April 1 - The Word Made Flesh

April 1 – The Word Made Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  The Word became flesh and lived for a while 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 (John 1:1-5, 14).

The Greek word used in this passage for ‘Word’ is ‘logos.’  This concept comes from Greek philosophy.  They used it to mean simply a word or even the idea of debate.  A century or so before Jesus was born, the Stoics (another branch of Greek philosophy) applied the term to what they understood as the divine creator of the universe – not necessarily God, but what today we might call, the Intelligent Designer.

Philo was a Jewish philosopher who adopted the concept of the Logos to the Jewish idea of God.  John taught the idea of the Logos as that through which all things are created and Jesus Christ is the incarnation (the human experience) of the Divine.

John doesn’t focus on the birth of Christ into human form, but rather the connection of Jesus Christ to God and to the beginning of creation.  His Gospel affirms all throughout that Jesus Christ is the Son of God – the Lamb of God sent to take away the sins of the world.  When questions arose about the divinity of Jesus, John’s Gospel was there to offer answers. 

Jesus Christ was with God in the beginning.  He was God.  He wasn’t created by God, He was God.  He was the Word that God spoke when He said, “Let there be light, let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water, let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, let the land produce vegetation, let the water teem with living creatures, let the land produce living creatures, and finally … let us make man in our image.”

Jesus came to the world when the time was right.  He came from the Father.  While it is difficult to understand the mystery of the Trinity and then the mystery of the combination of humanity and the divine in one person, John simply wants us to know who the man, Jesus was.  These words are from a man who knew Him well and wanted to ensure that the world did so as well.