The Word Became Flesh

The birth story in the Gospel of John is barely a story at all. You don’t get singing angels, shepherds in the field or gift-bearing magi. What you do get is one of the most profound statements of Christian theology ever written. And you get a little bit of John the Baptist.

It’s not sentimental. It’s dense and intellectual. It’s so difficult to unpack that it’s been a source of theological debate for centuries.

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.

Apologies in advance to the non-trinitarians in my audience, but this seems to be an incredibly poetic take on the divinity of Jesus and the significance of His incarnation. The words, “In the beginning,” rewrite the story of creation. In Genesis God spoke creation into existence. In John, the Word existed before all creation, the Word was with God and the Word was God. These verses tell us that Jesus was present before and through creation. The important theological point the author of John is making is that Jesus has divine authority and power. Jesus is an incredible throughline from preexistence to humanity. Let that fully sink in. The gospel author is telling us that the source of all being has identified with you, called you family and chosen to share that life with you. Your life, too, is now light.

I also want to emphasize that I think years of bad atonement theory have masked the strong current of universal salvation in the first chapter of John. The gospel starts by saying we all have the life that came through Jesus, our light, and darkness did not overtake it. All things, all people, all have light and life . It’s amazing that in these verses, this saving light existed from the beginning and then became flesh. I’m not a scholar and debates over how to interpret these words would fill a library. Yet, I find this fits my own belief about how Jesus saves us by showing us we’re already “saved,” if by, “saved,” you mean some kind of eternal reconciliation with God. That was God’s purpose all along. None will be eternally damned to Hellfire. This light, this love, Jesus, saves us by modelling for us what real life really is. We become children of God by following that path, the Jesus way. We live our authentic lives. It’s not about getting into Heaven, it’s about claiming your place in God’s family to live fully today.

I also love that we celebrate Jesus’ birth as light reenters the world. Despite the familiar argument that the church deliberately coopted winter solstice festivals, the early church calculated December 25 on the basis of belief that prophets died on their birthdays and worked to Christmas Day backward from the crucifixion. But it is true that light enters the world on Christmas no matter how we chose the day.

So what are we to do about this light?

John 1:6-9

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

The critical reader in me wonders why John the Baptist shows up here. Is it a later overlay from a later editor of John? It seems to interfere with the grand theology being expressed. I’ve come to think that it is amazingly important to emphasize the real intersection of God in Jesus with actual human followers like John the Baptist. God wants to be in relationship so much that the Word became flesh. The light entered the world as a tiny baby. So how are we to respond? Through witness just like John the Baptist. The best way to witness Jesus is to live as He lived in love and service to others.

And again, I want to emphasize the universal aspect of the words, “which enlightens everyone.” I know the next verses could be used to argue that salvation is only for believers, but hear me out.

John 1:10-13

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

I know many Christians could point to this verse and say that only people who accept and receive Christ, those who believe in His name, are saved. I think the tone is much more universal here and applicable to all of us. These lines point to a universal condition of spiritual blindness, the separation from God that is sin. I think being a child of God is equally universal and less about where you end up after death and more about living God’s will. The Word is the light to all people. We can choose to live in that light, spread that light, live as children of God. But again, I don’t think this is about a get out of Hell card. The God of creation loves you so much God became flesh. That God will take care of you after death as God took care of you bringing you into life. This is about sharing the light of the Word by living as a child of the Word. We live as a child of God by living as Jesus demonstrated.

John 1:14

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.

Christmas is about the Word becoming flesh. Word becoming flesh is probably the most theologically significant statement in our scripture. The Word, present with God from prehistory, from the beginning of all existence is now a human. The words, “lived among us,” feel a little distant, like an ancient fairytale. Eugene Peterson’s translation in The Message makes it closer to home, saying that the Word, “moved into the neighborhood.”

So this Christmas, our challenge is to believe and live this profound statement about who and what God really loves. God loves and values all of us – every single person. And we are to bear witness that God is made known in Jesus by living as Jesus modelled. Jesus makes God an intimate player in our lives, living in our very neighborhood. As my friend Ben told me over dinner a few weeks back, God looked at humanity – frail, fragile, weak-minded, ill-tempered, silly and often violent – and said, “yeah, I love that so much I’ll forever be a part of it.”