Jn.1:10 – He came into the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him [did not know Him].

When you are talking about the birth of Christ which birth are you actually speaking of? Augustine spoke of the natural and the eternal birth of Jesus. The natural birth encompasses the Christmas story spoken of in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. John’s gospel is quite different. John passes right by the story of wise men, shepherds, and angels and goes write to the beginning. “In the beginning was the Word…the Word became a man and pitched His tent among us”. John was describing how the Creator entered into His own creation, impossible! John wasn’t thinking about mangers and farm animals, John had His eyes on eternity. Here is a quote from my commentary on John from this verse.

“John’s version of the birth of Christ is totally different from the other gospels. Matthew and Luke focus on the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. John starts his gospel with, “In the beginning was the Word…”. He describes the Lord in His eternal existence with the Father. He makes it clear that the Son of God did not begin His journey in Bethlehem, His story dates from before the dawn of all creation. John tells us that everything that is was formed by His hands. Then John tells us the unthinkable, the Creator stepped into His own creation. There He is; nursing at the breast of a woman He created, sleeping amongst some farm animals that came into existence by His design, and resting beneath the canopy of stars that were flung from His hands. The Creator enters His own creation in the form of a baby born in a stable in Bethlehem. Here is how Luther describes this phenomenon.”

So how does this even matter in my world? It matters because Jesus entered into this world with you and me in mind, it was the only reason He came. The Creator entered creation as a man in order to die for our sins. The One who has existed from eternity entered into the limitations of time and space on a mission, He came to this world to lay down His life for sinners. So this year as you celebrate Christmas you can go to the time before the manger or the shepherds, go back to the beginning and reflect on the Word who became a man.