Second Sunday after Christmas

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 men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. 6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men 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 every man 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 received 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, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ” 16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

Notice how John opens his gospel … “In the beginning.”

Ring any bells?

The connection to Genesis 1 is so obvious it’s impossible to ignore

And John’s making the connection on purpose

Genesis 1 talks about the beginning of God’s good creation

But sin enters by Genesis 3 and the story from there is about God working to set it right again

Now John 1 opens signaling a new beginning which will culminate in a new, restored creation

And the one who brought creation into existence the first time has come again to set it right

John hasn’t named him yet, he starts by referring to him as the Word, the Logos in Greek

I feel like it might have have been better if English translations hadn’t ever translated it as Word, because that has such a pedestrian feel to it

And the Greek concept of the Logos represented something so much deeper

In Stoic thought the Logos was THE fundamental wisdom and reason that gave order to the universe

It’s capital T truth at the center of existence

John takes this concept of the Logos and makes the bold claim that it isn’t just a vague force but a personal being

In our time people will speak of energy or even just “the Universe” and say things like “the Universe has blessed me”

That kind of spirituality doesn’t have to be attacked. It can be redirected. It’s the natural response of people who know that life isn’t pointless and that we’re more than just carbon and chemical reactions.

And so John says that core animating power, that pure truth and wisdom, that energy at the center of the universe that you want to call the Logos ... is God

He has a name and you can relate to him

And then the real bombshell comes in verse 14

The Logos became flesh and dwelt among us

The Logos became a person

“And we have seen him,” John says.

There is a person who existed in the real world who is the human embodiment of capital T truth

The power that brought creation into existence has entered into creation as a person

The very light that sparked life from nothing has entered into the darkness of a world spiraling in self-destruction

IT. IS. INSANE.

We believe some crazy things.

This idea that God, Truth itself, Love itself, became a person in Jesus has HUGE implications.

It means that Jesus reveals God to us in the most complete, most concrete way possible.

Hebrews 1:1-3 - In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being ...

Simply put, that means God is like Jesus.

Jesus is now the interpretive lens for how we understand who God is.

British theologian Lesslie Newbigin reflects on this passage brilliantly, saying

"… the Fourth Gospel (John) seeks, above all, to emphasize in point after point, that in this dated historical happening for which various witnesses are available, the eternal being of God was actually present. Either one rejects this as absurd, or one's whole understanding of what the word "God" refers to has to be reconsidered.”

We’re told a real person shows us who God is. We either reject that outright or we adjust our understanding of God if it differs from what we see in Jesus.

Maybe we inherited a view of God as cold and vindictive, always angry and wanting to punish, demanding rigid exact obedience at all times.

Is that what we see in Jesus?

God is like Jesus.

Adjust accordingly.

Second because Truth is a person, it totally shifts how we relate to it.

I’m going to point to Newbigin again on this. He distinguishes between two types of knowledge: one get from the sciences, observing, labeling, making formulas … and the type of knowledge that comes through relationships.

In relational knowing we’re not in full control. We can ask questions but we also answer questions put by the other. Knowledge comes through sharing and exchange, a gift given to one another. And this type of knowing is almost bottomless, there’s always more to learn even in a lifelong friendship.

Then he makes this distinction. Suppose your knowledge of a PERSON is purely scientific. You've read books about them, you can list their characteristics and achievements. But they are largely an object to be studied. Suppose you're even in a group that share knowledge about this person. Then the person walks into the room. The dynamic DRASTICALLY CHANGES.

"If, so to say, the Idea of the Good has actually entered the room and spoken, we have to stop our former discussion and listen. Instead of asking all the questions, we must answer the questions put by the Other. Of course it is possible to dismiss the interruption. The one who has entered the room may be an impostor … But if we recognize the intruder as the one we were talking about, then one kind of talk has to stop and another has to begin.”

We can read books about God and treat him as an object to be studies and catalogued. But he’s entered the room.

We only ever come to know him truly by going with him, talking with him, answering the questions he asks us and asking him questions we have.

All of this is incredible. But there’s a problem, says John.

Truth entered the world but the world disagreed with him.

The light of life entered our world and the people preferred the darkness.

Divine love became flesh and the world was so lost it neither recognized him nor wanted him.

This section of John’s gospel acts like a prologue, introducing the theme that he will unpack over 21 Chapters.

Jesus shows that he is the Logos made flesh. But the world rejects him.

And John tells us at the end of his gospel that he wrote the book so we wouldn’t make the same mistake

After writing about the resurrection he says

John 20:30-31 - Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

So what do we do?

Receive him.

12 - Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

This goes beyond believing, which can be reduced to that scientific knowledge.

Receive him as you welcome a person into your life.

Listen to him.

Engage him.

Trust him.

And go with him.

Point to him.

This is what John the Baptist shows us.

He started to get a following and people started looking to him as a light.

And he said, “I’m not the light, I’m just here to witness to the light.”

That’s the theme of the Christian life

And it should be comforting because, theological knowledge is helpful, but you don’t have to hold all the answers yourself

Just point people to the light and live lives that reveal relationship with him really means something

Heady stuff. But as I said, it comes down to this

The capital T truth that every person ever has been searching for … has been revealed to humankind … not in a book, but in a person.