In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him and without him not one thing came into being.” John 1:1-3a
When you speak there are a lot of things going on. There is thought. I know sometimes it seems there is not thought, or at least non intelligent thought before opening your mouth, but your body can’t make a word without your brain asking it to. So, there is a thought. But before the thought becomes a word, air moves over larynx, vocal cords, tongue, lips and teeth creating sound. Then, of course there is the word itself, the humming, thrumming word, moving through the air hitting the other person’s outer ear, working its way inward to the ear drum and the tiny bones adjoined to it, vibrating in just such a way that their brain can make sense of it and begin thinking of what a good response would be and away we go…
The first chapter of John is one of my favorite scriptures. When asked to mark our favorite scripture in the third grade Bibles, I always mark John 1. I find it beautifully poetic, explaining the potentially gratingly difficult with simple words arranged in simple ways, but carrying an exquisitely heavy load. In only three verses, John shows us one way to look at the Trinity. In the beginning was the Word, the thought, the breath and the Word; the Father, the Spirit and the Son. The Word was and still is the conduit of all Creation, God’s intentions made physical. Jesus, fully human, was also Christ, fully divine.
John’s nativity story is the birth of all Creation, including you. “All things came into being through him and without him not one thing came into being.” Jesus who calls you to abide in him, brought you into being through himself.
Janet Stilwell, Associate Pastor Wildwood UMC
