the Second Sunday of Christmas --- 5 January 2014

John 1:(1-9), 10-18

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, "He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.' ") 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth... No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

• John takes things differently in comparison to the other evangelists. Matthew and Luke talk about the birth of Jesus and from them we have most of our Christmas/Nativity visualizations. Neither Mark nor John have these stories. The so-called prologue to John's Gospel – our reading today – goes back much further than any other Gospel, going back to the beginning of creation.
• The beginning of John's Gospel does not make for a nice story for children. It does not lend itself to a visual representation like our manger scene here, or to banners or stained glass windows. For many it is a very “heady” concept. A number of people I know find John's Gospel hard to understand... and often I must agree with them.
• This Prologue sets the stage for the whole of John's Gospel. John's Jesus is always privy to the flow of salvation history and the secrets of God. He is always the king, and even goes to his cross like a king ascending the throne at his coronation. Each of his miracles recorded in John serve to reveal who Jesus is and what he is about.
• So who is Jesus and what is he about?
• Another question might be asked first: Why did John write this way? John's Christian community was in conflict or so biblical scholars believe. The conflict was between those who held that Jesus was God and man both, and those who held he was one or the other, but not both. John was writing to let people know that Jesus was God - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. - and that Jesus was human - And the Word became flesh and lived among us... . John did this in a way that reflected the way of thinking of both his theological camp AND his opponents'. To express his theology using the opposition's terms and words would have a lot of power and especially the power of persuasion.
• So John answer to the question of “Who is Jesus?” comes down to us through the years and expresses the ancient belief of the Church that Jesus is true God and true human. Not half and half; not some sort of alloy, but a person whose divine and human nature cannot be separated.
• If the question were “What is Jesus about?”, John's answer would be found in his Prologue: we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. John would then go further: No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.
• Even the first title for Jesus in John's Gospel – the Word – expresses a lot about John's understanding of Jesus and his ministry. The Word is that which reveals God and shows God to the world. It is Jesus who reveals the Father and the Father's action in the world. If we wanted to see and understand God, we will look to Jesus.
• There are some who want to by-pass Jesus in their desire to see God. There must have been some of those among the Christian community of John's place and time. To them (and to us as well), John wrote this in the 14^th chapter of his Gospel: Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.' (John 14:8-9)
• You might say that this is an grown-up Christian's Christmas story. It does not have the sentiment of the Nativity stories, but it has all the power. Years ago, in my former way of life, when we heard the verse And the Word became flesh and lived among us, it was the custom to bow since that theology was that important and vital to living our faith.
• Interestingly enough, this same passage gives us an excellent example of how to live out our faith. Since Jesus, the Word, became as we are and lived as we do, how he did that becomes our example and model of living faith in this world. The original phrasing of this passage is “The Word became common flesh and pitched his tent among us.” Not as poetic in English, but closer to the original language and weighted with meaning.
• The word translated as “flesh” can mean the meat of the body or the unredeemed part of the human being. The phrase “lived among us” is actually “pitched his tent/tabernacle among us.”, bringing to mind the Tent of Meeting or the tabernacle found among the Hebrews in their wandering in the desert. The Tabernacle was the place where the presence of God could be found and made manifest. In this case, to “pitch his tent” means to become part of the world and the life of the world and that is just what Jesus did. It is what we do as well. We do not run from or try to escape the world as it is; we embrace the world and work to change it with the Kingdom of God in mind. The phrase “Kingdom of God” is not found in John's Gospel; “eternal life” is the term used. In Jesus' entry into the world, he brings the Kingdom/eternal life. In our pitching our tent in the world as it is, we proclaim the kingdom and eternal life in Jesus.
• As I said, this passage is not an easy one and it is the Christmas story for grown-ups. It is also our faith in a capsule as well as our model for our way of life. The whole of John's Gospel is thick with this way of thinking. It is never easy but always worthwhile. It explains a lot.
• No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.