The Second Sunday after Christmas
January 4, 2025
John 1:14-18
Bless You!
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
14John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'” 16From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. (NIV1984)
Dear fellow worshipers of the Christ-Child,
Bless you! Most of us recognize those two little words as a very common response to a very common event. Whenever we hear someone sneeze we almost always say, “Bless you!” While there are a number of explanations as to why we do this, I found it rather interesting that the earliest written record of someone saying, “Bless you!” in response to a sneeze goes all the way back to 77 A.D. Thank you Google!
Bless you! While it may not be as common as saying, “Bless you!” when someone sneezes, the two little words “Bless you!” can also be used as an alternative to saying, “Thank you!” If someone does something for you that you couldn’t do yourself or if someone gives something to you that you desperately needed, you might easily respond with the words, “Bless you!”
Bless you! When I first started reading over our text for today those two little words quickly popped into my mind. No, it wasn’t because someone sneezed. No, it wasn’t because someone did something for me or gave something to me. The reason those two little words came into my mind was because these inspired words of John’s Gospel reminded me of the one Person who can— and does— speak those words to us in a uniquely powerful way. Today then, my friends, as we continue our celebration of Christmas let’s study this portion of God’s holy Word under the theme: Bless You! There are two questions we need to address this morning. The first question is— Who is speaking these words to you? The second question is— What blessings does He give to you?
Bless you! Who is speaking those words to you this morning? The apostle John answers that question for us in the opening words of our text. He writes, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
Who is John talking about here? When we simply take Scripture at face value, it is obvious that John is talking about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Christmas reveals to us that Jesus is the Incarnate Word of God. Christmas reveals to us that the eternal Son of God “became flesh,” or as we confess in the Nicene Creed, the only Son of God “was made man.” Christmas reveals to us that the Second Person of the holy Trinity was willing to leave the glory and perfection of His heavenly home and “make his dwelling among us.”
This glorious truth is made even more clear when John goes on to say, “We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Again, when we simply take the words of Scripture at face value these words can only be describing Jesus. Remember, my friends, that the apostle John was there on the Mount of Transfiguration. John saw Jesus’ face shine “like the sun.” John saw Jesus’ clothes become “as white as the light.” John heard God the Father say concerning Jesus of Nazareth, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (See Matthew 17:1-8)
And yes, John knew exactly why the Holy Spirit led him to describe Jesus as being “full of grace and truth.” John was an eyewitness to the “grace” that literally filled Jesus’ ministry here on this earth. From the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well (John 4) to the Canaanite woman whose daughter was healed of demon possession (Matthew 15:21-28), from the feeding of the five thousand (John 6) to the raising of widow’s son at Nain (Luke 7:11-17), from the events that took place in the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday (John 13-17) to the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ (John 18-20) John saw the “grace” of God in action over and over again in Jesus’ ministry. John was there when Jesus proclaimed to His disciples, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). John knew that Jesus had boldly said to Pontius Pilate, “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (John 18:37). And so yes, my friends, John knew that Jesus is most certainly “full of grace and truth”!
Bless you! As we study this beautifully rich portion of Scripture under that theme it is extremely important for us to know that the Person who has the right to speak those words to us in a uniquely powerful way is none other than Immanuel, the Word of God who became flesh and made His dwelling among us, the One and Only begotten Son of God who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Why is that so important for us to know? It is important, my friends, because that truth is what enables us to correctly answer our second question for today— What blessings does Jesus give to you?
Look at verses 16-18 of our text. John writes, “From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”
Even though Jesus of Nazareth is the true eternal Son of the one and only living God, even though Jesus of Nazareth rightfully possesses every blessing that exits, His love for us is so great that He is willing to take from the “fullness of his grace” and give to us “one blessing after another.” This portion of our text is where I got our sermon theme for today. This portion of our text is why I said that Jesus alone is uniquely qualified to say, “Bless you!” to us in a uniquely powerful way! When Jesus speaks those two little words it is not just a “wish.” When Jesus speaks those two little words He literally conveys to us “one blessing after another.”
