St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
Dear friends in Christ. Today we are at the third day of Christmas. It is still that lull between Christmas and New Year. Most of the world has “moved beyond” Christmas. Now it’s trees on the curbs and the after Christmas sales. But in the Church we need 12 days to ponder the great mystery and gift that God gave us that first Christmas and what it all means.
On this 3rd day of Christmas we remember St. John, the writer of the Gospel bearing His name, 3 epistles and the Revelation. The first chapter of his Gospel teaches us Christmas in a very deep, profound way—that Jesus is the eternal word, true God, who became also true man: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. How fitting to remember St. John in the midst of the Christmas season.
Our text is the beginning verses of St. John’s First Epistle which is a nice reflection also of the beginning of his Gospel. As we examine our text we will see St. John “unwrapping God’s gift” to us that first Christmas and we will see just Who/ what that gift is—our Savior, Jesus, was who was born and the blessing that results from His coming, from God’s gift to us that first Christmas.
1. Our text begins with that great Christmas mystery—and what Christmas is really all about—that the true God, the Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity became also true man. That’s Christmas! That’s the Christmas miracle! As St. John here, if you will, unwraps the Christmas gift that was given to the whole world that first Christmas—Jesus—let stop and ponder this greatest of gifts.
Notice how St. John describes this mystery/ this gift: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim.
What is the first thing St. John describes/ reveals as he unwraps God’s Christmas gift to the world? The divinity of Jesus, the fact that He is true God: He was from the beginning. God’s Christmas gift is Jesus who was from the beginning, who is the true eternal God. At the beginning, at the creation Jesus was already there! Before there was anything there He was. He is eternal.
In the same way Moses begins Genesis and the creation account: In the beginning God. He was there to start/ begin/ create everything, just as St. John [1.2-3] writes in the Gospel about Jesus, the Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity: He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made. And with thankful hearts and in faith this is what we confess in the Creed when we say about Jesus: by Whom all things were made.
Not only does St. John point to Jesus’ eternity, but He also calls Jesus the word of life and the life. As God, Jesus is the Source of all life and gives all life. Not only did He do this at the original creation but He still does so. All life comes from God and can only come from Him. And Jesus is the life.
So yes, as St. John “unwraps” God’s Christmas gift to us—Christ Jesus—we catch a glimpse of this gift—He is eternal and He is life. This gift is the very God Himself.
But as St. John continues to unwrap God’s Christmas gift, “as more of the wrapping paper is pulled away,” we note and ponder something else: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands… the life was made manifest. So the eternal God, that which was from the beginning, what of Him? He was heard—His spoke and His words were heard; He was seen—He has an actual physical human body; He was looked upon—He could be seen and looked at intently, He wasn’t just a “quick blip on the radar” but spent 3 years in His earthly ministry seen by thousands at a time; He was touched—His is a true physical human body, not just during His earthly life, but also now after His resurrection Jesus is still true man, still has the body born of Mary, as He invited His disciples on Easter Sunday evening [Lk. 24.39]: Behold My hands and feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. He was revealed—by His preaching and His miracles Jesus revealed that He is not just any ordinary man but the one who is both true 100% God and true 100% man. As St. John here pulls all the wrapping paper away, we see the gift, Jesus: true eternal God and born of Mary.
2. This is the Christmas gift announced by the angels [Luke 2.11]: For there is born for you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. But like we have seen so far in our text—this Christmas gift must be unwrapped so that we may understand and receive the blessing of it! That’s the blessed work of the Evangelists, like St. John; that’s why it is so fitting we remember one of the four Evangelists here so close to Christmas. Without them, we wouldn’t know anything about who Jesus is or what He is all about. The life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim. That we is St. John and all our Lord’s blessed apostles. What a blessed position they were in—they got to see Jesus, hear His preaching, see the miracles confirming that preaching; they got to see Him in His glory; they got to touch Him. The apostles were with Jesus from the beginning of His earthly ministry beginning with His baptism by St. John the Baptizer; they saw the resurrected Christ and saw His ascent into heaven. And the great grace of God to a world lost and condemned in sin? The life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim.
