Thoughts for the Day

The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

The Carol Service in church when I was a child was usually held after Christmas, since up until the 24th December was considered to be the solemn season of Advent. It certainly made the Midnight service more special, with the first mention of the birth of Jesus from Luke's account. But it was the opening words of John's Gospel at the Carol Service a few days later that always astounded me, coming as they do at the end of the 9 Lessons and Carols. The whole congregation stood for the final reading. The first time you hear it you're not sure what to expect, with its opening words about the 'Word' who was with God and who was God. Libraries of books have been written about this, and I can only hope to give us all a reminder of the subject here.

John has a problem. He has to take his message to a Greek world who see a division between spirit and matter. In other words how could God who is spirit (and perfect), create and interact with a world that is matter (and imperfect)? In Greek, 'Word' is 'Logos', and it has many meanings. One is 'speech that can act'. For Christians, God's Word is the bridge between that which is spirit (God) and between our physical world (us). God spoke and something physical happened.

John tells us that the Word exists with God and has always been with God. We are seeing the existence of Jesus before he became human. He is divine, and existed before our world was created; He is eternal, and created our world. This duality is seen again and again in John's Gospel, there is an emphasis on Jesus as both human and divine. John shows that God became the most fragile thing in our world - a human baby. God cares so much for us that he became a child, both fully human and fully divine. A spoken word became an action!

Almighty God,
Who created matter out of nothing;
Whose plan formed the creation of our world over millennia;
and Who sent Your Son to live as a man to bring us back to Yourself;
Give us the faith to believe that this is so;
and may we respond to Your generous action today.
May we also continue to take this resolve into the new year.
Amen.