The Word Became Flesh

First Sunday After Christmas, Dec. 29, 2002

Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Psalm 147 or 147:13-21; Gal. 3:23-25, 4:4-7; John 1:1-18

The gospel sets the theme for this Sunday. God has sent his Son into the world, fulfilling and indeed exceeding the longing of the prophets who look for God to bring salvation to his people in such a way that the nations will see the glory of God.

Isaiah speaks of a future hope for the exiled people of Israel when the Lord will send one who will dry his people’s tears (Isaiah 61:1-3) and put an end to her oppressors (62:8). He will do this through his double work of redemption and judgment (Isaiah 62:1-6). In so doing, the Lord, according to the psalmist, “builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcast of Israel.” Jerusalem will be the center of the new earth. Only the New Testament reveals that this Jerusalem will not be rebuilt by humans (contrary to popular convictions), it will be a “Jerusalem above” (Gal. 4:26), not made by human hands.

However, the good news of the gospel is that the lofty and future hope has already been inaugurated in and through the birth of Jesus Christ. But when the fullness of time had come, God send forth his Son …” “And the word became flesh ...” (John 1:14). He came “to redeem those under the law that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal. 3:5).

If John’s prologue sets the theme for today’s lessons, it builds on the anticipation of the good news proclaimed by the prophets. However, John also introduces the theme of rejection in verses 10-11. The world, created by him, and indeed his own people to whom he came, would not have him. Just as Isaiah announced that God’s agent would bring comfort to his people, he would also bring judgment upon those who reject him. The psalmist insists, “the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him” (Psalm 147:11). Judgment is not the last word, but salvation presupposes God’s just judgment upon the rebellion of humans who have rejected his rightful authority as their ruler and their God. John expresses this in 3:36: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

However, to all who received Jesus Christ, God’s Son, to them God gave the “right” to become his children, or as St. Paul says in Galatians 4:7, “So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

Look It Up

See how John also implies both salvation and judgment, as Isaiah had said, in the coming of Jesus Christ in John 3:36.

Think About It

It took the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for us to be called “children of God.” See how Ephesians 2:8-10 reinforces this.

Next Sunday

Second Sunday After Christmas, Jan. 5, 2003

Jer. 31:7-14; Psalm 84 or 84:1-8; Eph. 1:3-6, 15-19a; Matt. 2:13-15, 19-23 or Luke 2:41-52 or Matt. 2:1-12