Second Sunday of Christmas
We are approaching the end of the Christmas season. On Wednesday, we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany, the revelation of Jesus to the nations of the world. The gospel we have just read is the prologue, or the introduction to John's Gospel. Like the introduction to all good essays, it was, scholars believe, composed after the body of the main work had been completed. It was then inserted at the beginning of the work and functions as its introduction. So this introduction is a protracted meditation on the enduring significance of the man who had been born at Bethlehem. A 19th century writer described this gospel as 'a pool in which an infant can safely paddle or an elephant can safely swim.' In other words, there is something in it for everyone. While the language and imagery is simple, the ideas are in places very difficult. He is writing over sixty years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. His community has been expelled from the synagogue. So John's community is no longer Jewish a religious sense. The idea begins to take hold that something unique, something new had happened in this man Jesus. He was something more than just another Jewish prophet or holy man. So what framework, what literary devices will John the writer harness to convey this uniqueness? This was the challenge facing John.
So he begins his meditation with what is perhaps the best known sentence in all of literature: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." He finally closes his extended metaphor with the powerful line: "The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us." Idea becomes reality.
Every child spends the first couple of years of life learning how to speak. They match objects to words and often get it wrong. Most parents will remember their child's first word. From the day we utter our first word, we gain more and more control over our world. When our name is called, we are able to recognize it and respond to it. Moreover, we are now able to call out a known name and they will respond to us. The words we articulate established bridges between the world and ourselves. Because we have learned to talk, we are no longer locked in the isolation of infancy. We have, through our words, established a relationship with our world.
As we grow up, we quickly learn that not all words are the same, that different words can mean different things, and can have very different results. We quickly learn that some words are destructive and hurtful; that other words are constructive and uplifting. We learn this first of all from our parents. Some words can literally wither us, others can make us glow with pride and confidence. The words we hear in our environment and our homes actually mould us into the type of persons we are. Eventually, our words became identified with our own personality. The word we express is no longer distinguishable from our personality or our soul. Our words express who we are; our words communicate to others how we see ourselves.
This is the framework John uses in his gospel to understand the child born to Mary and Joseph at Bethlehem. This child is God's word to humanity. The word of God became flesh, John tells us. Through this word, through this child, God expresses himself, God tells us what he is like. Through the words and actions of this child and man, we come to know what God is like. I said earlier, that we as children soon learn that some words can be constructive, others destructive; some words build up, others tear down. The word of God, Jesus Christ, was never destructive. He lived out his life encouraging people, building them up, showing them their full potential as human beings, releasing them from destructive traps into which they had fallen, curing them of illnesses, releasing them from corrosive bitterness, and so on. His mission to mankind was entirely positive and uplifting. The word of God was powerful and healing. This word was a light shining in a dark world, as John puts it.
The words that we use perform two functions: they reveal to our friends who we are, our true identity. Unless a person speaks to us, we will never get to know them. Obviously, the more they speak to us, the better we get to know them. Secondly, the words we use have a ripple effect, for good or ill, on the world around us. Our words are either creative or destructive. The same principles apply to Jesus Christ, the word of God born at Bethlehem. The more we listen to him, the better we get to know God. Unless we listen to him, we cannot know God. As John puts it, "No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father's heart, who has made him known." We know from the life of Jesus that the Word of God is creative, uplifting and constructive. The more we listen to him and follow his example, the more positive and welcome will be our influence on our own world.