Christmas December 22, 2024
Isaiah 52:7-10
Scripture Readings
Hebrews 1:1-8
John 1:1-17
Hymns
83, 98, WS 712, 95:1,4-7
Hymns from The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) (TLH) unless otherwise noted
WS - Hymns from the Worship Supplement 2000
Sermon Audio: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ministrybymail
Prayer of the Day: Lord God, Your arm is not shortened. You are faithful in all You say and do. Let us not put our trust in the rulers of this world nor in ourselves. We die and our plans come to naught, but You are light and salvation. Be our sun and shield. Blessed is the man who trusts in You. We ask this in Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with Thee and the Holy Spirit, one true God, world without end. Amen.
“How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” 8 Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, With their voices they shall sing together; For they shall see eye to eye When the LORD brings back Zion. 9 Break forth into joy, sing together, You waste places of Jerusalem! For the LORD has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The LORD has made bare His holy arm In the eyes of all the nations; And all the ends of the earth shall see The salvation of our God.”
Would you run over a mountain to tell people that fire is hot and air is light? People would look at you like a crazy person. Why, then, would you run over a mountain to tell people the news that God reigns? That should be as obvious as fire being hot. And yet, to us sinners, it often isn’t. May the Holy Spirit help us to see that our God reigns and fill us with comfort and joy in this knowledge.
To reign means “to possess or exercise sovereign power.” Sovereign means “over all others.” Our King possesses and exercises power over all others, even when it doesn’t seem like it to us. This is a characteristic of our King: even when He doesn’t appear to have or exercise sovereign power, He does.
How true that is here on Christmas Day. God has a message for us as we gaze upon a newborn baby whose life seems so frail. God had a message for Israel suffering under the tyranny of Babylon. And God has a message for all who suffer from the innumerable evils of this world: Your God reigns. God possesses and exercises sovereign power even when He doesn’t seem to. What is the character of our King? He reigns.
As soon as I say, “He shall reign,” what comes to mind? You probably think of the Hallelujah Chorus. That famous piece by Handel is based on the words of Revelation 11: “Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’”
These verses point to the future when Christ comes again. On that day, it will be clear that God reigns—not just over the earthly kingdoms of this world, but also over all spiritual powers. When we stand in Christ, saved and glorified in heaven, even unbelievers will see that God reigns. But here, on Christmas, it doesn’t appear that way. Jesus is just a baby in a rude manger. People like Herod are committing terrible acts. And terrible things are still happening, in all times and places. It didn’t appear to Israel that God reigned when they were defeated, humiliated, and subjugated by Babylon. It may not seem to us like God is reigning when terrible things happen to us or those we love.
But God wants us to know—even now—that He reigns. He possesses and exercises sovereign power. In fact, God being born to us as this baby is Him reigning. He is our King, and He reigns. Fire is hot. Water is wet. God reigns. And oh, what good news this is! It is news that brings peace. It is news that brings salvation.
Many of you have heard the origin of the marathon race. According to legend, a Greek messenger named Pheidippides ran from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to deliver the news of victory over the Persians. He ran approximately 26 miles without stopping, and upon reaching the city, he shouted, “We have won!” before collapsing and dying.
Pheidippides ran to announce a temporary, earthly victory. But the news of this day proclaims an eternal triumph: God reigns—not by conquering nations with armies, but by conquering sin and death through the child born to us on Christmas. The events of this day are God reigning. They are God making bare His holy arm. Picture it: to “make bare your arm” is to show your strength. For God to reveal that He reigns and how strong He is, you might expect Him to hurl lightning bolts. But no. God being born in a manger is God revealing His strength. It is God reigning. That is what God wants us to see on this Christmas morning. This is good news of peace that brings comfort to Zion and to us.
How strong do you have to be to become a baby? You may think it doesn’t take much strength, but it does. Do any of you have the strength to become a baby? I don’t mean acting like a baby; we’ve all done that. I mean to be born as a baby. None of us could turn ourselves into a baby—that would take an act of creation. But more than that, what strength of love would it take to be the Lord of heaven, to set aside the full use of your power and glory, and to become a human child? What strength of grace would it take to leave heaven for earth? How much more strength would that take if you knew what becoming human would mean?
The One who formed the stars became dependent on the care of His mother. The One who commands armies of angels chose to sleep in a feeding trough. This is power—not as the world defines it, but as heaven reveals it. God shows us in this manger that He reigns.
This is news worth running a thousand miles to share. For there is born to us this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Behold the miracle of love. God loved us so much that He became so lowly. The Lord loved us so much that He placed Himself under the curse of the law and the power of death. This is God reigning. Reigning isn’t just about exerting power—it’s about ruling for the good of those you rule. That is what God was doing by being born of the Virgin Mary. He was reigning for us. He is reigning in grace. In this child, we see the salvation of our God.
Even before Christ’s final victory portrayed in Revelation 11, God wants us to see that He reigns in grace. He reigned in grace even while Babylon held Israel captive. He reigns in grace even as disease and time wear away our lives. He reigns in grace even as sin and evil run rampant in this world. Many ask, “How can God do nothing when these things happen?” He didn’t do nothing. We see what He did in this child born to us in the city of David. We see Him reign in grace. We see Him place Himself under the curse of the law and the power of death to free us from both.
To see this, we need faith. Fortunately, faith comes by hearing—the Word of God. The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see this child as God reigning in grace, as God baring His holy arm before the nations. Why do many not see it? Because they despise the peace Jesus comes to bring. And why do we not rejoice in it as we should? Because we often prioritize other things above Jesus. Every time we choose sin, we despise the peace He brings. We say those things are better—but they aren’t.
Here’s the truth about all the things we hope for under the Christmas tree this year: none of them bring the peace this child brings. And so, we ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to see this child, born to us, as God reigning. Jesus became human to bring us a peace we don’t deserve—a peace worth more than gold. This child, this miracle of love, is the greatest gift of all.
God becoming a baby wasn’t God being weak—it was God reigning to bring us forgiveness and peace with Him. It was for this purpose that Jesus used His supreme authority to become flesh. It was for this purpose that He was born under the law’s curse and under death’s power, to redeem us from both. When sickness, sorrow, or evil seem to have the upper hand, remember this Child. He reigns, even when it doesn’t appear so. His birth proves that God is working, even when we can’t see it, to bring us peace, salvation, and eternal hope.
Don’t run over a mountain to tell people water is wet and fire is hot. But do run over a mountain to tell people that God reigns. They may look at you like you’re crazy, but they need to know it. We need to know it. In the manger, we see the holy arm of the Lord made bare. We see it in a child, bringing us peace with God: peace of sins forgiven, death defeated, and freedom from hell. The world waited 4,000 years for this. And now it has come. Our God reigns, and He shall reign forever and ever. Amen.
Ministry by Mail is a weekly publication of the Church of the Lutheran Confession. Subscription and staff information may be found online at www.clclutheran.org/ministrybymail.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.