Wednesday (December 31): The Word became flesh and dwelt among us Scripture: John 1:1-18 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 to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but 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 to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only-begotten Son, full of grace and truth. John testified to him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’” From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only-begotten Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him. Meditation: Why does John the Evangelist begin his Gospel account with a description of the Word of God which began the creation of the universe and humankind in the first book of Genesis? The word of God was a common expression among the Jews. God’s word in the Old Testament Scriptures is an active, creative, and dynamic word. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made (Psalm 33:6). He sends forth his commands to the earth; his word runs swiftly (Psalm 147:15). Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer which breaks the rock in pieces (Jeremiah 23:29)? The writer of the (deutero-canonical) Book of Wisdom addresses God as the one who made all things by your word (Wisdom 9:1). God’s word is also equated with his wisdom. The Lord by wisdom founded the earth (Proverbs 3:19). The Book of Wisdom describes wisdom as Gods eternal, creative, and illuminating power. Both word and wisdom are seen as one and the same. For while gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was now half gone, your all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, into the midst of the land that was doomed, a stern warrior carrying the sharp sword of your authentic command (deutero-canonical Book of Wisdom 18:14-16). John describes Jesus as Gods creative, life-giving and light-giving Word that has come to earth in human form. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus is the wisdom and power of God which created the world and sustains it who assumed a human nature in order to accomplish our salvation in it. Jesus became truly man while remaining truly God. What he was, he remained, and what he was not he assumed (from an early church antiphon for morning prayer). Jesus Christ is truly the Son of God who, without ceasing to be God and Lord, became a man and our brother. From the time of the Apostles the Christian faith has insisted on the incarnation of Gods Son who has come in the flesh (1 John 4:2) . Almighty God and Father of light, your eternal Word leaped down from heaven in the silent watches of the night. Open our hearts to receive his life and increase our vision with the rising of dawn, that our lives may be filled with his glory and his peace.”
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:50:38 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015