John 1:1-18
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
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. (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.’”) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 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. [NRSV]
Devotion
John’s Gospel starts at the beginning of time. In the beginning was the “Word.” In Genesis 1, each day of creation begins with “Then God said.” God did not create the heavens and the earth through acts demonstrating great power but by God’s word.
Genesis 2:9-25 describes God’s provision for humanity: food, responsibility, intimate and vulnerable companionship with no hidden shame, and finally, choice. Humankind chose: self-sufficiency, separation, doubt, pride, self-love, darkness, and death. As such, God gave humankind over to the desires of self and their consequences. We wonder why God does not come in power and eliminate injustice and suffering. But the Bible describes God’s intention for us to be in relationships marked by self-sacrificial love and mutual accountability with God and all of humanity. Such relationships cannot be created by paternalism and imposed power.
God did not abandon us, but rather met us where we are with love. In 1 Kings 19:11-13 Elijah found God not in “a great and powerful wind,” not in an “earthquake,” and not in “fire,” not in power but in a “gentle whisper.” Verse 14 describes the beginning of the culmination of God’s grace and redemptive actions:
• And the Word became flesh The Word came to Earth as a dependent baby of an ordinary couple, not a family of status and power.
• and lived among us, The Word moved into the neighborhood, to a village and not a palace. He came to live our life and do God’s work among us.
• and we have seen his glory, But unlike us for whom glory means celebrity and power, God’s glory means servanthood, to love and caring for others, and the willingness to suffer and die for our salvation.
• the glory as of a father’s only son, Jesus is the one-of-kind and complete reflection of what God is like and what God expects of us.
• full of grace and truth. Finally, the Word came not in judgment but with grace. His words and actions tell us of the salvation that can be ours and how we should then live.
Genesis 2:9-25 describes God’s provision for humanity: food, responsibility, intimate and vulnerable companionship with no hidden shame, and finally, choice. Humankind chose: self-sufficiency, separation, doubt, pride, self-love, darkness, and death. As such, God gave humankind over to the desires of self and their consequences. We wonder why God does not come in power and eliminate injustice and suffering. But the Bible describes God’s intention for us to be in relationships marked by self-sacrificial love and mutual accountability with God and all of humanity. Such relationships cannot be created by paternalism and imposed power.
God did not abandon us, but rather met us where we are with love. In 1 Kings 19:11-13 Elijah found God not in “a great and powerful wind,” not in an “earthquake,” and not in “fire,” not in power but in a “gentle whisper.” Verse 14 describes the beginning of the culmination of God’s grace and redemptive actions:
• And the Word became flesh The Word came to Earth as a dependent baby of an ordinary couple, not a family of status and power.
• and lived among us, The Word moved into the neighborhood, to a village and not a palace. He came to live our life and do God’s work among us.
• and we have seen his glory, But unlike us for whom glory means celebrity and power, God’s glory means servanthood, to love and caring for others, and the willingness to suffer and die for our salvation.
• the glory as of a father’s only son, Jesus is the one-of-kind and complete reflection of what God is like and what God expects of us.
• full of grace and truth. Finally, the Word came not in judgment but with grace. His words and actions tell us of the salvation that can be ours and how we should then live.