The Word Became Flesh

by Richard Puckett
December 25, 2019

Read John 1:1-18

John 1:14 — “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory as a parent’s only child, full of grace and truth.”

Have you ever gazed at a newborn baby and thought about the life to come?  When the baby’s eyes have focused and can begin to see things in the world around them, have you ever wondered what it sees and what it feels?  Have you ever held a very young baby in your arms and imagined all of the possibilities that life holds for that particular child? If you and I had been able to be there and to look at the newborn Jesus on that winter’s morning could we have imagined what was to come?  Could we have imagined how the world would be changed through the life of that baby?

How could we have imagined the power and truth of that life?  How could we have foreseen the grace and healing that filled the world because of that child?  How could we have known the hope and vision and strength that would be given to generations of believers who have hungered and worked for a world of peace and love?

Well, the simple answer is that, no, we couldn’t have foreseen any of these things as we gazed upon the newborn baby lying in a stable on a winter’s night in Bethlehem.  On that night, we couldn’t have envisioned those things any more that we can see the path to a world of peace and love and justice and righteousness in our own day. And yet, in the life of that Christ Child, grace and love did come into the world in a new way.  God’s power and truth did speak a new word with authority into a world of violence and hate. And on this Christmas morning in 2019, in a world filled with too much violence and hate, the birth of the Christ Child bears witness that justice and righteousness and love and peace CAN live in this world, and not only live, but prevail.

“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory as a parent’s only child, full of grace and truth.”  God came down at Christmas, as a model for a faithful life and as a promise that all will be well in the end. Have faith in that promise, live a faithful life, and tell the story well!

Jesus Christ is born today!  

Prayer:  Dear God, thank you that you gave us a living example in Jesus, of your will and way in the world, a way of grace and truth and love and kindness. Thank you for showing us in his life, death and resurrection, that no matter how dark the time, all will be well in the end. Help us to believe and to trust and to follow you, to do justice and righteousness, and to love mercy and kindness.    Help us to dwell in your promise and in your peace, this day and every day. In the name of Jesus the Christ we live and pray. Amen.