"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made."

Is that not an interesting way to begin a Gospel? St. John points to the very beginning, using words that would have us look at the very beginning of our Scriptures—Genesis. More than that however, he tells you that your Savior was there when the heavens and the earth were created: "In the beginning was the Word..." Jesus is the Word! He was with God in the beginning, and He was God.

He may not be mentioned by the name He was given when he was circumcised, but Jesus is most certainly present in Genesis 1, throughout all creation, for "through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." A reading of Genesis 1 will reveal His presence; why, He's right there in verse three: "And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light." Did you hear Him? Jesus is there. God said...and it was; it was by His Word. God speaks, and by His Word, things come into being. Light, earth, water, trees and plants, fish, birds, animals, and man were all created by God when He spoke, and through Jesus, they were all made.

"In the beginning was the Word," St. John says. Now, the Word isn't just about Jesus, nor is Jesus simply an idea such as a word formed by our mouths. Jesus is the Word of God—the Word which actually does stuff—He is the second person of the Holy Trinity...the Word is God! This Word has a nature and a substance—a divine nature and substance.

Now, do you get it? Well, me neither. Scripture is filled with teachings such as this—teachings that we know to be true because the Bible says they are—because God said they are—but that we cannot begin to comprehend.

And so it went. In the beginning was the Word; in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. God created everything through His Word—through Jesus. Part of the creation was Adam and Eve. And they walked freely in the company of God. Unfortunately, this creation did not receive Him; Adam and Eve fell into sin. Wanting to be like God, they broke God's command and separated themselves from Him. They moved themselves further away from God, but out of His great love, God came near to them. He gifted them with clothes that would not wear out like fig leaves, but, more importantly, He gave them His Word and promise: from the Seed of the woman would come salvation.

And thus, it continued. The Hebrew people found themselves as slaves in Egypt. God came near to them to lead them, as His Word declares, by the hand out of bondage in Egypt and to take them to Himself as His holy people. He was present with them in the form of a cloud or pillar of fire; the Hebrew people could see Him with their own eyes. God sent His Word to them, in the form of His Law. Yet again, His own people did not receive Him. Seeing the smoke and lightning and heard the thunder and the sound of trumpet coming from the mountain, they called to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die." Eventually, this resulted in the tent of meeting being erected (the tent of meeting would become the tabernacle, which would become the temple). So God would descend to this tent—erected outside of the camp, by the way—and speak words to Moses to speak to the people. And the people found pleasure and comfort in this arrangement: God close, but not too close.

But God made a promise, and He is faithful to that promise, so He kept on sending His Word...He kept on drawing near. Now, God dwelt among His people behind the veil of the heavy curtain in the temple. From the holy of holies, God would bless the people. He would give His Word to the people through the mouth and hands of the temple priests. To the people, God was still close, but not too close. So, they thought, it would be easy to do what they wanted to do. Gradually, they would no longer listen to the Word of God from the priests and chase after other, false gods. They erected idols to these false gods in order to worship them, even placing them in God's temple. Isn't it ironic that they did not want the one, true God near them, but they gladly accepted and cherished the near-ness of the idols of these false gods?

But God was still faithful to them. He had made a promise, and He is faithful to that promise. Though He would eventually leave the temple, and the temple be destroyed, He would continue to come near to His people. He would continue to send His Word to them. Now, He calls prophets to speak to the people His Law, to bring them to repentance and bring them back to Him and away from their false gods and idols. Still, His people would not receive Him—they did not like His Word being preached among them; His Law was not to their liking. So, they killed the prophets God had sent.

So, continued the fulfillment of the Word John has given: "He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him." God and His Word were continually among His people to proclaim and give forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Yet, they did not know Him, they did not want to know Him, and they rejected Him. But God is faithful to the promise He made. Though the world continued to reject Him, He would not reject the world. He would send His Word to them like He has never been sent before.

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." God was now as closer to people than He has ever been since He walked in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day. And, get this, while our translations say that the Word dwelled among us, St. John actually says He pitched His tent among us, He tabernacled among us! God had come near to His people once again to save them.

Do you think they received Him any differently then? No, they did not! Many times the Jews sought to get their hands on Jesus in order that they might kill Him. Many times the Jews picked up stones to hurl at Him, accusing Him of blasphemy. And, in the final act of rebellion, they brought Him before their Roman rulers and demanded that He be crucified. Such an affront; the Word became flesh to give life to man, and man put the Word-made-flesh to death in "gratitude."

