In the Beginning

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“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 came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being…The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it… And the Word became flesh and lived among us…”
John 1:1-5 and 14 NRSV



The Gospel of John is rather different from the other three gospels, which we call the synoptic gospels. Matthew, Mark and Luke all share similar stories about Jesus, so much so that we can put them side by side and see parallels. This is not the case for the Gospel of John. In this season of Advent, we hear a lot of scripture from the Gospel of Matthew and of Luke, as these two include some type of birth narrative about Jesus. Matthew tells us about the Magi visiting the infant Christ, while Luke tells the majestic story of the heavenly host coming to tell the shepherds about the birth of Christ. Both of these texts start the story of Jesus at the beginning of his human life on earth.

The Gospel of John does not begin the story with a human Jesus born in a manger, but of an eternal Christ, one who was with God in the beginning. It tells us of a Christ who actively participated in creation as part of the Trinity, and that not one thing came into the world without him. When we think of this beginning to the story of Jesus, it makes his act of becoming human so much more remarkable. How incredible is it that the God who created all things loved us so much that God became like us in order to save us! Yes, Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of the Savior, like we read in Matthew and Luke, but is also a time to remember that God willingly became flesh and dwelt among us, so that we may know just how much God loves us.

To Read More: Matthew 1-2; Luke 2

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