gratitude and thanksgiving
Gratitude and thanks begin with what God has done for us. But we need to make it personal, so I say, what God has done for you and me. The Prologue to John's gospel provides a see-through of what God enacts on our behalf: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The Old Testament had begun, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." John compares and highlights the New Creation which opens the depths of God for our participation.
Commentaries on this passage have said it is beyond the power of man to speak as John does here. If that is so, then I must conclude that God Himself has spoken because it is beyond man's grasp to come up with such transcendental ideas and realities. So God takes us back to show us how it started. His words, "In the beginning," refer to pre-creation, and imply that there is going to be a creation, a beginning. If this story was going to concentrate on God Himself, there would be no beginning. In the wording itself, God is stressing not Himself but reaches out to gather us into His embrace.
The very title "Word" implies not so much a divine idea, but a divine communication. The Prologue does not state how the Word was, but what the Word does. The emphasis is on God's relation to men rather than on God in Himself. God is saying that the Word was with God in heaven before creation. In hymnic form God is presenting to us the history of our salvation. Later Jesus will characterize his message as a "word;" the Prologue shows that the messenger himself, Jesus, is the Word.
Right here the story excites my sense of gratitude. Most people love a good story. God is not only the Actor in this divine drama, but also the Story Teller to guide us. He speaks to us and for us. He as much says, "Come and see what I have done for you! Could you ever imagine such a climax as the Incarnation of God? Could you ever suppose that God, the Word, became flesh and walks the earth?" I would have to respond, Holy Moses! or better, Holy God! The creative
word of God, the word of the Lord that came to the prophets, has become personal in Jesus who is the embodiment of divine revelation. The greatest story of all time begins here and will continue in the life and words of Jesus.
Our connection or relation to God's Word goes to even further and higher stages of intimacy. Anything created is intimately related to the Word, for it was created, not only through him, but also in him. To further the Prologue, "Through him all things came into being, and apart from him not a thing came to be. That which came to be in him was life, and this life was the light of men." "In him" declares a life of intimacy we could never dream of. It suggests not a relationship but an identity. The same unity that exists between the Word and his creation will be applied in John 15:5 to Jesus and the Christian: "Apart from me you can do nothing." We find the same idea in the hymn of Colossians 1:16: "For in him were all things created...all things were created by him and in him."
In my personal meditations as well as those of my friends, we often sought ways to connect the Absolute with the relative, the divine with the human. We were already convinced that all is one. We were accustomed to saying, "What is, is God." After studying the above meaning of the Prologue, we thought it may be better to say, "What is, is in God." Going beyond relationship, identity or oneness is again indicated. The story is not meant only to be heard. How to go from mental perception to interior conviction is a largely personal task. Whether one is a visual or auditory learner, to make an ideal one's own requires an openness and willingness to accept what is presented.
The Prologue does not say that the Word entered into flesh or abided in flesh but that the Word was flesh: "And the Word became flesh." In strongly realistic language the Prologue describes the Incarnation by stressing that the Word become flesh. The word "flesh" seems to have been associated with the Incarnation from the earliest days of Christian theological expression. Therefore, instead of supplying the liberation from the material world that the Greek mind yearned for, the Word of God was now inextricably bound to human history. Here again, if we accept the story, we cannot help but love God's undying pursuit to make us his own.
Jesus is Wisdom divine, pre-existent, now come among men, reaching out to them, teaching, and giving them life. Not the written Torah of old, but Jesus Christ is the creator and source of life and light. He is God's presence dwelling among. The Prologue continues: "All those who did accept him he empowered to become God's children."
It is valuable to note here the progression of revelation. It is as though God is spoon-feeding us because we can absorb only so much at a time. The title, "the Word," was appropriate in vs. 1 because the divine being described there was destined to speak to men. When the title is used for the second time in vs. 14, this divine being has taken on human form and has thus found the most effective way in which to express himself to men. Thus in becoming flesh the Word does not cease to be the Word, but exercises his function as Word to the full. The fact that Jesus was sent is all important; it is in itself a tremendous revelation of "the one thing that is necessary." It reveals that the Creator is here present to his creatures; and the Creator does not come empty-handed, for he gives light and life and love and resurrection.
When the Prologue proclaims that the Word made his dwelling among men, we are being told that the flesh of Jesus Christ is the new localization of God's presence on earth, and that Jesus is the replacement of the ancient Tabernacle. Near the end of the Prologue, it is interesting that the divine presence in Jesus is characterized as glory, and that "We have seen his glory, the glory of an only Son coming from the Father, filled with enduring love." Thus, it is quite appropriate that, after the description of how the Word set up a Tabernacle among men in the flesh of Jesus, the Prologue should mention that his glory became visible.