While the Holy Spirit could have given us any number of examples of the blessings that Jesus gives to us, here in our text He places just three wonderful blessings before us this morning. But, in order to help us appreciate those wonderful blessings God the Holy Spirit first has John remind us of a very powerful truth, a truth that we can never forget. He says, “the law was given through Moses.” When we look into the mirror of God’s holy Law what do we see? We see that like the tax-collector in the Temple each and every one of us has countless reasons to hang our head in shame and say, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). You know what you have done, my friends. You know exactly why you needed to stand up here in God’s house and publicly confess that you have disobeyed God in your thoughts, words and actions. You know exactly why you deserve His punishment both now and in eternity. Yes, my friends, the mirror of God’s holy Law is extremely effective in showing us our sins!
Thankfully, every time we humbly confess our sins, the Word who became flesh and made His dwelling among us lovingly puts His hand on our shoulder and says, “Bless you!” He freely takes from the “fullness of his grace” and He gives to us the blessing of “grace.” Do you know what that means, my friends? God’s blessing of “grace” means that your sins are forgiven! Do you deserve to receive God’s “grace”? Do you deserve to have all your sins completely forgiven? No, you do not! Neither do I! That’s why the Bible calls it “grace.” “Grace” is God’s “undeserved love” for sinners like us!
Secondly, the Holy Spirit reminds us this morning that the Word who became flesh and made His dwelling among us, freely takes from the “fullness of his grace” and gives us the blessing of “truth.” Like Pontius Pilate there are many people today who mockingly ask the question, “What is truth” (John 18:38) It is only by the “grace” of God that you and I understand why Jesus prayed to His heavenly Father, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). In the world around us the definition of “truth” is constantly changing, isn’t it. God’s Word is the only reliable source of “truth”— “truth” that does not change from one generation to the next, “truth” that does not fluctuate from one situation to the next. Therefore, my friends, when you and I want to know the “truth” we need to sit down with God’s holy Word and listen to Jesus. Through His holy inspired Word Jesus does indeed bless us with the “truth”!
And finally, God the Holy Spirit reminds us this morning that the Word who became flesh and made His dwelling among us freely takes from the “fullness of his grace” and “makes known” to us the one and only true God. Do you want to see the power of the living God? Look at all the miracles that Jesus performed while He was here on this earth. From the miracle of changing water into wine (John 2) to the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11) Jesus shows us the full extent of the power of God. Do you want to see the compassion of God? Look at Jesus! Whether it was the healing of the ten lepers (Luke 17) or lovingly providing for His mother even as He hung dying on the cross for the sins of the world (John 19) Jesus embodies the compassion of God. Do you want to see God’s righteous anger over sin? Look at Jesus! Whether it was pronouncing judgment on the Pharisees for their hypocrisy and unbelief (Matthew 23) or crying out from the cross “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”?” (Matthew 27:46) Jesus does indeed reveal to us God’s righteous anger over sin. (Pointing to the cross) Do you want to see God’s love in its purest form? Look at Jesus! Whether it is His calm proclamation on Good Friday, “It is finished” (John 19:30) or His confident exclamation on Easter Sunday, “Peace be with you!” (John 20:19) Jesus is God’s love in its purest form. And so, yes, my friends, when Jesus says to us “Bless you!” He is indeed giving to us the blessing of knowing that when we see Jesus we see the one and only true God!
Bless you! Most of us automatically speak those words whenever we hear someone sneeze. Bless you! Some of us may speak those words when someone does something for us or gives something to us. Bless you! Nothing, my friends — absolutely nothing in all the world— can ever compare to the unique power that those two little words have when spoken to us by the Word who became flesh and made His dwelling among us. May God grant that we never lose sight of who speaks those two little words to us. May God grant that we humbly rejoice in all the wonderful blessings that those two little words convey to us.
To God be the glory!
Amen