The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

— John 1:5

Everything has led to this moment: Jesus is born!

John frames the announcement of Jesus’ birth through the lens of the creation story. Borrowing from Genesis 1, John writes “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John states clearly that Jesus is fully God. This passage also makes clear that Jesus is fully human: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” In Jesus, God became one with us!

Also connecting with the creation story is God’s light that “shines in the darkness”—as well as the insight that “the darkness has not overcome it.” Though Jesus is the “true light that gives light to everyone,” not everyone recognizes or receives him. Yet to all who respond to the light of Christ, he gives them “the right to become children of God.”

By leaning into the creation language from Genesis, John declares that Jesus’ birth is the start of God’s new creation! In Jesus, God has created a new humanity, and he invites us into the light and life of this new creation by receiving Jesus.

Will we receive Jesus today? Will we be part of God’s new humanity and step into the light of God’s grace and truth?

God, help us to recognize and receive Jesus today. Make us like him so that we too may overflow with the light of your grace and truth. Amen.

“Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

— Luke 2:15

The shepherds are relatively obscure actors in this story. We don’t know their names. We’re not sure if they are hired hands or tending their own flocks. They hear the angel’s announcement of Jesus’ birth. They run to find Jesus. And after they return to their flocks, we don’t hear from them again.

Even so, the shepherds pull me further into this story. They begin in a rather ordinary space, “living out in the fields” with their sheep. When the angel suddenly appears, they are terrified! Who wouldn’t be? Nothing could have prepared them to meet angels shining the light of God’s glory in the middle of a field at night. Then quickly they move from terror to wonder to delight and finally to joyful worship. By the end of the night, the shepherds are the first human messengers to share the good news of Jesus’ birth! Like the people whom the shepherds first told about Jesus, I am amazed at what I hear.

After the angelic choir disappears, the shepherds urge each other: “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” What else could they do? As I read this story again, I find myself responding to the shepherds: “Yes! Let’s go and see, looking into the amazing good news of the child who has been born in Bethlehem!”

God, whether we’ve read this story before or we are hearing it for the first time, awaken in us the joy and wonder of the good news of Jesus’ birth! Amen.

Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light. . . .

— John 3:21

With Jesus’ birthday celebration just two days away, this is a fitting time for us to remember why Jesus came into the world. This passage begins with the memorable declaration “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. . . .” Because of his great love, God sent Jesus.

John’s gospel also tells us that Jesus came into the world as a matter of life and death: “. . . that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John also clarifies that Jesus’ purpose is to save the world, not to condemn it. In these verses we see that Jesus’ saving work has both personal (“whoever believes”) and cosmic (“the world”) audiences in view. Jesus’ birth is good news for you and me and for the whole of God’s creation! God wants us to be saved for eternity.

Finally, God’s desire is that people will live by the light of Jesus’ life. John contrasts people who live in the light with those who live in darkness, noting that “people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” Darkness is a way of life. But so is the light. “Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light.” Jesus came into the world so that we can embrace God’s way of life as our own here and now.

God, thank you for your amazing love that has sent Jesus. We could not save ourselves. Help us to live by the light of Jesus forever. Amen.

“The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.”

— John 12:45

Sometimes when I read the Bible’s stories about Jesus, I am baffled at the doubts, disbelief, and outright opposition that people showed in response to Jesus. What more did Jesus need to do for people to believe? How many more miracles? How many more people had to be healed or raised from the dead? Matthew 28:17 tells us that even some of Jesus’ closest disciples doubted after Jesus himself had risen from the dead!

I have also wondered if I would have recognized Jesus if I had met him. I’d like to think I would. But the Bible includes lots of accounts showing that people with the most religious training, the ones who should have quickly recognized Jesus, were also among those who had the most difficult time believing in him. What would I need to see Jesus do in order to believe that he is really God? Maybe it would have to be a particular miracle or a certain level of wisdom that confronted my assumptions. This question becomes even more challenging when I think about Jesus being born as a vulnerable baby in the backcountry of an occupied territory. Would I recognize him then?

Jesus says that “the one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.” When we look at Jesus, we are seeing God. As we celebrate Christmas, are we willing to see God the Creator of heaven and earth in the face of Jesus?

Jesus, the signs and wonders of your kingdom are amazing. Help us to recognize you for who you really are: God with us! Amen.

You are a chosen people . . . that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

— 1 Peter 2:9

As a pastor and teacher, I have met with many people who have wondered, “What is God’s will for my life?” Many of us deeply desire to know where we belong and what our purpose in life is.

Peter describes God’s calling on us in terms of two movements. First, God calls us “out of darkness.” The reality is that we can’t see God’s purposes for us when we are caught up in the darkness of our own sin. God calls us out of the behaviors and perspectives that diminish the abundant life he offers to us through Jesus Christ.

Second, God calls us “into his wonderful light.” Jesus is calling us into a new way of life and a new identity that is characterized by a genuine, lavish love for our neighbors and enemies alike. We are called to “live such good lives” that people may see our actions “and glorify God on the day he visits us.” The light that God calls us into in Christ is not simply to help us see God more clearly but also to help people around us to recognize God’s goodness through us.

Our Christmas celebration is not simply about remembering Jesus’ birth. It is a radical calling to live throughout the year as people who share and shine the wonderful light of Jesus Christ in this dark world.

God, in your great mercy, lead us out of sin and darkness and into the light and life of Jesus Christ so that we and the whole world might praise you for who you are! Amen.

“Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.”

