The Incarnation of the Triune God - John MacArthur

In 1980 (!) John MacArthur preached this sermon (https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/2003/the-incarnation-of-the-triune-god) from Philippians 2:6-11. He expounds the true meaning of Christmas. He starts:

At Christmas, we are confronted again, and I’m sure you’re aware of it, with the sometimes very difficult task of separating the reality of Christmas from the clutter that surrounds that reality. There is so much confusion that sometimes you feel like the real Christmas story is like a diamond lost in a haystack. It just seems impossible to find. Christmas has really become a hopeless muddle of confusion.

The humility and the poverty of the stable are somehow confused with the wealth and indulgence and selfishness of gift-giving. The quietness of Bethlehem is mingled with the din of shopping malls and freeway traffic. The soberness of the incarnation is somehow mixed with the drunkenness of this season. Blinking colored lights somehow have some connection to the star of Bethlehem. The room in the inn, so obscure, so dirty, with such meager fare, somehow embraces the thought of a warm house, a fireplace, and opulent feasting. Cheap plastic toys for little kids with which to play out their follies are mixed with the true value of the gifts given by wise men. Salesmen somehow get mixed up with shepherds. Angels are confused with flying reindeer, one of which even has a red nose.

The pain of childbirth is mixed with the parties. The filth of the stable is confounded with the whiteness of fresh snow. And then there’s Mary, Joseph, Perry Como, and Bing Crosby. And so it goes.

I encourage you to listen. I enjoyed, all over again, the wonder of the glorious Lord becoming flesh to save sinners from their plight. What a Savior! Merry early Christmas.