Is.61:10-62:3 Ps. 147:13-21
Gal. 3:23-25,4:4-7 John 1:1-18
If the Gospels of Luke and Matthew tell us about the birth of Jesus, the Gospel of Mark tell us about the adoption of Jesus by God the Father at his baptism when the heavenly voice said, “You are my son, the beloved, with you I am pleased.” And the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove.
So,what do we call John’s Gospel regarding the origin of Jesus? I would call John’s Gospel a very developed pre-conception story of Jesus. It’s not about how he began in a conception in Nazareth or as a birth in Bethlehem or as an adoption at his baptism but as being the beginning of all beginnings.
What is the most expansive human notion to try to explain the beginning of all human life as we know it? The Word. Think about it, everything that can be known, is known because we always first assume that we exist as language users, having language. We came into our lives not knowing how to use language fully, but we inherited the stamping of language all over our lives. We came into this world as babies who were pre-coded by our parents’ culture and language. Anything that can be known is known because we first assume the wide reach of the Reality of Word.
So, how does John’s Gospel state the pre-conception life of Jesus? “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God. All things came into being through the Word…and the Word became flesh and lived among us.”
So, how can we build a cute little Christmas Pageant on the nativity story in John’s Gospel? We can’t.
The Christmas Pageant in John is expressed solo in the phrase, “And the word became flesh and lived among us…”. Rather than being limited to the nativity of Jesus, this expresses a most profound reality about our human relationship with God.
The fact that human beings have word ability is what distinguishes them among other creatures. The fact that we are limited to our life of words means that we filter and know all human experience through having language. What do we do as language users? We name other beings, and because we have language we project our human characteristics upon animals, and we think that we really communicate with our pets, and even with our plants. To have language is to be a person and personal, with other persons.
And so having words, we also come to name the Being of God. Yes, we have a human experience of God because we know that we live in realm greater than ourselves, and in our fascination, we can only say the evocative Wow! or My God! And because words are proof of personality, we can only project that God and all things are personal and have personality.
And John’s Gospel tells us why we do this? Why? Because word was from the beginning, and word was with God, and the word was God.
So, in our worded link with God, we find the implanted image of God on us. And with the word implant on our lives, we experience greatness and we say God.
We might ask an atheist if they believe in words? Do they believe using words is proof of personhood?
But we also might ask most people who say that they believe in God, do you believe that word is God?
We cannot be outside of words to know if things exist outside of having words and language. It is silly and frustrating to try since we even are presuming to have language when do so.
I think the point of John’s Gospel is to deal with the central human reality that we have language. So, the most important human issue is how we are using language. I am not talking about having a big vocabulary or good grammar or whether you swear too much. I am talking about the overall communication effect of our lives? We are signs in motions giving off perpetual messages by how we are constituted by the language of our lives.
What do we say with the sign languages of our lives today? Are we saying to others? I value you, I care for you, I honor your dignity, I am hopeful for you, and I am thankful for you.
If Jesus Christ is the Word of God, then that is the ultimate Communication of the Nature of God to us as human beings, and how are you and I going to be those who communicate the nature of God in Christ to the people in our world?
This is our task today, and in the new year, and in our personal lives, parish lives and in our national life. Why? Because we are supposed to be God’s signs to each other in this world in the very best possible ways. Amen.
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