John 1:1 & 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and
lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
Malachi 3:1 See, I am sending my messenger to
prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his
temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming,
says the Lord of hosts.
Revelation 19:13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood,
and his name is called The Word of God.
1 John 1:1 We declare to you what was from the
beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have
looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—
There
is that wonderful moment at the end of the beautiful feast of carols and bible
readings on Christmas Eve when the priest stands in the middle of the people
and reads the words of liberating truth that start the glorious Gospel of John:
‘In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ In the beginning was Relationship!
This
Christmas at St Hilda’s, the sound system conspired to jerk us in and out of
the passage known as the Prologue. There, standing before us, a young man at
the start of his ordained ministry, spoke of the hope for all of us who are
sometimes lost for words, about the Word Made Flesh. Sometimes his words
carried clearly, sometimes they crackled into indistinguishable white noise.
‘In the beginning’ is of course an echo of
Genesis 1.1-4:‘In
the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the
earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a
wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God
said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. 4 And God saw that
the light was good…’ The implication is that into the formless void and white noise and darkness a
powerful word spoken by God created life, the universe and everything. And
here, in Jesus, is the one who not only speaks the powerful life-creating words
but lived the word in our realm of dust and death and white noise and beauty. Jesus came to lead us into the Dance of Relationship with God.
In his time on earth, other humans were able to look and see and touch the Word Made Flesh, full
of grace and truth. And they then bore witness to him. Matthew, Mark and Luke’s
attempts are full of energy and drive and wit and puzzling parables and signs
and wonders all leading to the passion of Jesus, his death and his
resurrection and ascension. Yet their accounts are created through second-hand sources (Peter, Mary, 'Q').
John’s Gospel was written with a different dynamism. This
dynamism springs perhaps came from a younger eye-witness (could John have even
been a teenaged disciple at the start of the three-year wanderings of Jesus) who
treasured his memories over many more years of matured reflection on a first-hand relationship. And so we
have this understanding of Jesus who was seen and touched by the author of the words of John's Gospel. This
is an account which speaks of deep relationships with the Word Made Flesh. It
has glory and beauty woven into it: of a flesh-and-bone man who turns water
into wine, tenderly washes the feet of his friends, meets would-be disciples in
the dark of night, drinks thirstily water from a well, writes in the dust to
slow down hot-headed would-be condemnatory judges, is anointed with perfume and
warns against the smell of death as he raises to life a dear friend. This is
what the young disciple looked at, saw and touched: The Word Made Flesh.
Words
touch us. Touch is the key. And it is touch which brings faith to Thomas as he
places his hand in Jesus’ side and touch which confirms Jesus' resurrection to
Mary, even though he asks her not to hold onto him. The Word Made Flesh has to
be set free by the Resurrection Body and then released out to the whole world
through the speaking out of this Living Word which calls us into Relationship. In the beginning was Relationship.
The prophets used to begin their message ‘Thus saith the Lord ...’, and then convey the vision or wisdom imparted to them by God, using the phrase to give them a certain authority. Jesus, on the other hand, was the authority as we saw yesterday. In recording the events of the Transfiguration, Luke (9, 35) describes the voice of God coming from the cloud “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him”. The words that Jesus spoke on earth are the words of God, to be heard by all who chose to listen and follow in his way.
ReplyDeleteSo, Jesus is the ‘word of God’. He is the one who conveys God’s message for life to all who would listen and hear it. In ‘My Fair Lady’ Eliza Doolittle gets fed up with words and trying to get their pronunciation right; she wants action, as she sings in ‘Show me’, which starts,
Words, words, words! I'm so sick of words
I get words all day through first from him, now from you.
Is that all you blighters can do?
Don't talk of stars, burning above; if you're in love, show me!
Tell me no dreams, filled with desire; if you're on fire, show me!
Eliza would have got on well with Jesus because that’s exactly what he did, he showed us. He took the words of God and turned them from words into loving actions. He illustrated the words of God in the way he lived ‘in love’ and ‘on fire’ as he moved around the villages of Galilee and met people. Ultimately, at Jerusalem, he paid the price for living out the message of God on our behalf. So, when we think of Jesus as the ‘word of God’ we can see what that message meant in his life, and what it could mean in ours.
But that is only step one in understanding Jesus - he was also the ‘Word of God’. There is just a small difference in the phrase, a capital ‘W’, but (to quote Neil Armstrong out of context) ‘it’s a giant leap for mankind’. Step two is a whole new ballgame! In talking of Jesus as the ‘Word of God’ we are expressing the cosmic connection, the Cosmic Christ, the Alpha and Omega again, as we said yesterday. That understanding of Jesus goes far beyond our experience to the very nature of everything; further back than even the science of the ‘Big Bang’, itself incomprehensible to most of us and quite unimaginable. So we are left with something we cannot envisage, whether the mathematics of cosmic physics, or existence of God and of Jesus the Word dwelling with God before time and space came into being. You pays your money and you makes your choice: an atheistic cosmic physics, or a spiritual belief in God... But is it just possible that both are true? That ‘our’ cosmic physics is just part of the mind of God, and it really was his Word that started the cosmic physics going with the Big Bang and ultimately led to us.
If we are prepared to be ‘spiritual’, and look at the world around us through ‘spiritual’ eyes, perhaps we will see beyond just the cosmic physics (and that is not to deny their truth) to a bigger truth that encompasses both the physical and the spiritual in lives of greater completeness. The life of Jesus was one such, and the words of Jesus point us there. Our daily experience of a loving God, and our personal relationship with Jesus the Word, reassure us of the bigger picture beyond our limited human vision. We may not understand the full meaning of the Word of God, but the words of God spoken in Jesus will lead us there, if like Eliza Doolittle said, we are ‘in love’ and ‘on fire’ – and doesn’t that sound rather like a bit of the liturgy?
Jesus was God's word made flesh. He was God's life giving word. He spoke life into people as he did with Jairus' daughter and Lazarus, but his words also brought death to the fig tree. His words brought healing and wholeness. Thinking of Jesus as "The Word" , reminds me of these words from a song,
ReplyDelete"Jesus the name that calms my fears,
That bids my sorrows cease,
Tis music to the sinner's ears,
Tis life, and health and peace."
The words we speak can bring life, and health and peace too. The saying,
"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me", couldn't be further from the truth.
Words can build up or tear down. I can remember words from years ago that people have said to me that sustained me; that made my day, or even kept me going several years. I can equally remember words that have hurt me to my inmost being.
St Paul says in Ephesians 4:29,
"Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you."
The Proverbs 25: 11 states
" A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver."
Proverbs 15:1
"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."
The word of God brings life. St Paul in 2 Cor 3:3 tells us,
"It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts."
2 Cor 3:6
He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
When we speak, Lord, help us to speak words that bring life, not death . Help us to remember what you told us about words:
"A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."
Remember,O Lord, your promise to send us the Holy Spirit to teach and instruct us. Speak to us and help us to live holy lives. Amen