In 2005, conservative author John Gibson released his book entitled, The War on Christmas. In it, Gibson described ways in which the public celebration of Christmas is being pushed out of mainstream culture. For example, in some communities or venues, public nativity scenes and Christmas trees are banned. Saying “Merry Christmas” is forbidden. Singing traditional Christmas carols is frowned upon.
Similarly, in 2008, country artist Toby Keith crooned this song on a television talk-show:
I can’t believe what Christmas
Has come to today
All these atheists and judges
Tryin’ to take it away
No carols in our public schools
No trees in city hall
And they wish you Season’s Greetings
At the shopping mall
Ain’t you sick of it all?
Well, there’s a War on Christmas
It’s under attack
But this year America is taking it back
And already this year, according to some outlets, the latest battle in the war on Christmas has begun. Recently, a New Jersey school sparked a debate about attempts to ban religious Christmas songs from its elementary-school winter concerts.
The so-called “War on Christmas” rages on.
John 1 talks about a war at Christmas. But it’s not the war we’re thinking of. Our culture and media are caught up in a debate about the practice of Christmas. Should Christmas be practiced publicly or just privately? Is it appropriate for public schools to sing Christmas carols or should those songs be relegated to private parties? Our culture debates the practice of Christmas. But John 1 takes up a different debate. John 1 debates the person of Christmas. Put aside questions about how Christmas is practiced in our country. Let’s go back to the person of Christmas. Just who is this Jesus? John 1 is about the conflict over different answers to that question. And the conflict over the person of Christmas is a far greater conflict than the one over the practice of Christmas.
John hints at this different war in Jn. 1:5–“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (Jn. 1:5 ESV). Your Bible may translate that word “overcome” differently. But “overcome” is a good translation. John will use this same word later to describe a woman “caught” in the act of adultery. Seized. Grasped. That’s what John is describing in 1:5. He’s describing darkness attempting to capture, seize, or grasp the light. He’s describing a conflict. A battle. A war between light and darkness.
This was the war that was often spoken about in John’s day. Other ancient literature also wrote of the struggle between light and darkness. For example, this was a prominent theme in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The authors of those scrolls wrote of darkness appearing to have the upper hand in our world but of light eventually winning the final battle. And it’s in the context of this war between darkness and light that John writes his Christmas story.
This morning we kick off a new series in John 1 called arrival. Normally when we preach about Christmas or the birth of Jesus, we go to places like Matthew or Luke. They tell us the familiar stories of baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph. But this Christmas at Highland we want to explore one of the most unexplored passages about Jesus’ birth–John 1. And John begins his account with this war between light and dark.
It was a war which John’s readers were experiencing first-hand. John’s writing to a community of mostly Jewish Christians. From what we can gather, these Jewish Christians have been rejected by their Jewish families and their Jewish friends because they’ve decided to follow Jesus. The local Jewish religious leaders charge that these Jewish Christians have departed from two central foundations of Judaism: 1) observance of the Torah or law, and 2) a monotheistic view of God. These Jewish religious leaders believe that in turning to Jesus, these former Jews have turned their back on the Torah and they’ve turned their back on the belief that God is one. In their minds, Jesus is not worth following. Why? Because Jesus belittles the law. And because Jesus is not divine.
In other words, the religious leaders minimize Jesus. They want to argue that Jesus is not all he claims to be. Jesus is not the fulfillment of the law. He is not divine. They minimize Jesus.
And it may be that some of John’s Christian readers are now tempted to do the same. Their Jewish friends no longer talk to them. Their Jewish families no longer have them over for dinner. And John’s readers may not be wondering if it’s really worth it to follow Jesus. If Jesus is really all he said he was.
So what does John do? John magnifies Jesus. Everyone around these readers of John’s Gospel is minimizing Jesus. So John writes an account of Jesus’ birth that magnifies Jesus. John wants his readers and us to see just who it is we’re talking about when we talk about that little baby in the manger. John wants us to see much more than merely an infant. That’s why John gives us something in his Christmas story that no other Gospel author gives us. John gives us a view of the person of Christmas before Christmas ever came about. John goes back in time and shows us a portrait of Jesus that is magnificent and exalted. He magnifies Jesus.
And here’s why that’s important: we still minimize Jesus. Especially at Christmas. Yes, I know this is the time of year when we seem to think more of Jesus than we do at other times. It’s when we pull out the nativity scenes, and sing the carols, and light the advent candles. Yet even in all of that, we can minimize Jesus.
