Christmas 2
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.
-- John 1:18
The other gospels begin with the humanness of Jesus and allow glimpses of God to shine through. John, with intentional reference to Genesis 1:1, makes the astonishing claim of the complete divinity of Jesus. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The only similar claim was in Proverbs 8:22 ff where Sophia, the feminine spirit of wisdom, was said to be at the beginning with God and the partner in God's creation of the universe. Like wisdom, John claimed "all things came into being through him...." Jesus was the embodiment of God on earth. "No one has ever seen God," but Jesus made God known. In coming to live among us, Jesus laid claim to all of creation, but in a manner that offered them a free choice. "He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him." While John did not speak of Jesus' virgin birth, he described the possibility of a virgin birth for any who received him. "But to all who receive him ... he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or the will of the flesh ... but of God." If the other gospels give us a glimpse of God from below, John gives us a glimpse of God from above. Here we see that God began with Jesus Christ in order to provide creation with the hope of eternity. "From his fullness, we have all received, grace upon grace." This passage places the particulars of the Christmas story in a universal context.
-- John 1:18
The other gospels begin with the humanness of Jesus and allow glimpses of God to shine through. John, with intentional reference to Genesis 1:1, makes the astonishing claim of the complete divinity of Jesus. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The only similar claim was in Proverbs 8:22 ff where Sophia, the feminine spirit of wisdom, was said to be at the beginning with God and the partner in God's creation of the universe. Like wisdom, John claimed "all things came into being through him...." Jesus was the embodiment of God on earth. "No one has ever seen God," but Jesus made God known. In coming to live among us, Jesus laid claim to all of creation, but in a manner that offered them a free choice. "He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him." While John did not speak of Jesus' virgin birth, he described the possibility of a virgin birth for any who received him. "But to all who receive him ... he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or the will of the flesh ... but of God." If the other gospels give us a glimpse of God from below, John gives us a glimpse of God from above. Here we see that God began with Jesus Christ in order to provide creation with the hope of eternity. "From his fullness, we have all received, grace upon grace." This passage places the particulars of the Christmas story in a universal context.
