John 1:1-14 (Prepared for Queen Street East Presbyterian Church)
We’ve just heard the first verses of John’s Gospel. Let’s listen to Mark, Matthew, and Luke’s opening words.
Mark 1:1: The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Then Jesus suddenly appears, all grown up, to be baptized by the man Luke will tell us is Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist.
Matthew 1:1: An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. That’s Joseph’s family history. Then it’s Joseph’s story.
Luke 1:1,2: Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us… I decided… to write an orderly account for you… Luke writes a long letter about Jesus, starting with John the Baptist. He takes his time before he gets to his Christmas story.
John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word (capital W in English). John writes a sort of poem, full of metaphors and symbols, powerful words.
Matthew and Luke charm us with chapters, building up to Jesus’ birth. John takes 13 verses that make us scratch our heads before he tells us how he sees Jesus’ birth.
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.
Those words sum up Joseph’s dream in Matthew and the Angel Gabriel’s message to Mary in Luke. They take in the second name Jesus gets in Matthew—Emmanuel—God is with us, and the whole message the angels give the shepherds in Luke. The Word, God’s heart and mind, God’s whole being, became flesh. Human. And lived among us. One of us.
Here’s why I think we need to read John, as well as Luke and Matthew. Luke’s most popular, most remembered story—the one we call The Christmas Story—is about a baby in a manger. Matthew hints at, probably, a toddler by the time those Wise Men find him in Bethlehem.
If that’s all we hold onto from Christmas, then we never really let Jesus grow up.
Maybe that’s why Mark skips over the story of Jesus’ birth. And John lays on the big words about THE WORD, who is God, all of God.
The Word became flesh and lived among us… The image behind those words is of someone who is just like us, moving in with us, sharing life with us.
Seven years ago, Janet and I moved from Halifax to Toronto. We left a medium-sized house, a beautiful old house, with a big farmhouse kitchen on the back of it. We moved into a small apartment, not just because it’s what we can afford in Toronto. The location is perfect. It’s really all we need. We fit into it and it suits us. There’s even room for visitors, though sometimes we have to reserve one of our condo’s guest rooms, downstairs. Which is great, because someone else cleans up when our company goes home.
Whether our guests are family or friends (really, family too), wherever they sleep, we all eat together. With the leaf in, our table stretches halfway across our apartment. That’s the way it should be. That’s hospitality, And the Bible tells us hospitality is sacred. It’s holy.
The Word became flesh and lived among us… Jesus comes into the world to be God with us, and he counts on our hospitality. Counts on us to welcome him, to accept him as one of the family. It doesn’t matter how many square feet we inhabit. Doesn’t matter if we can put a whole turkey dinner on the table, or beans and wieners. Honestly, as much as I enjoy making and serving that Christmas dinner. I find it’s easier to remember he’s with me when it’s franks and beans, or grilled cheese.
The Word became flesh and lived among us… Not just for Christmas Day, every day.
Come to think of it, Luke’s story is about human, fleshy stuff: The conception of John the Baptist. Then Jesus. Two women. Two wombs. One too old and another awfully young. John and Jesus are both born in the plain old human way. They don’t descend from heaven all grown-up.
Luke doesn’t describe Jesus’ birth, but he reminds us that a newborn needs cleaning off and wrapping up, and a place to rest to give his exhausted mother a rest. I know the Christmas carols say baby Jesus doesn’t make a peep. I think he exercises his little lungs and does everything a flesh and blood baby does. Mothers here, forget the old songs and paintings. Remember what it was like when you gave birth. You know what really happens in that little corner in Bethlehem.
The Word became flesh and lived among us… Too many of us believe we’re carrying around too much flesh. OK, some of us are. But we’re all made of flesh. We know everything that means. So does the One whose birth we’re celebrating today.
We might wish he would reach down and rescue us from a lot of what comes of being made of flesh. Human. But think of this: Jesus doesn’t excuse himself from any of it.
The Word became flesh and lived among us… Jesus knows the pains and pleasures, the needs and the moods, the joy and the sorrow of being human. He grows up like anyone born, in a time when too many infants and children die so very young. No, he doesn’t experience growing old. As a man of his time, though, he certainly grows up surrounded by elders. When he dies, as a man of his time, he’s at least middle middle-aged. We only have details for his last three years or so. But what a life he lives, with and for fellow humans of all sorts and sizes!
The Word became flesh and lived among us… One thing we should never say is, I’m only human! Jesus’ way of being all those things Luke says the angels sing and we repeat in our Christmas carols: Saviour, Christ, Lord Another angel calls him Emmanuel, God is with us. Jesus’ way of being all those things is to be human, one of us.
To be human is good, even sacred, holy. Do we accept that gift? Do we accept the responsibilities of being human? We have it in us to change lives. To change the world. Yes, we do.
Sometimes we think and act as if we’re more than human. Too often we think and speak of others, and treat them, as if they’re less than human. Maybe we don’t know that our English words—human and humble—come from the same root, the Earth all humans live on.That’s why our Bible begins with a story about God making the first humans out of dirt, the Earth.
The Word became flesh and lived among us… Lives among us and within us, in our flesh, every day.
You may have come across a poster in a window, or a sticker on a car bumper, or a meme online: Keep Christ in Christmas or Put Christ back into Christmas. They’ve been around for years. I watch for someone to reply to those slogans. Often it comes like this.
Want to keep Christ in Christmas? Feed the hungry. Clothe the naked. Forgive the guilty. Welcome the unwanted. Care for the ill. Love your enemies and do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
All those things come from the Bible, most of them from Jesus. None of them is about religion, or power, or glory. All are about how humans treat other humans.
There’s a new quotable quote making the rounds this year. Rather than putting Christ back into Christmas, how about putting Christ back into Christians?
In yesterday’s Star, Michael Coren wrote about what those words mean for us.
Feel for and with others, care for them as if they were family, understand those who insult and condemn you, respect creation and people, forgive, embrace, include, and love. Most of all, love. https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2022/12/24/putting-christ-back-into-christian.html
That’s how God’s Word becomes flesh, moves in and saves the world.
Out of My Mind 