Psalm 98,1.24; Isaiah 9,6. Feast of Christ's Nativity

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The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Psalm 98,1a.24; Isaiah 9,6 0617

Christfest I  07

Nativity of Jesus 

25. Dezember 2016 

1. O Son of God, blessed are You who arrived in the Name of the Lord; shine Your light upon us so that we may marvel at Your wondrous birth.  Amen. (Gradual). 

2. O sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things! The Lord has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His mercy and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! For to us a Child is born, and to us a Son is given, And He is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 

3. The penitent preparation of Advent has concluded; we now joyously celebrate the birth of Jesus. The Psalmist exhorts us: »Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things!« Today we sing once again the Gloria in excelsis. It is not really a new song for us since the Church has been singing this song on Sundays for 1900 years; but it was a new song for the shepherds when they first heard the angelic choir sing it when Jesus was born. Absence makes the heart grow fonder; and thus in Advent we set aside the Gloria so it would grow fonder for us during Advent and our joy would be renewed when we sing it in celebration of Christ’s birth. 

4. »The Lord has made known His salvation.« The first public proclamation of Jesus’ birth was made to shepherds while they watched their sheep in the field. The angels do not appear to King Herod the Great and tell him the good news; that message is left for the Magi to tell a few months later. But David, you remember, was a shepherd in his youth. David was the youngest and least regarded of Jesse’s eight sons, but he had found favor in God’s sight; and having God’s favor is everything. The Prophet Samuel says of David: »He was ruddy, had beautiful eyes and was handsome« (1. Samuel 16,12). The shepherds who beheld the angels also found favor in God’s sight. They may have been tired and dirty after watching their sheep all day, but they were beautiful in the eyes of God, for it was to men and women like these shepherds that God sent His Son to redeem. To these men in the field the angelic choir sang: »Glory be to God on high: and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!« (Luke 2,14) Why the peace and goodwill? Because a Savior who is Christ the Lord has been born.

5. Mankind has needed a Savior since Adam and Eve had sinned in the Garden of Eden. They were punished, cursed and denied access to the Tree of Life. Adam’s sin created a great sundering between God and man; and God was promise-bound to bridge that sundering and restore His fellowship with the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve. You and I, yes, all the world still needs this Savior; thus the Church celebrates His birth every year so that the gospel once again may sound forth: Christ is born; there is now peace and goodwill between God and men! The shepherds found him in a manger in Bethlehem. 

6. »He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.« The Scriptures tell us again and again that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and the Gentiles’ Christ. He was sent to redeem every person in the world. He is the Glory of the Jews and the Light unto the Gentiles. The Advent Antiphons proclaim it more poetically: 

℣ O Key of David and Scepter of the house of Israel, You open and no one can close, You close and no one can | open: * 

℟ Draw near and rescue the prisoners, those who are in darkness and those in the shad- | ow of death (20. December). 

℣ O Morning Star, Splendor of the Eternal Light and Sun of  | justice: * 

℟ Draw near and give light to those who sit in darkness and the shad- | ow of death (21. December). 

7. »The Lord has remembered His mercy and faithfulness to the house of Israel.« Mary quotes this Psalm verse almost verbatim when she visits Elizabeth: »The Lord has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever« (Luke 1,54-55). 

8. »All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God« who is Jesus Himself. He is both God and man in one person. We see Him in today’s Gospel Lection as the Infant Jesus who sleeps in a manger, rests in Mary’s arms and is praised by shepherds. 

9. The Prophet Isaiah proclaims: »For to us a Child is born, and to us a Son is given, And He is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.« These messianic titles describe who the Infant Jesus is and what He will do to redeem fallen mankind. 

10. God’s plan of salvation involved a virgin conception whereby the Child would be fully human and fully Divine. The Son of God become man in order to be the perfect sacrifice that would pay for every single sin of mankind. This Incarnation in human flesh was an integral part in God’s redemption of humanity. The Prophet Isaiah describes the Messiah as the Wonderful, Mighty, Eternal Prince. Jesus is Wonderful for He is the Savior of the world and the Messiah who restores fallen men and women back to His Father. His birth is thus wonderful good news for the shepherds and us. Jesus is Mighty for He is God Himself in the flesh. Our God is not a distant, transcendent God who looks down upon us from on high with detached observation. Our God is an in-our-midst, immanent God who takes great interest in our lives and the unfolding of mankind’s history on this Earth. 

11. This morning, we remember little baby Jesus in the manger. That little boy is God Almighty, the Son of David, Israel’s king, He does what is right in the eyes of the Lord, for He grew up to exchange the wood of His manger for the wood of the cross. In doing so, He made you righteous and has redeemed you before God the Father. He is Israel’s Glory and Messiah; he is the Gentiles’ Light and Christ. Rejoice and praise Him, for He was born this day in Bethlehem, the City of David.  Amen.  

12. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, Thou Salvation of our G; help us this day to remember Your mercy and faithfulness, so that we rejoice and spread the gospel of Your birth.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Soli Deo Gloria

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4^th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27^th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.  

All quotations from the Book of Concord are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using Die Bekenntnisschriften der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche, 12. Edition © 1998 by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.