December 25, 2024

Readings:

Isaiah 52:7-10

Psalm 98

Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12)

John 1:1-14

The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish. (John 1:14 The Msg)

For the Gospel of John, the beginning is not a particular event in time. Rather the beginning is outside the normal calculations of time, in the cosmic pre-existence of the Word with God. The reader’s attention focuses immediately on the meaning of what follows. The Gospel story is about the very character of God and how God makes Godself known to the world through the life and death of Jesus. (New Interpreter’s Study Bible)

The writer to the Hebrews picks this up perfectly, the Son is the exact imprint of God’s very being, (Hebrews 1:3). To see the Son is to see the very nature of God. To walk in the light that the Son brings is to walk as close as humanly possible in the very presence of God.

Eugene Peterson says the word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood. Now we see as fully the personhood of God. The light that broke the first darkness now finds itself incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus told Philip, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9) The writer of John’s gospel is clear. 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. (John 1:18)

Nativity is not about a day. Nativity is not about presents or even family gatherings, as wonderful as they may be. Nativity needs to be the joyous affirmation that the Word became flesh. The Incarnation shows us the heart of God, an open aching wound of love (Richard Foster) which longs to hold us, nurture and forgive us. A love that breaks the darkness of sin, loneliness, depression, and despair. The Incarnation makes it clear that God is not about rules and regulations, but rather grace and mercy.

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it (John 1:5 emphasis added)