Hebrews 1:1–6

Christmas Morning

¹Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ²but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. ³He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. ⁵For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"? Or again, "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son"? ⁶And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."

This morning, we will meditate on the theme that the bread of life is born in the "house of bread." In our meditating we shall feast our souls on that bread himself. In our hymnal there is a hymn by Paul Gerhardt. The first line goes: "O Jesus Christ, Thy manger is My paradise at which my soul reclineth" (LSB 372:1). This tells us exactly what Christmas is all about. Notice the word "reclineth" in that line, "My paradise at which my soul reclineth." It gives us a picture of banquets in ancient times. Guests did not sit at a table. They reclined, lying stretched out on couches, reclining on one elbow, with their feet away from the table and their heads in toward the table. In this way they ate and talked. Hence, the theme of our meditation this morning is:

O Jesus Christ, Thy Manger Is My Paradise at Which My Soul Feasts Contentedly.

According to the prophet Micah, the descendant of David would be born in Bethlehem. From there would come the One who was to be ruler over God's kingdom forever. Bethlehem means "house of bread." How fitting! He who called himself the bread of life is born in the "house of bread." Here in the House of Bread the eternal Word of God takes flesh, and that flesh is the life of the world. Whoever eats this bread—this flesh of the Son of God—will live forever. He said so! He, the one who made cleansing for our sins; he who now sits down at the right hand of the Father to rule forever, he said so! What he offered for our purification was his own body, his own blood. In the manger at Bethlehem lies that one who is the Father's final Word about us.

"You will find him in a manger" (see Lk 2:12), the angels announced to the shepherds. A manger, mind you. Mangers are where the cattle eat. Their master and owner puts food in the manger for them. With a single mind and all sorts of noises, the cattle hustle to the manger to eat. Consider, now: the bread of life from heaven is the gift to us. The gift of feeding from God to nurture us on the food of eternal life and to intoxicate us with the drink of eternal joy. Like the shepherds, we have come this morning to worship him. With single minds, let us come to feast our souls at the manger of God's Son, for from the one in that manger, joy streams. Let our hearts be single in intent, full of glad sounds, crying out our amazement and ecstasy: "O Jesus Christ, your manger is the paradise at which my soul feasts contentedly."

In the feeding, God gives not only seed for birds and meat for wild animals. He gives not only food for the stomach and drink for thirst. But God also gives us his Word—the eternal food for our souls to live in joy forever. When Adam and Eve stood before him in their shame, burdened with the unbearable debt they had incurred and that we inherited, they heard the word of the descendant of the woman, the Seed, who would come to crush the serpent's head. Ever since that time, the Word of promise has been like appetizers. In various ways and in different styles, God spoke in times past by the prophets. By that Word, God fed faith and nurtured hope in his faithful people. But now, in these days of the end time, we have moved from the appetizers to the main course: God has spoken to us by his Son.

And what a word God speaks! The coming of Jesus the Messiah is not merely the coming of the one who came at the end of the days. With Jesus the Messiah, the days of the end have come. Now is the end time, for now is the day of salvation.

Reflect on what the Holy Spirit says about him in our text this morning. (1) Jesus is the heir of all things. Whatever power and riches lie in the Word of God—Jesus is the heir. (2) Whatever there is of life or hope—Jesus is the heir. He is heir and owner by right of sonship. (3) He is not a creature to be elevated to a position of honor. He is the very reflection of God's glory and the character of God's very nature: "Very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father."

Furthermore, this tender and pure little Jesus is the mighty Word by which all things are created and still hang together. This God is man, our brother. This man is God, our Savior! By his Word the whole universe hangs together and serves his purpose. He is God's "right hand man," the "arm that God makes bare" when he rolls up his sleeve to get into the fight to save us. Sitting at God's right hand, Jesus rules by the forgiveness of sins for your benefit, for your blessing, for your joy in eternal life. In that manger lies the man of God's right hand, coming to us because we could not come to him.

He enters the flesh as a tiny and helpless infant. He needed to be fed by his mother, to have his diapers changed, and to be wrapped in homemade blankets to protect him from cold. And as we shall learn, he needed to be carried in the dark to Egypt when Herod determined to kill him. Willingly he enters into our flesh for the purpose of making a sacrifice, a sacrifice that will save the lives of the condemned sinners; of you and me. The sacrifice will not be some other animal—some goat or bull. Nor will he, as many do today, sacrifice the children of their bodies for the sin they have committed in their bodies. He does not offer another for sacrifice. He is the priest who offers himself in sacrifice.

He sits at God's right hand. He did not get to this throne of power with a political power play by which he outdid his enemies. He did not rise to this rule merely by outlasting his opponents, or out-campaigning his competitors. He sits at God's right hand as the man from God who paid the price for our redemption, the one whom the Father elevated to rule all things for the Church. Luther's addition of the third stanza to the medieval hymn "Now Sing We, Now Rejoice" says it clearly:

Now thro' His Son doth shine

The Father's grace divine.

Death o'er us had reigned

Thro' sin and vanity;

He for us obtained

Eternal joy on high.

May we praise Him there!

May we praise Him there! (LSB 386:3)

Indeed! Praise him! The Holy Spirit plainly teaches us, in the reading today from Hebrews, to worship him alone. The shepherds give us the perfect example. Listen to the Holy Spirit, and follow that example.

Where shall joy be found? He from whom joy streams lies in this manger in Bethlehem—the house of bread.

Did I say Bethlehem? Yes, I did. But don't think you must now buy a plane ticket to the Holy Land. Your "house of bread," your Bethlehem, is where the bread of life comes to feed you. The birth of the Son of God in human flesh and blood is an amazing wonder. It is the basis of an even more amazing wonder; that here, in Emmanuel Church, by his own Word, the Lord is present to feed us. Here, in Word and Sacrament, Emmanuel Church is our "House of Bread." Here the Son who was born exercises the power of God's right hand. His right hand is wherever he is with his Word of grace to give and to do for you what he promised. The priest of the sacrifice of Calvary is alive to administer to you the benefits of that sacrifice. He brings to you—in this lowly place—the body of your redemption and the blood of your forgiveness. Here is the manger of Jesus to feed your souls.

He is begotten eternally of the Father; he is Son by birthright. He is born of Mary for you and me. We who were born under the cancerous death of sin are begotten anew by him—born again—to be sons of God by right of his rightness. The feast is for you.

Come to the feast, for all things are now ready. The end days are here. Now, fully, perfectly, and for all time, God has spoken by his Son. The manger where he lies among us is indeed the paradise at which our souls feast contentedly. Our paradise is that manger of Jesus. There we rest in the peace from heaven, in sweet conversation with the Lord of the feast and with all the fellow-believing guests, to feast contentedly. We feast contentedly even though there may be conflict, turmoil, temptation, sin, confusion, struggle, and failure all around and within us. Not one of us lives in ideal conditions. But where the Son of God feasts with us and where we live with him—even if it is smelly work like the shepherds had—it is turned into paradise by him, for you. Amen.