Sermon Cloud

In this instance, the word that is used  for "explained" is a very powerful one which means to "bring out" or to "make something clear and understandable." It means to describe in great detail and clarity. And there comes a point when mere human words just break down.

My father owned a commercial refrigeration company. Being the owner, his job never ended promptly at 5:00 pm. He had installed an extension phone from his business office to take calls after hours. It was not unusual for the phone to ring during supper. He knew that when someone called on that line, it was somewhat urgent. If a commercial freezer went out, it could cost literally thousands of dollars in lost meat or dairy products.

So the phone would ring. And as the rest of our family continued to eat, we could hear him in the other room trying to help his customer try some tweaks (although that word didn't exist back then) to fix the problem. And, as many people do, the more difficult the explanation was, the louder he would talk. It was a sort of unconscious way of trying to make himself clear. But there were times when words over the phone lines just weren't enough.

It was not unusual for him to come back to the table to finish eating and then to tell my mom that he was going to have to go there himself. So he would leave in his truck and then be back in a very short time, having successfully repaired the trouble. He knew the refrigeration business so thoroughly that he usually had the problem fixed mentally before he even arrived at the customer's business.

I think of how God came to us personally in Jesus Christ. There was, and is, trouble in the human heart. God has been working from the beginning to help people to understand both the problem and the solution. He tried many different ways to get the message across to the world. The book of Hebrews says it well:

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. Hebrews 1:1-2 (NASV)

There came a time when, in His divine plan, He, Himself came to show us the truth of His love and His plan for each of us. The Bible says in Philippians 2:6, ". . .although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of bond-servant. . ." Wow!

No matter how loudly He spoke the message in previous days, the clearest understanding we can have of Who God is and how He loves us is the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was the "Word which was made flesh and dwelt among us." (John 1:14)

That is what verse 18 means when it says, "He has explained Him." Jesus has made God clear to us. He made God's love clear to us from the manger to the empty tomb. Christmas is not merely a touching and sentimental story. Christmas is about the message of God delivered personally to us in a way we could all understand!

Have a blessed celebration of Jesus' birthday.

Gary