The Kingdom of God Breaks Forth
The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14 And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. John 1:1 + 14
Why does John the Evangelist begin his gospel with a description of the Word of God? The word of God was a common expression among the Jews. Gods word in the Old Testament 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 Book of Wisdom addresses God as the one who made all things by your word (Wisdom 9:1). Gods 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, thy 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 thy authentic command (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. 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).
Gregory of Nyssa, one of the great early church fathers (330-395 AD) wrote: Sick, our nature demanded to be healed; fallen, to be raised up; dead, to rise again. We had lost the possession of the good; it was necessary for it to be given back to us. Closed in darkness, it was necessary to bring us the light; captives, we awaited a Savior; prisoners, help; slaves, a liberator. Are these things minor or insignificant? Did they not move God to descend to human nature and visit it, since humanity was in so miserable and unhappy a state?
Christians never cease proclaiming anew the wonder of the Incarnation. The Son of God assumed a human nature in order to accomplish our salvation in it. The Son of God ...worked with human hands; he thought with a human mind. He acted with a human will, and with a human heart he loved. Born of the Virgin Mary, he has truly been made one of us, like to us in all things except sin.
If we are going to behold the glory of God we will do it through Jesus Christ. Jesus became the partaker of our humanity so we could be partakers of his divinity (2 Peter 1:4). God's purpose for us, even from the beginning of his creation, is that we would be fully united with Him. When Jesus comes God is made known as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By our being united in Jesus, God becomes our Father and we become his sons and daughters. Do you thank the Father for sending his only begotten Son to redeem you and to share with you his glory?
Prayer
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. Amen.
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