— John 12:36

By this point in John’s gospel, Jesus has declared a couple of times that he is the light of the world. This image is intended to draw us into the creation story, as if to exclaim: “God is making a new creation in Jesus!” This is incredibly good news! God the Father is responding to the long history of human sin and its legacy of darkness with the light of his own Son.

We don’t often focus on this new-creation side of the story at Christmastime. We usually hear about the miraculous events that led to Jesus’ birth, that Jesus is “God with us,” and how the angels and shepherds played their parts in announcing Jesus’ arrival (Matthew 1; Luke 2). But the new-creation side is important too. John’s attention to Jesus as the light in our midst is re-creational language. God is doing something new!

In the passage we are focusing on today, we hear Jesus calling for a decision. Will we believe in him, trusting that he really is God’s light signaling the start of a new creation? Will we become children of that new creation—both as recipients of God’s grace and as family representatives of God’s new creation?

We are invited to remember and celebrate Jesus’ birth as people who are joyfully caught up in the arrival of God’s new creation.

God, thank you for starting a new creation in Jesus. As we remember Jesus’ birth, grow in us a joyful faith and desire to live as your children. Amen.

“As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me.”

— John 9:4

As we draw closer to the celebration of Jesus’ birth, it’s important to remember why Jesus came. Several times in the book of John, Jesus talks about doing the will of God, who sent him. In today’s passage Jesus tells his disciples, “We must do the works of him who sent me.” Though he doesn’t say here what those works are, Jesus shows through his actions who he is and why he came.

Jesus gives sight to a man who was born blind. When we read further in John 9, we find that this healing caused quite a stir among the crowds, the Pharisees, and even the man’s parents. People born blind don’t get their sight back—at least not until Jesus comes along.

As he sets the stage for this healing, Jesus declares, “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me.” In this episode Jesus is making a bold claim and showing that he is God’s chosen servant.

As Isaiah 42:7 proclaimed, God’s servant would “open eyes that are blind” (see also Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:18-19). God’s will for Jesus was to usher in the renewing kingdom of God. God’s kingdom brings healing and includes all whom he calls to believe in him—from all backgrounds. The healing and inclusion of all kinds of people provide the joyful evidence that Jesus truly is “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).

God, overcome our blindness to the nature of your kingdom. Help us see that Jesus is your chosen servant, through whom you are ushering in your kingdom. Amen.

God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts. . . .

— 2 Corinthians 4:6

Today’s Bible passage calls us back to the creation story, reminding us that the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” is the same God who is working in us today. And God’s work here is about creating the light of faith within our hearts.

The text tells us that “the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers.” They are unable to recognize Jesus Christ for who he really is. They might see him as an interesting historical figure or someone who lived a moral life worth imitating. Some might say that Jesus challenged political and religious structures to the point that people in power had him killed. While these things may be true, they are merely shadows in comparison to the light of who Jesus really is.

By the light of God’s creative mercy, we see that Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem, is “the image of God” in human form. In Jesus, the light of God’s glory has entered our world, living, dying, and rising among us so that we might see the full extent of God’s love. In joyful response to this merciful work in our hearts, we join the apostles in renouncing “secret and shameful ways” in order that we might proclaim Christ as the light of the world.

God, we confess that we need your light to shine in the darkness of our hearts. By your mercy, we renounce our sinful ways so that the joy of your love may overflow through us. Amen.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

— John 8:12

The text in our reading for today is centrally focused on Jesus’ identity. He declares, “I am the light of the world . . .” leaning into God’s covenant name “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14). Jesus is making the claim that he is God, because that’s who he is.

But there are also implications here for all who follow him. Jesus asserts that anyone who follows him “will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” When we’re honest with ourselves, we admit there are many times when we stumble in our faith. Sometimes we make deliberate choices to sin. At other times we fail to do the good that we could have done. At times, we still choose darkness. So, what do we do with Jesus’ words that his followers “will never walk in darkness”?

Until this point, the Israelites were taught to follow God’s commands and to offer certain sacrifices in order to be right with God. But now Jesus reorients their righteousness to himself. The good news Jesus proclaims is that instead of trying (and always failing) to be righteous before God, people can receive the light of Jesus’ perfect life that he extends to us (2 Corinthians 5:21). By God’s grace, all who follow Jesus have the light of life not because of what they do, but because of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. Hallelujah!

Thank you, Jesus, for your faithfulness and your sacrifice on our behalf. We praise you that the light of your life makes us right with God! Amen.

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

— Matthew 4:17

Our Scripture reading today includes a quote from Isaiah that we considered earlier: God’s light will dawn on the people who live in darkness, ushering them into new life in God’s kingdom (Dec. 12). That promise is fulfilled in Jesus and is cause for great joy!

The context of this passage gives us even more reason for joy. Jesus leaned into Isaiah’s prophecy in response to the news of John the Baptist being jailed, showing that John’s ministry of preparing the way for Jesus was now complete. Jesus also moved to a different area to make clear that he was and is the long-awaited fulfillment of God’s promises. He is God’s light of salvation living among us!

Further, Jesus put the first light of dawn from Isaiah into action by preaching that everyone should repent because “the kingdom of God has come near.” No longer is God’s promised salvation off in a distant future. God’s kingdom has come near! After centuries of waiting, God’s light is breaking into the darkness and calling all people into the freedom of God’s kingdom.

As we remember and celebrate Jesus’ birth, that joyful first light of dawn comes to us as well: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near”! Jesus continues to invite us into freedom from the sin and darkness that has overshadowed us.

Jesus, we hear your invitation to repent. Help us to turn away from our sins and from the darkness in order to live in the light of your salvation. Amen.