In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1 NIVUK)
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John. 1:14 NIV)
When John starts his gospel, his record of the life of Jesus, he focuses on who he is at the deepest level. In John 1:1-18 we find a number of titles or descriptions of Jesus. They paint such a startling picture of who the baby born in Bethlehem is, that they should hopefully help us appreciate why he is so important and why he remains relevant at Christmas-time in 2024. In fact, they show he is more than relevant – he is crucial to each one of us. As we take the opportunity to look at them in some posts around Christmas, why not use the opportunity to ask yourself if you really know who the baby we remember at Christmas really is.
This time we’re thinking about Jesus the Word, which is in both John 1:1 and John 1:14. What does this teach us about Jesus? Let me suggest 4 things – two in this post and two in the next.
1. The Divine Word
John starts his gospel at the beginning of the world. In fact, the language he uses is very similar to that in Genesis 1:1. He is making a startling point. Before creation, in eternity past, there exists the Word with God (see also John 1:2). This Word is both distinct from God and yet is also God. This one sentence takes us straight into the depths of who God is. It lays the groundwork for the Trinity, where we say there is one God and yet three distinct persons of the Godhead – the Father, the Son and the Spirit. Here John is grappling with that truth with respect to Jesus – the Son.
In doing so, this sentence makes sense of both Genesis 1, where God creates just by speaking (by the Word) and the consistent New Testament pattern where God created the world through Jesus (e.g John 1:3; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:6; Hebrews 1:2).
It also explains why people worship Jesus (e.g. Matthew 2:11; John 20:28). In the Bible, only God is to be worshiped, so when we see Jesus accepting worship, we know we are being told he is God. But more than that, we are being told how we should respond to him. This Christmas, will you worship Jesus? It is the only proper response to the divine Word.
2. The Human Word
The Word is not only divine. He is also human. There is much in John 1 about how this word is fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies of God coming to be with his people. Perhaps the most famous of these prophecies at Christmas is wrapped up with the name Immanuel, which is a Hebrew name meaning “God with us.” It comes from the prophet Isaiah:
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14 NIV)
And then when the angel appears to Joseph in Matthew’s gospel to explain Mary’s baby, we find this explanation:
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). (Matthew 1:22-23 NIV)
John takes it a step further, when he writes “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). Astonishingly, this means that Jesus has what theologians call two natures – divine and human. He is fully God and fully man (i.e. human). These two natures make Jesus the unique hope of restoring the relationship between God and humans. That relationship has been broken by sin (our rebellion against our creator God expressed in our ignoring him and his ways). That relationship could only be restored by the unique God-man being the mediator who brings peace between us and God when we trust him (Colossians 1:19-20; 1 Timothy 2:5).
This Christmas, will you come to Jesus to restore your relationship with the God of the universe. He is your only hope to do so.
Jesus being the Word points us to the deep things of who God is, who Jesus is and who we are. John goes deep straight away in his gospel and in doing so confronts us with the God we must worship and the God who seeks a relationship with us, despite our sin.