The Word Made Flesh
In the beginning was Jesus. And Jesus was with God. And Jesus was God.
God spoke the Word into the world. God breathed the Word into the world. God breathed Jesus into the world. God Holy Spirited Jesus into the world.
So the Word, Jesus, became flesh. He took on bones and breath and made his home among us. And just as it was in the beginning, God was breathing new life into the world again.
He brought good news to the poor. Set prisoners free from darkness. Gave sight to the blind. Healed those with incurable sickness. Proclaimed that the Lord’s favor had come.
Jesus faced Darkness head on and was not overcome.
And the miracle of it all, God was in the flesh walking with us. Suffering with us. Celebrating with us. Sharing life with us. Being with us.
Through God’s Word in the world, Jesus, a new creation and new way of life had begun.
No longer would we have to stare off into the cosmos wondering where God is because Emmanuel, God is with us.
Reflections from John 1:1-18; Psalm 130:5-8
More Reflections on John 1:1-18
What’s the throughline? Jesus is God in the flesh. If you want to know what God is like, look at the life of Jesus. Jesus came full of grace and truth and darkness was unable to overcome him because Jesus is full of light.
Why did people find this important to write down? John is making a case that Jesus isn’t a created being of God but God himself. Jesus isn’t a part of the created order. The created order exists because of Jesus. Jesus came to be a light to people that had been overcome by darkness. And even though people to recognize Creator-Jesus, the darkness wasn’t able to overcome him because Jesus is God.
Why did this passage endure? This passage begins painting for us who God really is in the world. God is Jesus in the world. Jesus is light. Jesus is our way out of the darkness.
What is it that is true for them then that is true for us now? We still probably miss Jesus around us. I’m sure Jesus is active and at work around us and we often forget to ask the question, “Where is it that we can partner with Jesus around us?” The people then were looking for a Messiah in all the wrong places and that’s still true for us today. We often think that the church is the best place to go find Jesus being light and maybe that’s not really the case. Maybe the best place to go find Jesus is with the outcast. There’s a quote that has always stayed with me, “His throne is with the outcast.”
What is the good news in this passage? Darkness cannot overcome Jesus. Darkness cannot overcome the true Light. Jesus is our way out of the darkness.
How does this help me love God better? I don’t understand why God would want to be with people who messed up what he created but he does. It doesn’t seem that God is so much interested in being power over us as much as he is being Love and Light and Word walking with us.
How does this help me love people better? It helps me paint a better picture of who God truly is to others. There’s a lot of misconception about who God because of how we interpret things in the Old Testament, what others say, etc. Explaining who Jesus is to others is the best way to explain who God really is. Light, Love, Word.