The Word Made Flesh / St. John 1:14

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Became flesh. Belief in the pre-existent Christ is a deep struggle for some Christians.  The tireless attacks, of current cultural values, against the deity and relevance of Christ as the second person of the God-head is intimidating. Christians are faced with accusations of arrogance, ignorance, and dangerous narrow-minded repression of medieval thought that brought about bloody and brutal events in the history of the world.  It is often expressed by statements like;

“How can you believe that with all that science and education have brought to bear on our thinking” or “Can you ignore the corruption and decadence that has besmirched the message of the Church?”  Beyond a doubt, very tough to deal with.

The problem is not so much what we think but how we think. The gospel of Christ has never been a people pleasing thing. Even the chosen people of God, Israel, were unable to love the great Jehovah in spite of his blessings and revelation that made them a force to be reckoned with the ancient world. Nothing brought hope until the Word became flesh. God’s self-revelation became crystal clear in Christ Jesus. The One the Only. Sent by the Father. He, Jesus himself, said; “if you have seen me you have seen the Father.” The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews said it like this; “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”

We are plagued by the low view of God that is the result of a withering message preached and taught in our churches. Christ is God. He is the Word made flesh. God extending his mercy and grace to lost man. Advent is the celebration of God coming to earth to redeem fallen men and reconcile him to himself.

Let us rejoice Christ has come and will come again. Amen!