John 1:1 In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it. 6
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that
through him all might believe. 8
He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to
everyone was coming into the world. 10
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did
not recognize him. 11 He came to
that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to
those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- 13 children born not of natural
descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. 14 The Word became flesh and made his
dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only [Son],
who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying,
"This is he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me
because he was before me.' ") 16
Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.
17 For the law was given through
Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only [Son], who is
himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
One of
the fascinating ways in which the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
differ is in their handling of the 'origin' of Jesus. Going with what we
have--a received text--scholars down through the years have bantered back and
forth about what we *think we can know. For instance, if Mark was the **only**
Gospel we had, it would be much more difficult not to hold to "adoptionist"
Christology. The old false teaching of Adoptionism held that Jesus was a normal
man, born the son of Mary and Joseph... of humble, yet royal lineage; and at
his baptism by John in the Jordan, God was so 'impressed' with Jesus that a
divine 'adoption' took place. Given that many scholars hold that Mark was the
first Gospel written, it's easy to see how both Matthew and Luke could see
themselves as 'correctives.' BOTH include infancy narratives, complete with
angels and divine announcements as to the uniqueness of Jesus; his divine
fatherhood, and Mary's virginity.
And then
John comes along. And even saying it that way... implies that John was the last
of the four to be written--an old higher critical position, to be sure, but
these days there is no consensus on
where John belongs in the chronology of Gospel composition. Perhaps one
indication that John not only comes after Mark, Matthew and Luke, but is familiar with their content... is
that he moves his starting point back even further. He begins not at the Jordan
River where John came baptizing, and not even in the days when Caesar Augustus
ruled the known world; He begins at the BEGINNING: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. 2 He was with God in
the beginning. 3 Through him all
things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. And
while he is using somewhat cryptic phraseology (scholars tend to think that
these early verses of John--known as his 'prologue' were an ancient HYMN to
Jesus that the writer borrowed and used to begin his Gospel), the identity of
this "Word" from 1:1 becomes clearly known to us in vs 14: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling
among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only [Son], who came
from the Father, full of grace and truth.
"Creation symbols"
are big in John's Gospel. New scholarship has revitalized the understanding of
the "Jewishness" of this writing. One of the ways we see this is in
the constant mention of "light" and, of course, the way John begins
his story In the beginning is a
direct reference back to the opening of Genesis.
In other
words, John--in part--sees himself as writing a new Genesis. The old Genesis
was about God's loving act of creation, but the story didn't end well; creation's
perfection was marred by sin. This new story of Genesis, however, is different.
It too is a loving act on the part of the Creator, but it ends PERFECTLY. Just
as in the old story, the Creator takes the initiative; his Word opts not to
remain in Heaven, but to spring forth with creative energy and activity; to come
to his creation; to even take on flesh (an ultimate fulfillment of Gen. 3:8);
to have his glory made known to all creation--which is not to say that he went
around doing miracles (glorious as they may be), but that he
revealed his ultimate glory on the cross as he shed his own blood as sin-bearer
for the entire world.
This
week's Sundays & Season's introductory remarks for the second Sunday after Christmas state: Within the gospel reading’s profound words lies the simple message that
God is revealed in a human person. Though we may try to understand how the Word
existed with God from the beginning of time, the wonder we celebrate at
Christmas is that the Word continues to dwell among us. Christ comes among us
in the gathered assembly, the scriptures, the waters of new birth, and the
bread and the wine. Through these ordinary gifts we receive the fullness of
God’s grace and truth. And this really gets to the heart of John's message
and the "Christmas-ness" of this reading. Because even without a
humble virgin mother, or angelic announcement, or a wise husband-to-be who
consents to be a part of this divine drama, John 1:1-18 is a wonderful
Christmas message. Verses 12-13 even use the language of 'gift reception:' Yet
to all who did receive him, to
those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- 13 children born not of natural
descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
Cheers,
T.M.
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