1st Sunday after Christmas

New Years

Circumcision and Name of Jesus

Readings

• Numbers 6:22–27
• Galatians 3:23–29
• Luke 2:21
• Luke 12:35–40

Hymns

• 393 Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
• 900 Jesus! Name of Wondrous Love
• 896 Now Greet the Swiftly Changing Year
• 922 Go, My Children, with My Blessing

The Seed of David Comes to His Temple

A Rod has come forth from the stem of Jesse (Is. 11:1–5)—the Seed of David whose kingdom shall be established forever (2 Sam. 7:1–16). In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son Jesus to redeem us from the judgment of the Law (Gal. 4:1–7). Now He is presented in the temple in fulfillment of the Law and revealed to be “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:22–40). Christ has enlightened us in baptism, giving us to be adopted as sons of God and heirs of eternal life. Receiving the Holy Sacrament of His body and blood, we are prepared to depart this world in peace, for our eyes have seen the salvation of God in Him.

Our Times Are in His Hands

The Church and the world are awake, but for very different reasons. The world counts down to midnight; the Church watches eagerly for her Master who is “coming at an hour” we “do not expect” (Luke 12:40). For many, the changing year brings regrets, fears and desperate wishes for improvement. The world delights in smooth talk and illusions of prosperity at any cost (Is. 30:9–10). It has already forgotten “the Holy One of Israel” born six days earlier (Is. 30:11). The Church ends the calendar year differently. “In returning and rest … in quietness and in trust,” that is, in repentance and faith, for the Holy One saves us, and He is our strength (Is. 30:15). Our times are in His hands (Ps. 31:15), the hands of Mary’s Son — God not only with us, but for us (Matt. 1:23). So, who could be against us? If God has given His Son, “how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:31–32). The Church dresses for action not in fear, but in hope; Christ is coming to serve her with His gifts (Luke 12:37). Who is there to condemn us for the passing year? Christ has died, is raised and intercedes for us! What distress will the new year bring? Nothing can “separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:34–39)!

Jesus Blesses Us with His Name and Saves Us with His Blood

Our newborn God keeps the Law for us and brings Abraham’s promises to their fulfillment when He is circumcised. It is there that the name above all names is “bestowed on him” (Phil. 2:9), “the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb”: Jesus, which means “the Lord saves” (Luke 2:21). He sheds the first drops of His precious blood in accordance with this name and in anticipation of His cross, “for he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). The law’s captivity gives way to the freedom of faith in Christ Jesus, who cuts a new covenant in His blood to be received by faith, whether male or female, Jew or Greek (Gal. 3:23–28). His name is given to us in Holy Baptism, and we are made sons of God and “heirs according to promise,” true offspring of Abraham by faith (Gal. 3:29). Eight days after the celebration of our Lord’s birth, a new “Year of our Lord” is begun in Jesus’ holy name and with His benediction. Jesus is the Lord, and by this name we are blessed (Num. 6:22–27).

Christmas Candlelight

Readings

• Isaiah 9:2-7
• Titus 2:11-14
• Luke 2:1–20
• John 1:1-18

 Hymns

• There will be Christmas Caroling in the nave prior to the Divine Service, also during the Divine Service...
• 375 Come, Your Hearts and Voices Raising
• 363 Silent Night, Holy Night
• 387 Joy to the World

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 free gift. The promise is fulfilled as the Son of God is conceived and born of the 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 4:9–10).

The Light of Christ Shines Forth in the Darkness

• Heaven and earth rejoice on this night because the glory of the Triune God is manifested in the human birth of “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). In Him, the Father’s grace, mercy and peace rest upon the world. The silence of death is broken 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 the darkness” of doubt and fear and sinful unbelief, behold “a great light” in the nativity of 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, will bear the burden of our sin and death in His own body on the cross. He thereby establishes a government of peace, “with justice and with righteousness,” which shall have no end; not by any work of man, but “the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this” (Is. 9:7).

The Birth of the Good Shepherd Is Proclaimed to the Shepherds

• The first ones to visit the infant Lord Jesus are lowly shepherds (Luke 2:15–20), for Christ came that the last may be first and that the humble may be exalted. Furthermore, Jesus Himself came to be a shepherd, the Good Shepherd who would lay down His life for the sheep. “He shall stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord” (Micah 5:2–5). The babe in the manger whom the shepherds worship is He “whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” For in Christ Jesus, conceived and born of Mary, “the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared” (Titus 3:4). Like Mary, let us keep and ponder in our hearts these things that God has revealed to us through His Word. And like the shepherds, let us glorify and praise God for all the things we have heard and seen in Christ His Son.

The Living and Life-Giving Word of God Dwells among Us in the Flesh

• In the beginning God created all things through His Word, His Son. But man fell into sin, and with man all creation was cursed. Therefore, God spoke His Word again, this time into the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary. The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle of our human nature (Ex. 40:17–21, 34–38). “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:1–14). The Son of God took on our flesh and blood and died on the cross in order that we might receive the right to become the children of God through faith. Baptized into Christ’s body, we are made partakers of a new Genesis, “the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4–7). In Christ, the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man has truly appeared.