Through the apostles the Lord had the proclamation of this saving Person and work of Jesus go out into all the world. And in a great grace to St. John—along with Sts. Matthew, Mark and Luke—the Lord had the Holy Spirit so move these men to write the account of Jesus’ life and work and to write it perfectly without any error so that down to the very Last Day the true meaning and significance of Christmas would be known—that Jesus Christ, true God and true Man and our Savior from sin, death, devil and hell was born; that on Good Friday He died for the sins of all, reconciling us sinners to the holy God and bringing for us forgiveness of sin and eternal life; that on Easter Sunday, He rose from the dead Conqueror of sin, death, devil and hell. Like St. John, the holy Evangelists, unwrap for us the Christmas miracle. And, says St. John in our text, we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. What the Apostles preached in their day of Jesus and His life and work, the blessed Evangelists wrote down for us.
The very fact that there are Sts. John, Luke, Mark and Matthew—the very fact that there are the holy Evangelists—means what? Left to ourselves and our own devices we would never know a thing about Jesus and who He is and why He came. In other words, Jesus and His saving life, word and work would all be unknown to us. Yes, Jesus could have been born a thousand times but if there were no Spirit-inspired Evangelist, like St. John to tell us of Jesus and His work for us, all would be lost for us! But praise be to God that St. John, and the other evangelists, “unwraps” God’s Christmas gift to the whole lost sinful world and tells us who Jesus is—the true God who became also true man to be our Savior.
Again, St. John and the other holy writers have to “unwrap” this most precious of gifts. We have the Law of God in our conscience, we have the Law accusing us of sin but only in Scripture do we have the sweet Gospel not only telling us of our Savior from sin and hell— For there is born for you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord—but also to giving us the gifts and blessings Jesus won for us—forgiveness of sin, life and salvation. Although the apostles were so blessed to see, hear, touch Jesus, we have the same Jesus they have; we have the same gifts of forgiveness of sin and eternal life they have.
Why? Because through the word of the apostles—like here St. John and the Gospel He wrote by the guidance of the Holy Spirit—we now have, through faith, fellowship with Jesus. Our text: that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. Through the word of the Apostles preserved in the Bible down to us in our day the Holy Spirit is mightily at work on our hearts and minds working faith in Jesus. We today have fellowship with the apostles—and why? Because by the work of the Holy Spirit we have the same faith as the apostles did! Their trust, confidence was in Jesus—as is ours—for forgiveness and heaven. By God’s grace toward us, in their preaching and in their writing, they in the preaching and some in their writing “unwrapped” the gift of God to us sinners so now we have nothing less than what the apostles themselves had—fellowship with Jesus and sharing in all His gifts and blessings.
Notice the wonderful relationship that exists. Through their preaching and word, we have, now through faith, fellowship with the apostles—we have the same Spirit worked faith in Jesus. And the apostles, like St. John, have fellowship with Jesus. By believing in Spirit worked faith the doctrine that the apostles teach of Jesus, by receiving that Christmas gift God gave the sinful world that first Christmas that the apostles have “unwrapped” in their preaching and teaching, we now have fellowship with the Apostles who saw, heard, touched Jesus. Through our fellowship with them, we have fellowship with Jesus and the Father and all our fellow Christians wherever they may be. That glorious fellowship with our fellow Christians in Christ is the Church, the Communion of saints.
When we, with our fellow Christians, have that fellowship with Jesus— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ–that means that we are one with Jesus so that as we give Him our sin, wretchedness, death, etc. He gives us forgiveness, life and peace.
This fellowship we Christians have with Jesus and each other is given such beautiful expression in the Blessed Sacrament. Our fellowship with Jesus is expressed as He gives us His very body and blood—that very body and blood He took on in the womb of Mary. And Jesus also gives our fellow communicant His same body and blood. A beautiful oneness/ fellowship exists between me and Jesus and me and my fellow communicant because that fellowship is grounded in the doctrine of the blessed apostles and Evangelists—like St. John-- have fellowship with us. That’s the oneness so beautifully and lovingly shown and expressed by the practice of Closed Communion, which goes back to the time of the Apostles.
Christmas is all about God becoming man so that He could be our Savior and we have fellowship with Him both now and eternally. And so that we might receive this most gracious and wondrous gift that first Christmas, the Lord gave us the Apostles and Evangelists—like St. John whom we remember today—to unwrap this gift so that we might understand and enjoy it. INJ Amen