January 4, 2025 

Today's Reading: Introit for Second Sunday After Christmas - Psalm 147:1, 5, 11-12; antiphon: John 1:14

Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 63:15-65:2; Luke 2:41-52

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of

the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

W.H. Auden once wrote, “Nothing that is possible can save us. We who must die demand a miracle.” We believe in miracles. Every week, we confess this very thing in bold words that define our faith by the miracles they proclaim. “And (I believe) in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, (and) born of the Virgin Mary.”

The theological term used to encompass this confession of faith is the word “incarnation.” This means that Jesus knows from the inside what it means to be human. He knows from the inside what it means to have a family. He knows from the inside what it means to suffer disappointment. He knows from the inside how it feels to be hungry and tired and angry and sad. He knows what it means to fall into bed exhausted after a long and frustrating day of work. He knows the pull of temptation and the sting of betrayal. The Incarnation means that in nearly every way, our Brother Jesus knows what it means to be fully human because He is fully human. And when you go to Him with the concerns of your heart, no matter how desperate they may be, He understands you as your Brother because He’s been there.

When the Son of God was “conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary,” He took on human flesh, not like a uniform that you throw into the laundry at the end of the day. No, the Incarnation means that the second Person of the Trinity took on our flesh forever. He is right now and will be forever true God and true man. Tempted in every way just as we are tempted, yet without sin, Jesus Christ came to do for us what we could never do for ourselves. This means that Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law for us where we had failed. And this means that Jesus Christ suffered and died to pay the penalty our sins required. This means that Jesus Christ defeated death for us by walking out of His grave in our flesh, and because this is true, we will follow our Brother out of our tomb as well.

The poet was right, “Nothing that is possible can save us. We who must die demand a miracle.” We are people who must die. Our sin requires it, and nothing we have done or can do will ever change this fate. So today, we lay our filthy rags at the feet of our Brother Jesus, who has accomplished the impossible for us. “We who must die demand a miracle.” And the “good tidings of great joy” of this Christmas season proclaim that Jesus is the miracle of miracles.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord Jesus, true God and true Man, thank you for the miracle of my life. Amen

-Rev. Thomas Eggold, pastor of Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, IN.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.