Yet, this is all the fulfillment of the promise God gave way back in Genesis. God gave His Word that He would save; upon the cross, God sent His Word in order to save. God's promise has been fulfilled, He has kept His Word. Gaze again upon the cross, though, Jesus is not only the fulfillment of the promise, but He is also the Promise! He is not only the Word that was kept, but He is the Word who keeps.

The cross was an effort to silence the Word of God once and for all. After all, He has been murdered, and dead men can't talk. But their attempt wasn't good enough—no attempt can ever be—as He rose again on the third day. He rose and forgave sins. He gathered His disciples and sent them out to teach and baptize. Do you recall what He said to them? "[S]urely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." That is the promise He has made to the disciples, and it is the same promise He has made to you and me. In other words, the Word still comes and dwells among us; He still comes near to us.

God still loves His creation, and He still loves to come and dwell among it. Despite His creation's track record—and you have to admit, things don't look good for His creation—God still chooses to come near His creation in order to save them.

He does this through His means of grace. God is indeed truly present in the Word proclaimed. As the Scriptures are read and taught and preached and as the pastor announces the forgiveness of sins, God is present in His Word—His Word is among men and working on them. As water is applied to people under Jesus' institution, the Word is truly present giving faith and His Spirit to the newly baptized. In the Lord's Supper, simple bread and wine are joined by the Word's flesh and blood as He is spoken over them; there is real presence there!

God is gracious enough to come near to His creation again. He is gracious enough to dwell among us once more. He is gracious enough to be in the world even now. Does the world now recognize Him? Does the world now receive Him? Well, not many. History continues to repeat itself: God comes to His own, and his own do not receive Him.

First of all, the heathen rejects this outright. That a God is present in mere Word and simple water, bread, and wine is ludicrous. It doesn't make sense. Once again, however, His presence is real and truthful because His Word declares it to be so—because He declares it true—not whether we understand it or not.

Then, of course, there are a group of people who call themselves Christian. They go to church. They read their Bibles. They go to Sunday School. They even practice baptism and communion, or what they call baptism and communion. But, and this is a big but, they refuse to believe that God is truly present in all of it. To them, despite what Scripture teaches, God is transcendent; mere words, water, bread, and wine (sometimes grape juice) cannot contain this transcendent God. It is up to us to ascend to God—it us up to us get near to God. God comes to them too, but they do not recognize it...they do not know it.

But there is also a group of people who do recognize the Word's presence in His means. They hear the Word proclaimed, and recognize the real presence of the Word among them. They witness the baptism of a child into the faith, and see the Word at work. As they go to communion, they recognize the true body and true blood of the Word-made-flesh. We, as orthodox Lutherans, would fall into this group. But even among us, there are some who would not receive the Word, even as He draws near; yes, even in our own midst! Isn't it more convenient sometimes to skip hearing the proclamation of the Word of God in favor of getting an extra hour of sleep or so we can stay up an extra hour the night before? And it certainly must be a good idea to delay baptism—to delay salvation to one who desperately needs it—so that all our friends and family can watch. And maybe, just maybe, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, so we limit the number of times we go to or practice communion. Yeah, we like God close, but not too close. And in those moments of spiritual weakness, we do not receive God; in fact, we flat-out reject Him.

The pattern of history continues to repeat itself. God draws near; God sends His Word to His people. God goes to those who are His own, yet His own do not recognize Him or receive Him. What's left for God to do?

True to His promise, He still draws near! He still sends His Word to be proclaimed and given in His means of grace. His sends in order that we may receive! And here's the word of comfort, as we have already heard it: "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." What marvelous grace! And this grace is to and for you!

You have been claimed by God in the waters of Holy Baptism; you have received the Word! You are here this morning listening to the Word proclaimed; you are receiving the Word. The Word is alive and active, proclaiming to you the forgiveness of your sins by the merits of Jesus Christ—the Word-made-flesh—crucified and risen...for you! You who receive the Word are children of God, "born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

"In the beginning was the Word." We heard the Word as He was active in creation. We heard of the Word proclaimed to the Hebrews as they journeyed out of Egypt. We heard of the Word proclaimed to the Israelites from the temple. We heard of the Word proclaimed to the Israelites from the mouths of the prophets. During Christmastide, we rejoice to hear of the Word becoming flesh, and pitching His tent among us. We rejoice because we hear once again that the Word has drawn near to us, to bring us to repentance. We rejoice because the Word draws near to you in His means as often as He comes to proclaim to you that you are forgiven of your sins. And where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. God is keeping His promise to you!