Saturday: The Word
“And the Word became flesh and lived among us”
The Logos, the Word, the creative power and energy of God, became a human being and lived in our world. Here is the glory and mystery of Christmas. God did not send someone else. God came.
God is actively involved in our salvation. The spoken word had enormous power for the Hebrews. "And God said . . . " "God sent forth his word and healed them.” This power is now being used to do something for us which we cannot do for ourselves. We can never win God's favor by anything we can do or any gift we can bring. Only by receiving Jesus, the Word made Flesh, can we be made right with God.
The way to see God is to look at Jesus, the Word of God in human form. What do we see when we look at Jesus? We see love and compassion. We see power to heal and to save. We experience a perfect God and a perfect human being.
God was once believed to live in the tabernacle in the middle of Israel's camp. Here we read that God lives or tabernacles in our midst. "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world." This is the one who has come to live with us.
For Reflection: What does Jesus as Word of God mean to me?
A Prayer Seed:
Love caused Your incarnation,
Love brought You down to me;
Your thirst for my salvation procured my liberty.
O love beyond all telling, that led you to embrace
In love all loves excelling our lost and fallen race.
Paul Gerhardt, 1653
