CHRISTMAS EVE
(24 December)
Isaiah 7:10–14
1 John 4:7–16
Matthew 1:18–25
The Word of the Lord Is Fulfilled in the Flesh of
Jesus
Though Ahaz would
not ask, the Lord gives a sign to the house of David, that “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall call his name Immanuel” (Is. 7:14). With this promise, He
signifies that salvation is by His grace alone; it is no work or achievement of
man, but the Lord’s own work and His free gift. The promise is fulfilled as the
Son of God is conceived and born of the blessed Virgin Mary, and the sign is
received in faith by the house of David in the person of Joseph (Matt.
1:20–24). “Incarnate by the Holy Spirit
of the virgin Mary” (Nicene Creed), God is with us (Immanuel) in the flesh
of Jesus, Mary’s Son. Joseph believes that Word of God and so demonstrates a
marvelous example in his immediate and quiet obedience, taking Mary to be his
wife and caring for her in faith and love. He loves her because the love of God
is manifest in this, that “the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the
world,” “to be the propitiation for our
sins” (1 John 4:10, 14).
CHRISTMAS MIDNIGHT
(24 December)
Isaiah 9:2–7
Titus 2:11–14
Luke 2:1–14 (15–20)
The Light of Christ Shines Forth in the Darkness
Heaven and earth
rejoice on this night because the glory of the Holy Trinity is manifested in
the human birth of “our great God and
Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13), through whom the Father’s grace and
mercy permeate the world. Death’s silence is nullified by this “good news of great joy that will be for all
the people” (Luke 2:10). And all we who have gone astray like lost and
wandering sheep, who have “walked in
darkness” of doubt, fear and sinful unbelief, behold “a great light” in the nativity of Jesus Christ (Is. 9:2). In Him, “the grace of God has appeared” (Titus
2:11). For this child of Mary who is born for us, this dear Son of God who is
given to us, bears the burden of our sin and death in His own body on the
cross. By initiating and fulfilling His earthly journey from nativity to
crucifixion, Christ establishes a government of peace, “with justice and with righteousness,” which shall have no end. This
is not by any work of man, but “the zeal
of the LORD of hosts will do this” (Is. 9:7).
CHRISTMAS DAWN
(25 December)
Isaiah 62:10–12
Titus 3:4–7
Luke 2:1–14 (15–20)
Christ Jesus Reveals Himself in the Signs He Has Given
to His Church
The Lord has not
forsaken us. He has come to us and sought us out to save us (Is. 62:11–12), so
that “being justified by his grace we
might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7). In
Christ Jesus, conceived and born of Mary, “the
goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared” (Titus 3:4). Now
He is lifted up in the Gospel, “a signal
over the peoples” (Is. 62:10), that He might call us to rejoice in His
salvation. St. Luke emphasizes the signs by which the shepherds once found Him:
in Bethlehem, the city of David, “wrapped
in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12). The same Lord Jesus
reveals Himself to us in the sure and certain signs of His Gospel. His Church
is a true Bethlehem (House of Bread); for the Son of David, “a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke
2:11), feeds us with His body and His blood from the manger of His altar,
wrapped in, under and with the bread and wine. We ponder these mysteries as we
receive the Word of God and live out our vocations, “glorifying and praising God” (Luke 2:19–20).
CHRISTMAS DAY
(25 December)
Isaiah 52:7–10
Hebrews 1:1–6 (7–12)
John 1:1–14 (15–18)
The Living and Life-Giving Word of God Dwells Among Us
in the Flesh
The Lord sends out
His ministers of the Gospel to make disciples “of all the nations,” so that “all
the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” The Lord has “bared his holy arm” in the incarnate
Christ (Is. 52:7, 10). The child in the manger, born of the Virgin Mary, is the
very Word of God, the only begotten Son of the Father, “whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created
the world” (Heb. 1:2). As “all things
were made through him” (John 1:3), so are all things redeemed and made new
in Him. In His body of flesh and blood, we behold “the radiance of the glory of God” (Heb. 1:3), “glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth”
(John 1:14). He dwells among us in peace, that we might have life and light and
salvation in Him. For by His Word of the Gospel, we are born again as the
children of God, bearing His name and sharing His eternal life.[2]
[1]Image
of Christ copyright © Ed Riojas Higher Things
[2] LCMS
lectionary summaries copyright © 2019 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis
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