The theme of enduring covenant love that appears in vs.14 and is taken up in16 fits well with the Tabernacle and glory references that we have just mentioned. The great exhibition of the enduring covenant love of God in the Old Testament took place at Sinai, the same setting where the Tabernacle became the dwelling of God's glory. So now the supreme exhibition of God's love is the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, the new Tabernacle of divine glory: "And of his fullness we have all had a share--love in place of love." The hymn comes to an end with the triumphant proclamation of a new covenant replacing the Sinai covenant.
Against this Old Testament background showing that even the greatest representatives of Israel have not seen God, John holds up the example of the only Son who has not only seen the Father but is ever at his side. It is the unique relation of the Son to the Father, so unique that John can speak of "God the only Son," that makes his revelation the supreme revelation. This whole endeavor, singularly portrayed in the Prologue, remains a unique contribution of Christianity. It is beyond all that has gone before, just as Jesus is beyond all that have gone before.For those who wish to go beyond the Prologue, who want to put flesh and blood on this structured model, Jesus, the Divine Story Teller, continues his and our history with insightful episodes. See the story of the Samaritan Woman at Jacob's Well and the Woman Caught in Adultery, both from John's Gospel. Two more famous episodes come from Luke's Gospel, that of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son/Prodigal Father.
We need to underscore that the thrust of the Prologue is directed at us. The unity we saw between God and Jesus now applies to God and the Christian. I am God's son as Jesus was, for ultimately, all is one. I don't see "the Word became flesh" so much that the revealer is only a man, but rather that God is present in the human sphere, in each of His sons and daughters. The transformation is for all mankind, one by one, with the work taking place within each. In a certain real sense I am Jesus. I can say this because I am God, not as He is but as I am. The glory of Jesus realizing his divine sonship is meant to unfold in each of us. I walk in his footsteps with the new imprint of my personal experience. it is not a mimicry of Jesus but a unique makeover of the exemplar.The two great instruments I have are witnessing and loving. Perfect love casts out fear because it allows all. What conquers the ego is something to love, something to be grateful and thankful for, greater than myself. And for this, the Prologue provides the blueprint. God is doing all this not to bolster my ego but to render me more loving. Thoughts are never enough. Meditating and dwelling on what God has done can transform my interior, my spirit heart. Then my actions can follow my heart's lead, which has attuned to what God has done for me in Jesus.
(This reflection on Gratitude and Thanksgiving stems in large part from Raymond E. Brown's commentary on the Prologue in The Gospel According to John I-XII, pp 1-37, in The Anchor Yale Bible, vol. 29.)
Commentaries on this passage have said it is beyond the power of man to speak as John does here. If that is so, then I must conclude that God Himself has spoken because it is beyond man's grasp to come up with such transcendental ideas and realities. So God takes us back to show us how it started. His words, "In the beginning," refer to pre-creation, and imply that there is going to be a creation, a beginning. If this story was going to concentrate on God Himself, there would be no beginning. In the wording itself, God is stressing not Himself but reaches out to gather us into His embrace.
The very title "Word" implies not so much a divine idea, but a divine communication. The Prologue does not state how the Word was, but what the Word does. The emphasis is on God's relation to men rather than on God in Himself. God is saying that the Word was with God in heaven before creation. In hymnic form God is presenting to us the history of our salvation. Later Jesus will characterize his message as a "word;" the Prologue shows that the messenger himself, Jesus, is the Word.
Right here the story excites my sense of gratitude. Most people love a good story. God is not only the Actor in this divine drama, but also the Story Teller to guide us. He speaks to us and for us. He as much says, "Come and see what I have done for you! Could you ever imagine such a climax as the Incarnation of God? Could you ever suppose that God, the Word, became flesh and walks the earth?" I would have to respond, Holy Moses! or better, Holy God! The creative
word of God, the word of the Lord that came to the prophets, has become personal in Jesus who is the embodiment of divine revelation. The greatest story of all time begins here and will continue in the life and words of Jesus.
Our connection or relation to God's Word goes to even further and higher stages of intimacy. Anything created is intimately related to the Word, for it was created, not only through him, but also in him. To further the Prologue, "Through him all things came into being, and apart from him not a thing came to be. That which came to be in him was life, and this life was the light of men." "In him" declares a life of intimacy we could never dream of. It suggests not a relationship but an identity. The same unity that exists between the Word and his creation will be applied in John 15:5 to Jesus and the Christian: "Apart from me you can do nothing." We find the same idea in the hymn of Colossians 1:16: "For in him were all things created...all things were created by him and in him."
