SCRIPTURE: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 KJV
THOUGHT: For the remainder of December, I’m going to dwell in John’s prologue. It’s not just deep and significant to faith and on-point for Christmas, it’s also beautiful and poetic. Imagine a rough fisherman penning such poetry! What a change knowing the Word of God made for John, because before he could write the word of God, he had to know the Word. And so it is with others who would testify to the truth.
Pro·logue actually means “before the word,” and isn’t that an apt description? John starts his gospel at the beginning of the story – a beginning we know almost nothing about since Scripture opens with the story of creation. It’s like a prequel – a movie series where part 5 suddenly diverts back to the childhood of the main character, giving us a fuller understanding of every part of the series we’ve already seen. John’s prologue is the backstory we need to understand the main characters and the action that is to follow.
John 1:1 gives us proper respect and awe at the mystery about to unfold. Not only do we learn of Jesus’ name, the Word, we also learn he had a history before his human birth. We learn that the child in the manger was God, mind-blowing if we really take it in, but he was also “with God,” which throws our head around another curve. If he is both with God and is God, we’re talking about a being unlike anything we’ve seen. Something that can be both same and separate. It helps me to think about those 70s lava lamps, where one piece of lava breaks into two, and then three, and then comes back together. Unity. Distinctiveness. Sameness. Separateness.
If we can once grasp the faith to believe that our God has always been, and that Jesus is a pure expression of that same God, pieces fall into place. We listen to Jesus’ words differently, take his claims of being one with God more seriously, and move toward the understanding that Jesus is The Word; God’s word to and for us.
SONG: Uncreated One Chris Tomlin
PRAYER: Oh great God, truly there is none like you!
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Blogger Amy Clemens is the author of Walking When You’d Rather Fly: Meditations on Faith After the Fall. In it she explores childhood sexual abuse and how it impacted her faith (or lack thereof) for four decades. You’ll find not only her story, but better yet, the Big Story of God.
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