Thursday, December 24, 2015
And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us!
*****
On a night, probably not a winter's night, some 2016 years ago, we are told that the Creator of the Universe assumed the form of one of His creations.
Most of the time when you hear the news of Christ's birth, you get the story as told by Luke. Linus read it during "A Charlie Brown Christmas." If you're alive and an American, you've likely heard the story in one form or another. Joseph and Mary, a stable in Bethlehem, shepherds and flocks and angels heralding the birth of our Lord, three wise men following a star.
The same story is told in Matthew and Mark also, each somewhat different from the others, with different embellishments and emphasis. But the core of the story of God made flesh is told in John, Chapter 1:
At the beginning of time the Word already was; and God had the Word abiding with him, and the Word was God. He abode, at the beginning of time, with God. It was through him that all things came into being, and without him came nothing that has come to be. In him there was life, and that life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness, a darkness which was not able to master it.
A man appeared, sent from God, whose name was John. He came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, so that through him all men might learn to believe. He was not the Light; he was sent to bear witness to the light.
There is one who enlightens every soul born into the world; he was the true Light. He, through whom the world was made, was in the world, and the world treated him as a stranger. He came to what was his own, and they who were his own gave him no welcome. But all those who did welcome him, he empowered to become the children of God, all those who believe in his name; their birth came, not from human stock, not from nature’s will or man’s, but from God.
And the Word was made flesh, and came to dwell among us; and we had sight of his glory, glory such as belongs to the Father’s only-begotten Son, full of grace and truth.
We have John’s witness to him; "I told you," cried John, "there was one coming after me who takes rank before me; he was when I was not!"
We have all received something out of his abundance, grace answering to grace. Through Moses the law was given to us; through Jesus Christ grace came to us, and truth. No man has ever seen God; but now his only-begotten Son, who abides in the bosom of the Father, has himself become our interpreter.
You may question the story. You're not alone. You may have rejected the story as a fairy tale. How could a mere human be the only begotten Son of a mythical Creator? It's just crazy.
Ask yourself, "But what if it's true?"
May the Peace of Our Lord be with you and yours this Christmas and always!
Christ is born in Bethlehem!
Alleluia!
Amen.
On a night, probably not a winter's night, some 2016 years ago, we are told that the Creator of the Universe assumed the form of one of His creations.
Most of the time when you hear the news of Christ's birth, you get the story as told by Luke. Linus read it during "A Charlie Brown Christmas." If you're alive and an American, you've likely heard the story in one form or another. Joseph and Mary, a stable in Bethlehem, shepherds and flocks and angels heralding the birth of our Lord, three wise men following a star.
The same story is told in Matthew and Mark also, each somewhat different from the others, with different embellishments and emphasis. But the core of the story of God made flesh is told in John, Chapter 1:
At the beginning of time the Word already was; and God had the Word abiding with him, and the Word was God. He abode, at the beginning of time, with God. It was through him that all things came into being, and without him came nothing that has come to be. In him there was life, and that life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness, a darkness which was not able to master it.
A man appeared, sent from God, whose name was John. He came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, so that through him all men might learn to believe. He was not the Light; he was sent to bear witness to the light.
There is one who enlightens every soul born into the world; he was the true Light. He, through whom the world was made, was in the world, and the world treated him as a stranger. He came to what was his own, and they who were his own gave him no welcome. But all those who did welcome him, he empowered to become the children of God, all those who believe in his name; their birth came, not from human stock, not from nature’s will or man’s, but from God.
And the Word was made flesh, and came to dwell among us; and we had sight of his glory, glory such as belongs to the Father’s only-begotten Son, full of grace and truth.
We have John’s witness to him; "I told you," cried John, "there was one coming after me who takes rank before me; he was when I was not!"
We have all received something out of his abundance, grace answering to grace. Through Moses the law was given to us; through Jesus Christ grace came to us, and truth. No man has ever seen God; but now his only-begotten Son, who abides in the bosom of the Father, has himself become our interpreter.
You may question the story. You're not alone. You may have rejected the story as a fairy tale. How could a mere human be the only begotten Son of a mythical Creator? It's just crazy.
Ask yourself, "But what if it's true?"
May the Peace of Our Lord be with you and yours this Christmas and always!
Christ is born in Bethlehem!
Alleluia!
Amen.
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