John 1:1-8

In the beginning the Word already existed.

The Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

2 He existed in the beginning with God.

3 God created everything through him,

and nothing was created except through him.

4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,

and his life brought light to everyone.

5 The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness can never extinguish it.

6 God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light.

Today we move from passages written before Jesus - hundreds of years before Jesus - to passage written after. John had been a disciple of Jesus for three years. He knew Jesus well. He starts his story of Jesus by going back to "the beginning" in a way that echoes the very first words in the Bible.

He uses an unusual title for Jesus: the Word. It is a concept packed with meaning. One aspect might be that Jesus was the way God expressed Him, or revealed Himself, to mankind - the way God spoke. Also, this passage says that God created everything through Him and we remember that God created just by speaking. Whatever other meaning it might have, we know that John is referring to Jesus.

In the beginning, Jesus already existed in heaven with God. In fact, Jesus is God.

God created all things through Him. He gives life to every created thing. Jesus obviously had a crucial role in creation and continues to have a crucial life-giving role.

He also bring light into the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it. That is an extraordinary claim. Jesus will push back the darkness and the darkness will never defeat Jesus. Jesus will win. One day His victory will be complete. The darkness - all of the sin and pain and injustice in the world; all of the things that cause us distress - will be completely abolished. Again, we see that God has a plan. He will recreate a perfect world just as He had at the beginning. The evil introduced by Adam and Eve, and that has caused so many millennia of suffering, will be eradicated. God's Kingdom will come.

After that introduction, John began the historical account. God sent a man (John the Baptist) to prepare the way for Jesus and to point people to Him. John was not the light. Jesus would be. John's role was to point to Jesus. Jesus was the One who had been promised for all of these centuries.

The story is about to come to a climax. We will hear more about both John and Jesus.

For Reflection

1. Paraphrase how this passage describes Jesus.

2. What do those characteristics/qualities/actions mean for you personally.

Visit a live nativity. Some churches set up rooms with people dressed up, and animals, depicting the different scenes from the Christmas story. If you cannot find one, is there some other activity organised by a church near you and open to the public?

Loving Father, thank You that You have been willing to reveal Yourself in human form. Thank You that, in Jesus, we see exactly what You are like and thank You that we see Your mercy and gentleness, Your compassion and glory.

We pray that You will be the light in our darkness and that many others, living in darkness, will discover Jesus and also have light in their lives.

In His name we pray, amen.