The Word Became Flesh

The sermon begins by analyzing three distinctive aspects of Jesus' birth. First, Jesus' birth is a historical fact that occurred over 2,000 years ago, affirmed by all historians regardless of their faith. The date of Jesus' birth is so significant that human history is divided into two periods: Before Christ (BC) and Anno Domini (AD). The famous saying that "the hinge of history lies at the door of a sheepfold in Bethlehem" illustrates this importance.

Second, no other religious leader or figure in history is commemorated annually worldwide like Jesus, with approximately 2.38 billion people (31.2% of the world's population) participating in this commemoration regardless of nationality, ethnicity, or race. Third, Vietnamese speakers call Jesus' birth "giáng sinh" (descent into being) rather than "sinh nhật" (birthday) like other leaders. The word "giáng" means descending from above, implying that Jesus is a Being who came down from heaven to earth. In English, Christmas is named after "Christ," where "Christ" means "Messiah" - the One God promised would come to redeem humanity.

Next, the pastor introduces the concept of "the Word" (Logos) from the Gospel of John. John does not recount the detailed story of the incarnation as Matthew and Luke do; instead, he aims to explain who Jesus is and why He became incarnate. John writes: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The sermon points out that "the beginning" in John refers to the Creator rather than creation. The Word had existed from eternity past, before time and space existed, before billions of stars appeared.

The sermon then explains the Trinity through John 1:1. The next two phrases - "the Word was with God" and "the Word was God" - appear contradictory at first but actually affirm that although the Word and God are two distinct persons, they share one essence. The doctrine of the Trinity explains relationship and love - if God were only one person, how could there be relationship and love? Humanity's creation in God's image means that people need relationships with each other, need love and unity.

The pastor explains three primary reasons why John calls Jesus "the Word." First, to remind Jewish readers that the Word is also the One who spoke creation into existence - "let there be light" and light came into being, repeating nine times in Genesis. Second, "word" is the primary means by which people exchange thoughts and express feelings with one another; John means that the Creator became human to express God's thoughts and sacrifice Himself to save all people from sin. Third, to affirm that all the Word's teachings are completely accurate and trustworthy because they are God's own words, not transmitted through any intermediary.

The sermon concludes by addressing the question: Why must the Word suffer death? The answer is: every sin carries a price. Because all people have sinned, no one can stand before the holy God. The only solution is to have one perfectly sinless person (the Word) to stand in humanity's place. But this is insufficient because someone must have the ability to pay the debt of human sin. Only God possesses this capacity. Therefore, the Word - simultaneously fully human and completely sinless, yet also fully God - is the only solution for redeeming humanity from sin.