Today’s reading: John 1:1-18 NEV.”
“The WORD became a human being and …lived among us” 1:14
“No one has ever seen GOD. The only Son…he has made him known.” 1:18
The opening chapter of the gospel of John reveals a truth about God that is often missed. John recognizes that the WORD is not “a person” but stands outside the realm of time and space. All things that exist do so within the boundaries of time and space, and hence are finite, i.e. they have a beginning and an ending. GOD is, by definition, infinite, transcending time and space. In other words, GOD does not “exist” in the ways all things in our world do. Therefore, “no one has seen GOD”.
It is the result of this truth about knowing GOD that John presents the ultimate and only way in which we can know GOD – through incarnation in a human being, in this instance. Jesus. In the life and teachings of the man of Nazareth we get to “see” the character and nature of the WORD. We are given the gift of seeing a GOD who is compassionate, caring, redemptive, inclusive of all kinds of people. We get to see a GOD willing to sacrifice the self for others and who then challenges us to “love one another as I have loved you” John 15:12 RSV, and with that challenge we are invited to become ongoing incarnations of the WORD as well. When we embody in our lives these characteristics of GOD through our relationships, others get to “see” GOD as the WORD continues to become flesh today. Advent is a time to be reminded of the wonder of” the WORD made flesh” in a manger long ago. It is also to be challenged by that babe of Bethlehem to truly be his disciples continuing to embody the WORD in our world.
Reflections 