Thoughts for the Day

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.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 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.

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.

(New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

The click of a cursor on a computer can open a world of discovery. It can link us to lost family members; teach us new crafts; create new opportunities; and help us navigate our world. Its potential is enormous, and today we take it for granted. There was a time before, and there is a time after, the internet and the computer, and so it's the same with today's reading from John's Gospel. Before, Greeks would have struggled to understand the Jewish idea of the Messiah for instance, or their language.

The Jews themselves mostly spoke Aramaic. They heard Hebrew in the synagogue, but used a translation to understand it. In the scriptures God is often spoken of in a human way, and words like 'hand' and 'name' are used of Him. But in the translations this was thought too familiar and the phrase 'word' is used. So Isaiah 48.13, 'My hand laid the foundation of the earth' becomes 'By my word I have founded the earth'. For the Jew then, words had power and independent existence. They could create and make!

The Greek for 'word' is Logos (also meaning 'reason') and John the writer of the fourth Gospel who writes in Greek says 'In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God.' In other words God spoke and the frail human baby born in a stable and called by the name of Jesus, was God, and those of us who believe in Him have seen His glory.

Word of God,
born in poverty in a stable,
as the least of society,
yet hunted by the authorities
as a threat to their power,
we know You as the Messiah,
the Son of the living God,
who came to reunite us with the Father.
May we never forget this
but rejoice in Your life
and in Your death each day.
Amen.