of gender, 

(and while) the enfleshment of Jesus is male, 

the Logos itself transcends human binaries.”

Yes, Jesus was a man,

But if the Logos, the Word Made Flesh, was of Neutral gender,

This gives a different take on how

God - who is beyond genders is enfleshed in the incarnation.”

The divine Word is there for all genders. 

The Word is the light for all peoples.

It really highlights how encompassing God is, 

and by limiting it to a male gender, 

we rob the incarnation of the fulness of its story.

—

Another crucial theme in John’s first Chapter is the theme of light.

Here light is of course symbolic

And refers to knowledge and belief.

While its opposite, darkness, refers to unbelief.

(Now ignoring for a moment the racial and colorist undertones

of this dynamic,) we hear that

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it, 

(or in the newer translation, slightly more nuanced,) and the darkness did not overtake it.

The backdrop for the story of Jesus (and for the story of all creation) 

is this cosmic struggle between good and evil,

between light and darkness.

And even today we must acknowledge that the

“Darkness of racism, hatred and political violence are very real,

But the light of Christ overcomes and transcends these forces.”

We may see much darkness around us at times,

We may witness lies and deception from the highest halls of power, 

abuse of privilege, and selfishness.

But Christ’s light that came into the world, is more powerful, 

and though the darkness can be stifling and demoralizing, 

it cannot overtake it.

—

You see, at the core of today’s message,

We encounter (broadly speaking) a yes from God

That shatters all the evil and the darkness in the world.

This Yes from God happens in two ways.

The first yes is the eternal Word taking on human flesh.

This goes beyond what we read in the Old Testament,

It goes beyond Wisdom and the Logos: 

the Incarnation is new! 

And hadn’t ever happened before!

God’s yes is to the incarnation: 

The Word was no longer just an abstract idea 

but a real man with ideas! 

The Word who was there before creation was now dwelling with us! 

With humans!

V14 

For the Word became flesh and lived among us!

We have seen his glory (as of a Father’s only Son)!

It is the Son who has made God known

As he was close to the heavenly Father’s heart.

Since we can see the Son, we can see God the Father,

Since we know the Son, Jesus, we know God.

This is a life-altering reality-shattering revelation.

Which we so often take for granted.

The SECOND yes from God,

God’s second affirmation,

Is that those who receive the Word will become Children of God.

We heard that: All who received him (believed in his name) 

he gave power to become children of God, 

(born of God and not man)!

“Belonging to God’s family is not dependent on blood, ethnicity, or lineage, but comes through receiving the light of Christ”.

This universal message of Christmas is that this Good news 

is not limited to one people,

But is intended for everyone!

All can become God’s children, regardless of your past, 

regardless of where you’re from.

By believing in Jesus’ name, you can call on God as your heavenly parent.

—

For those of you who have been following our Season of Advent to Epiphany with its theme of the “power of yes”, 

we’ve been focussing on individuals’ yes responses to God.

But today, we focus on the original power of yes, 

God’s yes to Jesus through the incarnation, 

and God’s yes to us as our heavenly Father.

These are the most foundational and powerful of all the yeses. 

Because everything flows out from them.

When God says “yes” to send the Word to Earth, 

he sends life, that was the light of all people. 

That light is available to all of us, all the time, 

when we believe in it.

When God says yes to us, 

Then we have a direct and personal connection to God 

through Jesus, his Son as we become Children of God.

Which gives us a new identity and belonging.

Being a child of God changes who you are at the deepest level —

 you’re not defined by failure, fear, or what the world says; 

you belong to God’s family.

=Being a child of God changes who you are from the inside out— 

you are no longer defined by any labels you or others have placed on you, but by God’s love and promise; 

you are claimed, named, and welcomed into God’s family, 

where your identity rests not in what you have done or failed to do, 

but in whose you are.

Being children of God also means we have Intimacy with the 

Heavenly Father —

Children of God have access. 

Imagine a child who can run into their parent’s study and sit on their lap — no appointment needed.

Through Christ we may come into God’s presence with confidence; 

we are invited into relationship, 

We are invited to pray at all times, 

to talk to God whenever and however we are able.

We know that since God has said his yes to us as Father, 

that God will hear us.

—

And that’s one of the directions that John’s Gospel can take us today.

You see Christmas isn’t just about Santa and presents

It’s not even just about the manger in Bethlehem

But it’s also about the cosmic story of salvation that spans forever.

As we celebrate God’s 2 divine yeses. 

God’s two affirmations

1) of the sending of the eternal Word into human flesh

2) and of believers becoming children of God

We can remain hopeful (for all eternity):

For the God who said yes

At the Beginning of creation

Will say yes to us at the end.

Amen.

*Hymn of the Day 295 “Of the Father’s Love Begotten”

—

Sources:

Miguel Escobar, Advent to Go 2025, churchanew.org

Westminster Study Bible, WJK Press.

ChatGPT queries