How? The Jesus of contemporary Christmas is largely known in evangelical circles as “the reason for the season.” That’s been one of our primary responses to the attempt to push Christmas out of the public square. We shout back to our secular culture, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” He’s the reason we practice the whole thing in the first place.
And that’s true (mostly). But it’s only part of the truth about Jesus. There’s actually a sense in which we minimize Jesus when he is merely a reason for a season. When Jesus is just “the reason for the season,” he’s like that box of Christmas ornaments I keep in my attic. When the season starts, I pull him out, dust him off, and display him proudly. While the season progresses, I attend to him daily. But when the season is over, I pack him back up and put him away someplace removed from my daily life. Jesus goes from the middle of my life to the margin of my life relatively quickly. When Jesus is just the reason for the season, it’s easy to leave him out of life when the season is over.
Phil LeMaster tells this story: “It was nearing Christmas, and I received a phone call from a man who needed to talk to a preacher. I met him at my church office, where he told me his tale of woe. A decade earlier, he killed his wife in a fit of anger, was convicted of manslaughter, and spent several years in prison. He and his wife had a daughter who was in the custody of his in-laws. He had not seen her since the crime, and now, as Christmas neared, his heart ached. Tears streaming down his face, he lamented, ‘I could pass her on the streets of this city and not even know who she was.’ What I remember most about our counseling session, however, was what he said when he first walked into my office. Dramatically raising his arms he said, ‘Now, preacher, let’s just leave Jesus out of this, okay?’ As he sadly went his way that day, I thought to myself, That’s the whole problem. You’ve left Jesus out.”[1]
When Jesus is just the reason for this season, we can welcome him into our lives and parties and routines. But when the season is over, it’s easy for us to say, “Well, now I can leave Jesus out of this.” Even we, even during Christmas, can minimize Jesus.
John wants to prevent this. That’s why he starts his Christmas story with these surprising words: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5 ESV).
There’s a lot being said in this passage. It can be confusing. But there is something clear that we can all understand. John begins with a carefully crafted statement that repeats the key line “in the beginning”: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. Even if we don’t know much Bible, that line may be familiar. It sounds just like Gen. 1:1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The most important thing for you to understand about John’s unusual birth announcement is this—John’s taking us back to Gen. 1 and the creation of life. He wants to go back to that beginning to show us who Jesus truly is.
Everything else in this text ties back to Gen. 1. For example, John calls Jesus the Word—in the beginning was the Word. That could be tied to the fact that in Gen. 1 God spoke words that brought the cosmos into existence. But it could also be a reference to other ancient Jewish beliefs. Ancient Jews believed that God’s word, or law, or wisdom, was with God in the beginning. For example, Prov. 8:22 speaks of Wisdom being “in the beginning” at creation. First century Jewish literature wrote of God’s law “prepared from the creation of the world.” John’s using similar language to describe Jesus. When he calls Jesus the Word, he’s simply making use of common ancient Jewish beliefs. He’s saying Jesus is the law or the wisdom or the word that was with God at the beginning.
In addition, ancient Jews thought of God’s word or law or wisdom as a source of life and light. The Psalms and Proverbs speak of God’s law or Wisdom as light (Ps. 119:105,130; Prov. 6:23) and life (Prov. 3:18; 13:14). When John says that Jesus is the source of light or life, he’s just using that common ancient Jewish language.
Again, the most important thing and the clearest thing is the fact that John’s taking us back to Gen. 1. He’s taking us back to the moment when life first emerged. When light first dispelled the darkness. When everything that’s good began. When planets erupted into existence. When stars first twinkled. When giant animals were first formed. When huge fish were first let loose. When mountains congregated into ranges. When valleys were carved into the earth. All at the hands of a mighty God.
Gen. 1 is where our oldest and most fantastic images of God are rooted. It’s the biggest picture of God in the Bible. And once we’re there in Genesis 1, and our heart is racing, and we fear for our lives because we’re watching atoms smashing, planets forming, oceans growing, life emerging in a whirlwind of energy and light like we’ve never before seen, John says, “That’s Jesus.” Jesus was there in the beginning. He is the God of creation. His mouth spoke things into existence. His hands formed you from dirt. He is the source of all life. He is the light that dispels all darkness. Jesus is the God of Gen. 1.
