The power and authority of Jesus, the incapacity of reason to believe, and the faith that justifies. What a set of topics, especially for Christmas!

Hebrews 1:1-4[5-12]

He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…
— Hebrews 1:3

Verse 3 is quoted in the Formula of Concord , Solid Declaration, Article 8: The Person of Christ (FC, SD 8.74) as reference to Jesus' power, who "has received all knowledge and all might, in fact and in truth."

John 1:1-14

All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being…
— John 1:3
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him.
— John 1:10

While we're in FC, SD 8, lets back up a bit and get verses 3 and 10, which are jointly referenced in FC, SD 8.55 as citations showing Jesus' power and authority are "given to and imparted to the human Christ." Thus Jesus is both fully human and fully divine.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
— John 1:5

Verse 5 comes up twice in the Formula of Concord , Solid Declaration, Article 2: Free Will (FC, SD 2.10, 12) and each time uses the alternate translation of "did not comprehend it" instead of "did not overcome it" to show, with other passages, that our intellect is trapped in darkness and cannot reason itself into faith.

But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
— John 1:12-13

Verses 12 and 13 are cited twice. First in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article 4: Justification (AP 4.94) in a long block of scriptural citations showing that the faith that justifies is not a work, because we cannot justify ourselves to God with our works.

The second reference is an editorial insert in the Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article 4: Good Works (FC, SD 4.10) explaining Luther's understanding of Paul's argument in Romans, arguing that the justifying faith is not a work since works cannot save us.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
— John 1:14

Verse 14 is cited later in the Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration in Article 7: Holy Supper (FC, SD 7.36) with several other texts to argue both against transubstantiation and to clarify the belief that "the divine essence is not transformed into human nature, but that the two unaltered natures are personally united" in Jesus.

TheoThru

The mystery of God become human cannot be overemphasized, especially on Christmas Day. The one who made us and all things became human so that we might know our Creator's joy. To do this, God made being human part of the Trinity.

Mind. Blown.