Do you remember the ShamWow commercials? I remember seeing them particularly during late night television shows. The salesman would talk about the ShamWow—it works like a sponge, a towel and a chamois cloth. It holds 20 times its weight in liquid. You can wash them in the washing machine and use them over and over again. They are guaranteed for 10 years. ShamWows are made in Germany—and you know the Germans always make good stuff. You cannot purchase these in any store; you can only get them through this special television offer. The list price for a set of these towels is $19.99 plus shipping and handling. It’s a great deal! But wait—there’s more, if you call in the next 20 minutes you will get the second set for free! I love the part when they say, “But wait, there’s more!” This is so incredible, but wait, there is more! When we consider the Christmas story, that phrase is so appropriate. It is like climbing to the top of a beautiful high mountain and then when you get to the top, you see another one behind it even taller even more beautiful. And when you climb the next one, to your great amazement, there is another even grander more beautiful mountain behind that one. So then when you climb to the top of the third mountain, you see another, but it is so tall, so wonderful one could never get to the top of it. These mountains are like the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ coming to earth.
Have you ever noticed how differently the four Gospels begin? The Gospel according to Mark begins with comparing Jesus with John the Baptizer. Mark doesn’t take any time to talk about the birth of Jesus or his boyhood but cuts right to chase. He starts his Gospel with John the Baptizer just a couple a months before Jesus begins his ministry. John was the forerunner of Jesus, the one who was preparing the way. John is a prophet. Prophets, you recall, spoke for God; they were God’s mouthpiece. When God had something specific to tell to people, if he needed them to repent or be encouraged or to be comforted or to be warned, or to know something specific, he would send his prophets. God’s prophets had to be very courageous because many times they said things people did not want to hear. Many times prophets died because people did not like the message! So Mark introduces John and his prophetic ministry and then almost right away in verse nine, he introduces Jesus. In the Gospel of Mark Jesus is contrasted with John, John is the last and greatest of the prophets but Jesus is shown to be clearly superior to even to John the prince of prophets. This is the first beautiful high mountain.
But wait, there’s more! There is the Gospel according to Matthew. Matthew also talks about John the Baptizer preparing the way, but before he talks about John, Matthew brings up the lineage of Jesus. Matthew starts his genealogy with Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, and traces Jesus’ lineage through David and onto Joseph, Jesus’ legal father. Jesus, you see, is not just greater than the prophet John the Baptizer, Jesus is of the line and a direct descendent of King David himself. In fact, one of the main themes of Matthew is that Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecy that David’s line and kingdom will never fail. Jesus is David’s heir to the throne. Jesus is the King. Right away in Matthew we see the Magi come to bring gifts to the one born to be king of the Jews. Jesus is shown to be greater than even King David the greatest king the Jews ever had. This is the second mountain that is even taller than the first. But wait, there’s more!
Next is the Gospel according to Luke. Luke also has John the baptizer preparing the way through his baptizing and preaching, but Luke doesn’t start with John’s ministry. Luke actually starts with the unusual story of John’s birth. He parallels the announcement of John’s birth with the announcement of Jesus’ birth. Then he proceeds to tell the story of the birth and boyhood of Jesus. Luke, like Matthew, lists the lineage of Jesus except in this lineage Luke starts with Jesus and works his way backwards. As Luke works his way back, he too shows how Jesus is David’s heir and he too shows how Jesus is a child of Abraham, but Luke keeps going beyond Abraham all the way to Adam the first human being. Because Luke wants his readers to see that not only is Jesus a greater prophet than John the Baptizer, not only is Jesus the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning David and he is a greater king, but he wants to show that Jesus is the new Adam; Jesus is the start of a new people. Not only is he a new Adam he is a better one, a better human being. He is the first of a new creation a new breed of human beings if you will, as it says in the book of Hebrews; Jesus is the first among many brothers. This is the third mountain; it is a magnificent glorious mountain. But wait, there’s more!
Because then we come to the Gospel of John. We just heard the first eighteen verses. John the Baptizer is once again mentioned as the forerunner, the one preparing the way. But even before we get to the Baptizer, the Gospel writer points out why Jesus is so much greater than the Baptizer, and greater than King David, and greater than Adam, because Jesus is Himself the Logos or Active Word of God. Jesus is God, God in a human body but yet still eternal and pre-existent. The Gospel begins with the phrase ‘In the beginning,’ and this should remind us of Genesis chapter one’s ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’ The Gospel writer is telling us that God is creating again; a new world is in the making. In the Genesis creation, light was created first. In the Gospel of John, light, the true light, Jesus, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. You see, Jesus is not only the greater prophet who tells us God’s warnings, and encouragements, and comforts; Jesus is not only a greater king than David, the kingdom of Jesus now has been established and will never end; Jesus is not only a greater Adam, a greater human than the world has known; John the Gospel writer shows us that Jesus is the light by which we truly see ourselves, by which we truly measure ourselves, by which we truly understand ourselves, not only ourselves personally but how we understand ourselves as a human race. And not only do we see and understand ourselves through him, we truly see and understand God, as much as we can, through him. Jesus is that light and understanding through which we understand and see our world and reality. The Word became flesh and lived among us and we beheld his glory, full of grace and truth. Jesus actually was born of the Virgin Mary and lived among us human beings. It is the most wonderful good news that has ever happened. It is the most powerful truth ever to be contemplated and considered.
This fourth mountain is so high, and so magnificent that it can never be fully climbed or fully understood. Jesus, God in a human body, came to live among us. He is far greater than all the prophets; he is far greater than all the kings; he is far greater even than the first human being. But wait, there’s more! We are told that those who receive him, who believe in his name, are told that Jesus gives them the right to become children of God. What a glorious thing that God loved the world so much that he sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.