He dwelt among us

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 were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:1-5, 14
As we enter this Christmas season, we will be inundated with advertisements, songs, decorations, and festive attitudes. It’s often easy to forget why we celebrate Christmas and the meaning behind it. We are often told in churches to “remember the reason for the season” and we remember a child in a manger, born of humble origins to a virgin named Mary. However, it is so much more than that image. So much more than wisemen and shepherds in the night. More than the nativity scene that we put up each Christmas. It is about how the Word became flesh.

John is unique in the four Gospels as his Gospel is the only one that does not recount the birth of Jesus. Rather, we are given a prologue that starts with the phrase “In the beginning was the Word.” Here, we could say that we are given a sort of narrative beyond that of the story many of us are familiar with. John gives us the story of God becoming a man and the grandeur of that act. The Word. The one responsible for the creation of the world. The one who is the very life and light of all that is in the world. The one who shines into the darkness of this world and the darkness flees. The one who is full of Grace and Mercy and who holds the stars in place. This God came and dwelt among men. This God came into this earth so that we may see his Glory and so that he may eventually die for the sins of the world.

This is not a weak God. He is powerful and mighty. Yet, he saw fit to become a child, the most humble and helpless among humanity, who then grew up to be put to death on the cross for a world that rejected him. This is the Word who was in the beginning, was with God, and who was God.

This Christmas season, as we all reflect on things like family, joy, and giving, let us also consider the ultimate gift given to mankind. The gift of the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us.