“A word to take notice of”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Monday, August 1, 2022

John 1:1-18 (Forward, p. 3) CEV p. 1100

One really cannot read over this well-known and famous passage, the so-called Prologue to St. John’s Gospel, without noticing just how often the word, Word, [Greek, logos] shows up—eight times, according to my count. And even apart from the times when it is specifically mentioned, its impact and influence are seen everywhere else. So, let’s just ‘unwrap’ this a bit:

a) The Word, logos, was (is) a person who existed at the very beginning

(of time, of the world—it doesn’t say). “In the beginning was the Word”. It doesn’t say, however, that the Word had a beginning.

b) The Word was with God and was truly God;

c) With this Word, God created all things, and nothing was made without this Word;

d) Everything that was created received its life from this Word;

e) His life gave light to everyone, such a light that burns in the dark and that the darkness cannot extinguish;

f) The Word came into the world, yet many in the world did not know Him. Indeed, many in His own nation did not receive Him;

g) However, for those who did accept Him and put their faith in Him, He gave the right to be God’s very own children;

h) The Word became flesh, became a human being like us, and lived here right alongside us.

Talk about a sublime to the ridiculous, here the Word descends from the highest heaven to this lowly earth, making that incredible and earth-shattering, earth-changing transition from being the Creator to sharing the life and existence of His creation, someone who was beyond time and form and shape now being limited by all of them. And, all of this, by God’s free will and design, all of this because of God’s incredible love and mercy towards us, His creatures. How can we not praise Him and honour and obey Him after such a love? Amen.

Forward notes: “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (verses 3b-5).

“One of my favorite memories is visiting Carlsbad Caverns. We walked through beautiful rock formations until we reached an area so dark that we literally could see nothing. We fell silent. It was as if life itself had vanished. Then the guide turned on his lantern, and all was well. The crystals sparkled, and the trickling water glowed. Best of all, my husband was right there.

“Seeing those we love suddenly reappear kindles an experience of how the light of Christ brings life to us. Like us, Christ was flesh and blood, but he scattered the darkness of death to become the light of the world. He is the one who reveals life itself.

“It is by the grace of Christ that we learn how to see light in the darkness. It is by the grace of Christ that we can see through flesh and blood to the spirit of true life. And it is in seeing that light, in seeing that life, that we too become children of God.”

Moving Forward: “When have you seen Christ's light in the midst of darkness?”