Deo Gloria
Sermon for December 25, 2020
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Hebrews 1:1-9
Theme: What Child is This?
- This Child is the Son of God.
- This Child is our Savior from sin.
- This Child is the King of heaven.
There are candles. There are presents. There are special gatherings of family and friends. It must be a birthday party, right? Yes, Christmas is a birthday party. It’s the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Celebrating someone’s birthday is nothing unusual, of course. We do it all the time. But how often do we celebrate someone’s birthday long after they’re gone? And how often do we get a day off from work and even a week or two off from school so we can celebrate someone’s birthday? And how often do people all around the world take the time celebrate the birth of the very same person? It makes you wonder, doesn’t it: What child is this that people all over the world are celebrating his birth today? What child is this that we are still celebrating his birth some 2,000 years later?
The verses of our text this morning provide us with the answer to that question. They help us see what is so unique and so special about this baby who was born in Bethlehem. They tell us that this child is the Son of God, that he is our Savior from sin, and that he is the King of heaven.
The author of this letter was writing to Jewish Christians back in the first century who were facing persecution and hardship because of their faith in Jesus. Do you know those stories about Christians being arrested and dragged away to prison? Do you know those stories about Christians being fed to the lions in the Coliseum? Do you know those stories about Christians being burned alive at the stake? Those aren’t just stories. They really happened. That was the kind of persecution Christians back in the first century had to deal with. And because of that, some of them were tempted to turn their backs on Christ. Jewish Christians in particular were tempted to forsake their Christian faith and go back to their Jewish religion so they could avoid persecution. The author’s purpose in writing this letter was to encourage them not to. He urges them again and again not to turn their backs on Christ by pointing out what a tremendous treasure they have in Christ. He is different. He is special. He is greater than Abraham, their forefather. He is greater than Moses, greater even than the angels in heaven. Jesus is the Son of God.
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being”(v. 3). The word “radiance” is a word for a light or a brightness that shines out from something. Think of the radiance of the sun, for example. Even when the sun is hidden behind a cloud, you can still see its radiance or brightness. You and I have never seen God, but we can still see his radiance. All we have to do is look at that baby in a manger. There we see the glory of God shining forth in all its brilliance, in all its brightness, because that baby is the Son of God.
Likewise, the author says that Jesus is “the exact representation of his being.” The word used here is the word for an impression stamped on a coin. You and I have never seen Abraham Lincoln, but we have a good idea what he looks like because his image is stamped on the penny. Similarly, you and I have never seen George Washington, but we have a good idea what he looks like too because his image is stamped on the quarter. You and I have never seen God, but we have a good idea of what he is like. All we have to do is look at Jesus. He is “the exact representation of his being.” He is God in human flesh. And isn’t that what Jesus himself said to his disciples? “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father”(John 14:9). Jesus is the Son of God.
Notice what else the writer says about Jesus back in v. 2: “…whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.” In the game of Monopoly the winner is the owner of everything in the end. All the other players have gone bankrupt, and he or she is the only one left and they get everything. When the game of life is over and this world of ours comes to an end, the owner of everything will not be Bill Gates or Warren Buffett. The owner of everything will be Jesus. As the Son of God, God has entrusted everything to him. He is the heir of all things.
Next let’s turn to other end of the spectrum, back to the beginning. Jesus was there too. When the universe was formed and our world was brought into existence and the very first people were made, Jesus was there. All things were made through him. This is what John said in today’s Gospel lesson too, isn’t it? “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made”(1:1-3). This child lying in a manger is the one who made the wood for the manger, the one who made the hay and the straw for the animals, the one who made the cows and the sheep and everything else. He is the almighty Son of God.
And yet, the author of this letter didn’t want his readers to have to take his word for it. As Jewish Christians, they would have been very familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures. So he quotes a pair of passages from the Old Testament to reinforce his point. The first is from the book of Psalms: “You are my Son; today I have become your Father”(2:7). Jesus is God’s eternal Son, “eternally begotten of the Father,” as we confess in the Nicene Creed. The second comes from 2 Samuel, ch. 7: “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”(v. 14). Though originally spoken to David about his son Solomon, those words had a far greater meaning. They pointed ahead to David’s greater Son, the one who would sit on his throne and rule over his kingdom forever. Did God ever say something like that to one of his angels? Did God ever say something like that to Abraham or Moses? No. He said those things about one person and one person only: about the child whose birth we are celebrating today. He is the Son of God.
