"Jesus’ Birth Certificate: (Father's Name)" – John 1:14-18

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Christmas Eve Sunday, December 24, 2023. "But, as I said before, in saying God, something more needs to be said. . . .  Something must be added to what is meant by God or we end up adding whatever we want God to mean. God can mean 'Merciless Judge' if the blanket is just a quilt of God’s demands. God can mean 'Absent Creator' if the blanket is only the idea that someone had to make the universe and keep it running. God can mean 'Me' if God is defined in my image. Then I can pick and choose passages to line up with what I already think and want. Narcissists love that sort of blanket.  

"What we have written as 'Name of Father' will work fine as long as we remember that it is on the same birth certificate with the 'Name of Son.' John says that Jesus, as God’s only son, makes God known. The Gospel presents Jesus as God’s spitting image. Jesus is the blanket that the Gospels use to throw on the mystery that is God to give the mystery shape."

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/jesus-birth-certificate-fathers-name/