Why does John take us there? It’s because John wants us to do more than just think of Jesus as the reason for the season. John wants us to think of Jesus as the basis for our being. Jesus is more than a reason for a season; he is the basis for our being. John wants us to see that Jesus is the one who hung the moon. Jesus is the one who crafted the galaxies. Jesus is the one who painted the zebra. Jesus is the one who colored the sunset. Jesus is the one who put the breath into our lungs. Jesus is the one who put the beat into our hearts. And without Jesus we would be–well, we simply wouldn’t be.
John is saying this Jesus of Christmas is your life. He is your light. He’s so much more than something that makes a year-end season delightful. He’s the only thing that makes life possible. Without Jesus you only have darkness. Without Jesus you only have death. But with him you have light. With him you have life.
This time of year isn’t merely about singing favorite Christmas carols and eating favorite Christmas foods and seeing some of your favorite people. It’s about remembering where life comes from. It’s about remembering where our light comes from. It all comes from Jesus.
Michael Card writes, “Again and again in China I talked to people who had never heard of Christianity, never heard of Jesus, never heard a single word from the Bible. Yet through nature and their God-given conscience, many believed in God. Not only did they believe God existed, they had derived some understanding about His loving character because he provided food, water, and a beautiful world. One old woman told me, ‘I’ve known him for years. I just didn’t know his name.’”[2]
John wants you to know his name. His name is Jesus. He’s the one who provides food. He’s the one who provides water. He’s the one behind this beautiful world. He’s not merely a reason for the season. He is the basis for your life.
And what that means is this: God’s already given you everything you need for life. This time of year is a hard time for many people. Because so many feel they are missing what they need to truly be alive. They feel like they are missing what they need to truly get out of the darkness. They miss that spouse who walked out, that grandparent who passed away, that child who moved to college. They miss that old circle of friends in the city they left. They miss the financial stability to give their kids the Christmas they used to be able to give them. They miss the warm circle of friends or family which so many others have but they don’t. They miss the romance they’ve never had. They miss the church they used to have. They miss whatever the massive marketing machine tells them they need to have this season in order to be happy. And what John wants you to know is this: If you have Jesus, you already have everything you need for life and for light—no matter what else is missing.
John wants us to stop minimizing Jesus. He wants us to stop thinking, “Well, I’ve got Jesus, sure, but I don’t have _____, and so I don’t have life.” John wants us to realize that when we have Jesus we have all we’ll ever need. Even when we have nothing, if we have Jesus we have everything. John writes of Jesus as the one through whom you came into existence, the one who is the source of all that you enjoy, the one who sustains you and makes you alive. He is the beginning and end of your life. And when you have Jesus you have everything. When you have Jesus you don’t just have a reason for the season. You have the basis for life.
Recently, Kendra and I were visiting my brother and his family in Fort Worth. One afternoon we were window shopping in a high-end commercial area in downtown Dallas. Kendra walked by an expensive clothing store and saw this sign in the store: “Happiness is Expensive.” The store was saying, “If you’re looking for happiness, you’ll find it here. If you’re looking for life, if you’re looking for something that will give you light, you’ll find it here. But it’s going to cost you. It’s going to be expensive.” And that’s how our culture thinks. Happiness, life and light are for the very few who can afford it. And if you don’t have those things, you don’t have life or light.
But John wants you to know the truth. The truth is that if you have Jesus, you have life. If you have Jesus, you have light. And you can have him for free.
I want you to consider your answer to these two statements:
1. “Because I don’t have ___, I feel dead/dark.” What’s making you feel dead or dark right now? What’s missing? What’s been taken from you? What’s not been given to you? What do you think you need to feel alive?
2. “Because I have Jesus, I am alive/ I am alight.” Would you say that line out loud with me: “Because I have Jesus, I am alive/ I am alight.” Jesus is no mere reason for a temporary season. He is the basis for your being. He’s all you’ll ever need. He’s your everything.
If you’ve never made a conscious decision to be a part of his life, you can do that today. You can confess your belief in him and let us baptize you into him. And no matter what you walked in here without, you’ll leave with more than you could have ever imagined.
Let’s continue to celebrate the life that Jesus brings…
[1] Phil LeMaster, Senior Minister, First Church of Christ, Grayson, Kentucky.
[2] [Michael Card, from interview in Discipleship Journal (Nov/Dec 2002), p. 72]