In my personal meditations as well as those of my friends, we often sought ways to connect the Absolute with the relative, the divine with the human. We were already convinced that all is one. We were accustomed to saying, "What is, is God." After studying the above meaning of the Prologue, we thought it may be better to say, "What is, is in God." Going beyond relationship, identity or oneness is again indicated. The story is not meant only to be heard. How to go from mental perception to interior conviction is a largely personal task. Whether one is a visual or auditory learner, to make an ideal one's own requires an openness and willingness to accept what is presented.
The Prologue does not say that the Word entered into flesh or abided in flesh but that the Word was flesh: "And the Word became flesh." In strongly realistic language the Prologue describes the Incarnation by stressing that the Word become flesh. The word "flesh" seems to have been associated with the Incarnation from the earliest days of Christian theological expression. Therefore, instead of supplying the liberation from the material world that the Greek mind yearned for, the Word of God was now inextricably bound to human history. Here again, if we accept the story, we cannot help but love God's undying pursuit to make us his own.
Jesus is Wisdom divine, pre-existent, now come among men, reaching out to them, teaching, and giving them life. Not the written Torah of old, but Jesus Christ is the creator and source of life and light. He is God's presence dwelling among. The Prologue continues: "All those who did accept him he empowered to become God's children."
It is valuable to note here the progression of revelation. It is as though God is spoon-feeding us because we can absorb only so much at a time. The title, "the Word," was appropriate in vs. 1 because the divine being described there was destined to speak to men. When the title is used for the second time in vs. 14, this divine being has taken on human form and has thus found the most effective way in which to express himself to men. Thus in becoming flesh the Word does not cease to be the Word, but exercises his function as Word to the full. The fact that Jesus was sent is all important; it is in itself a tremendous revelation of "the one thing that is necessary." It reveals that the Creator is here present to his creatures; and the Creator does not come empty-handed, for he gives light and life and love and resurrection.
When the Prologue proclaims that the Word made his dwelling among men, we are being told that the flesh of Jesus Christ is the new localization of God's presence on earth, and that Jesus is the replacement of the ancient Tabernacle. Near the end of the Prologue, it is interesting that the divine presence in Jesus is characterized as glory, and that "We have seen his glory, the glory of an only Son coming from the Father, filled with enduring love." Thus, it is quite appropriate that, after the description of how the Word set up a Tabernacle among men in the flesh of Jesus, the Prologue should mention that his glory became visible.
The theme of enduring covenant love that appears in vs.14 and is taken up in16 fits well with the Tabernacle and glory references that we have just mentioned. The great exhibition of the enduring covenant love of God in the Old Testament took place at Sinai, the same setting where the Tabernacle became the dwelling of God's glory. So now the supreme exhibition of God's love is the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, the new Tabernacle of divine glory: "And of his fullness we have all had a share--love in place of love." The hymn comes to an end with the triumphant proclamation of a new covenant replacing the Sinai covenant.
Against this Old Testament background showing that even the greatest representatives of Israel have not seen God, John holds up the example of the only Son who has not only seen the Father but is ever at his side. It is the unique relation of the Son to the Father, so unique that John can speak of "God the only Son," that makes his revelation the supreme revelation. This whole endeavor, singularly portrayed in the Prologue, remains a unique contribution of Christianity. It is beyond all that has gone before, just as Jesus is beyond all that have gone before.For those who wish to go beyond the Prologue, who want to put flesh and blood on this structured model, Jesus, the Divine Story Teller, continues his and our history with insightful episodes. See the story of the Samaritan Woman at Jacob's Well and the Woman Caught in Adultery, both from John's Gospel. Two more famous episodes come from Luke's Gospel, that of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son/Prodigal Father.
We need to underscore that the thrust of the Prologue is directed at us. The unity we saw between God and Jesus now applies to God and the Christian. I am God's son as Jesus was, for ultimately, all is one. I don't see "the Word became flesh" so much that the revealer is only a man, but rather that God is present in the human sphere, in each of His sons and daughters. The transformation is for all mankind, one by one, with the work taking place within each. In a certain real sense I am Jesus. I can say this because I am God, not as He is but as I am. The glory of Jesus realizing his divine sonship is meant to unfold in each of us. I walk in his footsteps with the new imprint of my personal experience. it is not a mimicry of Jesus but a unique makeover of the exemplar.The two great instruments I have are witnessing and loving. Perfect love casts out fear because it allows all. What conquers the ego is something to love, something to be grateful and thankful for, greater than myself. And for this, the Prologue provides the blueprint. God is doing all this not to bolster my ego but to render me more loving. Thoughts are never enough. Meditating and dwelling on what God has done can transform my interior, my spirit heart. Then my actions can follow my heart's lead, which has attuned to what God has done for me in Jesus.
(This reflection on Gratitude and Thanksgiving stems in large part from Raymond E. Brown's commentary on the Prologue in The Gospel According to John I-XII, pp 1-37, in The Anchor Yale Bible, vol. 29.)