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Advent of the Christ

Preached at St. Barnabas Church, Bellville, TX

Fourth Sunday in Advent, 2008

by The Rev. Stephen E. Stults

Joh 1:19-20 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.

Our Gospel for the Fourth Sunday in Advent begins with the momentous line, “And this is the record of John….” from the Authorized Version. Some versions, notably the American Standard Version of 1901 and the Modern King James Version, say: “This is the witness of John”; others term it the “testimony” of John. Consider these words: record, witness, testimony. Webster tells us, regarding the word record: “an account of important events in the order in which they happened”; for testimony, “something presented in support of the truth or accuracy of a claim”; and finally, witness: “attestation of a fact or event.” Condensing these statements we get three important phrases: “important events, the truth, and attestation of a fact.” This is what John the Baptist brought to us.

Who was this John the Baptist (or as some call him, John the Baptizer)? From Luke we know that he was a relative of Christ, probably a cousin, because Luke tells us that Elizabeth, John’s mother, was a kinswoman of Mary the mother of Jesus. He was six months older than Christ, a man who was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. Recall the passage from Luke, when Elizabeth went to visit Mary. Both were pregnant. Recall the salutation of Elisabeth to Mary in Luke 1:41:

“And it came to pass, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit;”

Elisabeth then utters one of the great statements in the New Testament, in praise and adoration to God for his work through Mary:

“and she lifted up her voice with a loud cry, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come unto me? For behold, when the voice of thy salutation came into mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.” (Luke 1:42-44)

This is the same John the Baptist, a man born for one purpose: to point to the Christ. Thus, when the messengers from the Pharisees, notably priests and Levites, asked him, “Who art thou?” John confessed and denied not, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” It is important to note that “priests and Levites” were sent to examine John, because John was of the heritage of Aaron, himself a priest and a member of the hereditary priestly lineage stemming from Aaron, the brother of Moses.¹ Also, they sent knowledgeable men, which indicated their seriousness. The fact that they sent anyone at all shows that the spiritual men of Israel, were indeed looking for something or someone.

Thus, John the Baptist, the last of the prophets, points in a self-effacing way towards the One who is the fulfillment of all prophecy. John took no credit for himself, but as he will later say, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). John the Baptizer is totally self aware of his mission as the harbinger of the Christ. This is the role for which he was born, and it is the role he joyfully plays to the end. Jesus himself gives testimony to John when he says in Mat 11:9-11: “But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” This is high praise, indeed, coming from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Why all this discussion about John the Baptizer? We talk about John because he talks about and testifies to the One for whom the approaching Christmas season is all about. Thus, John points to the Christ, who is Theology itself.

All of us, laymen and clergy alike, must have a firm foundation of theology in these spiritually perilous times. While we don’t need, or can attain, the level of erudition that Christ displayed even as a young man, as his parents found him “sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. “ We do, however, need enough theology to be able to recognize truth from error.

As you well know, there is plenty of error these days. Consider the statement made recently by Katherine Jefferts Schori, the Presiding Bishop of TEC: “Jesus’ frail tent of flesh was capable of carrying divinity.” How does this sound to the ordinary ear? Does it sound acceptable? Perhaps. To the theologically trained ear it sounds exactly like the ancient heresy of Adoptionism, which is the teaching that Jesus was born only human and the power of God’s Spirit descended upon Him either at His baptism at some other point. It is often identified with Dynamic Monarchianism and Sabellianism, which are fancy names for related heresies that also deny the Trinity. Without at least some knowledge of Christian theology we fall prey to the untruth and dis-truth swirling around us.

For some of the most concise and most correct theology we can find, right at our fingertips, all we must do is turn to the Gospel of John. Reading as little as the first three verses, we garner several important truths about Christ:

John 1:1-3: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God (Christ is the pre-existent Word - Greek Ho Logos, always with God the Father), and the Word was God (Christ is God, co-equal and eternal). The same was in the beginning with God.

(Christ is begotten, not made or created, as the Arians thought). All things were made by him (he is the Creator); and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (He is Self-sufficient God –autotheos –who alone created all things.)

Thus, this is the One to whom John pointed:

1. The eternal One, Lord and God

2. The Son who had co-equal glory with the Father before all time

3. He who created all things ex nihilo, out of nothing

4. He who was both perfect God and perfect Man in one Person

Any other assertions about Christ, such as the one Bishop Jefferts Schori made, are contrary to the teachings of the historic Church and are heretical.

Thus, the times are spiritually perilous. As we see some of the mainline churches, as well as many of our Pentecostal and Fundamentalist brethren, move away from the historic creeds and traditional theology of the Church, we are seeing many of the old heresies creep back in to the Church. Our Enemy below, Satan, is not creative, merely repetitive and persistent. Thus, as the old heresies are recycled, we should not be amazed or even surprised. Instead, we should be thankful for the Word of God written that we read and the Word of God in the Sacraments that we ingest and for correct belief as expressed in Nicene Creed, which we affirm. We should be thankful that we stand on the Rock of Christ day by day, season by season, and year by year.

This is what we celebrate now, in our Christmas season. Not as the world celebrates their Christmas merchandizing season, which runs from early November to the 25^th of December and then they are done. No, rather we celebrate Christ’s first Advent, which begins on the 25^th of December, Christ-mass Day, the Nativity of our Lord and continues until the glorious Epiphany, or The Feast of the Manifestation of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, on the 6^th of January.

This is the true Christian Christmas season. We all recognize, however, how difficult this is to do in our modern, move-to-the-next-event society. After Thursday, December 25, the world will be rushing towards the New Year’s Celebration. Christmas 2008 will be forgotten.

The world rushes on, in break-neck fashion to the next thing, which, for the most part, concerns revelry and drunkenness as it celebrates the onset of 2009. The world looks for a New Year, which it hopes will be better, but will simply be the same cycle of quiet, even unconscious desperation, broken up by one secular celebration after another. The secular world doesn’t really know why it is so incomplete, but we Christians do.

This Christmas season, starting on the 25^th and running until January 6^th, let us all hold Christ in our hearts in a special way. Somehow, in our interior lives, despite the rush and hurry and madness that surrounds us, let us all cherish the One who came to us, not as some “frail tent of flesh that was capable of carrying divinity,” but as the perfect God-man who came to tabernacle with us, for the sole purpose of redeeming our fallen natures and to exalt our humanity into the Godhead itself.

This is Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of all prophecy. This is Jesus Christ, our High Priest, who offers mediation and intercession for us to the Father. This is Jesus Christ, the King of all Creation.

Let us honor Him. worship Him and exalt Him in our hearts, now for these next 12 days of Christmas and for ever.

¹Henry, Matthew, Commentary on John, Blue Letter Bible, www.blueletterbible.org

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