And yet, there are those who want to make him out to be something less. There are those who say that that child who was born in a manger is no different from you and me, that he is only a man, a mere human being. Oh sure, they would say that was a good man, a great teacher, an inspiring leader, someone we all should strive to emulate, but nevertheless only a man. Others, like the Muslims, say that that baby who was born in Bethlehem was nothing more than a prophet like Moses and that other prophets have come along since his time who are greater and more deserving of our honor and respect. Can there be any greater disservice to Jesus? Can there be any greater form of dishonor and disrespect? This child is not a mere human being. He is not simply a good teacher or a godly prophet. He is more, so much more. He is the very Son of God.
A second thing the writer to the Hebrews tells us about this child is that he is our Savior from sin. We pick it up in the middle of v. 3: “After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” “After he had provided purification for sins….” Sin stains. Sin is like grape juice. Sin is like blueberry jelly or ink from a leaky pen. It stains whatever it gets on. And it is not very easy to get out. Only sin doesn’t stain our clothes or our nice, white, linen tablecloth. It stains our hearts. It stains our souls. It makes them dirty and filthy in the eyes of God and unfit for living in heaven. And it can’t be washed out with Tide or Wisk or Clorox either. So how can you and I ever hope of living with God in heaven, people who have stained their souls with every sin imaginable, sins of lust and greed, sins of hatred and cruelty, sins of filthy jokes and filthy language, sins of grumbling and dissatisfaction even at Christmas because some of the presents we got maybe weren’t exactly what we wanted? How can people with sin-stained souls ever live with God in heaven, where everything is pure and clean and spotless? That’s just it—they can’t, unless someone makes them clean again.
And that’s what Jesus came to do. The holy Son of God came into this world of ours and became one of us so that he could make us clean in the eyes of God, so that he could provide purification for our sins. Jesus didn’t cleanse our souls with Clorox or Cheer. Jesus washed them clean with his holy, precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. Likewise, Jesus didn’t tell us to take off our dirty clothes and change into something better. No, he took our sins away and covered us with his own clothes, the robe of his righteousness. Because of him and through faith in him you and I are pure again. Our souls are clean and spotless in the eyes of God. We are his holy children, and therefore fit to live with him in heaven. This too is what makes this child so different, why we still take time to celebrate his birth. He is our Savior from sin.
The third thing the writer to the Hebrews tells us about this child is that he is the King of heaven. “After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven”(v. 3). Yes, when Jesus, the Son of God, came into this world to serve as our Savior, he humbled himself. He humbled himself to be conceived by the Holy Spirit. He humbled himself to be born of the virgin Mary. He humbled himself to be born in a stable and to have a feed box for his first cradle. About 30 years later he humbled himself again to be mocked and ridiculed and beaten, to be crucified under Pontius Pilate, to suffer and die for our sins and for the sins of the world; but he isn’t humble anymore. After providing purification for our sins on the cross, Jesus rose again from dead. And after 40 days, he ascended once again into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father. The right hand is the position of power and honor and glory. Jesus is not second rate. Jesus does not play second fiddle to anyone. He rules as King of kings and Lord of lords. And his kingdom will never end. This is the point the author makes in the last two verses of our text. Again quoting from the Old Testament Scriptures, he writes:
But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”(vv. 8+9).
This child is no ordinary child. He is the King of heaven.
Did you catch, though, that little phrase in v. 9, the one that is so comforting for people like you and me? “…God has set you above your companions…” Jesus has companions. Yes, he is exalted above his companions, no question about that. He is King. He is Lord; but he has companions. He has brothers and sisters, people who are also part of his family, part of his kingdom, and who will live with him and reign with him forever and ever. And, of course, some of those people are already in heaven with him. But what about those who are not? What about those who are still here in this world, struggling against persecution and hardship, struggling against the devil and sin and temptation, struggling against illnesses and pandemics? Have they been left alone to fend for themselves? No. Jesus, their King, is ruling, and he is ruling for them. He is watching over them and protecting them. He is providing for them and caring for them. He is guiding their lives and directing the affairs of the world for their eternal good, so they can be with him in heaven one day too.
Can persecution take you away from Jesus? Can trouble or hardship take you away from Jesus? Can a struggling economy or the loss of your job take you away from Jesus? Can a grumpy boss or a lousy Chemistry professor take you away from Jesus? Can sickness or pain or suffering or death take you away from Jesus? No. As Paul states in Romans ch. 8, nothing—absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord(v. 39), because the babe of Bethlehem is the King of heaven.
“What child is this?” asks the author of the hymn we sang just a little bit ago. “What child is this who, laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping? Whom angels greet with anthems sweet while shepherds watch are keeping?” You and I know the answer. Our text proclaims it loud and clear. This child is no ordinary child. He is the Son of God. He is our Savior from sin. And he is the King of heaven. Amen.