I began my ministry in the 1970’s in youth ministry, and often took youth groups on trips to various conferences and events. On one such trip, we stopped in Missouri at Meramec Caverns and took a tour of the caverns. At the very deepest part of the caverns (at least that is the way I remember it), the guide turned out the lights. If you have ever had such an experience, you know that there is nothing as dark as a being in a cave with no lights. It can be unnerving.
One of the adult leaders of our group decided to have some fun with the experience and began to laugh – out loud. Soon some in our group were laughing along with him. The tour guide was not too happy with this turn of events and threatened to end the tour. Even though we were trying to be funny, I think we were all relieved when the lights were turned back on. You don’t want to be left in a cave with the lights off.
As we come into another Christmas season, we would do well to remind ourselves of what John’s Gospel teaches us about Jesus’ incarnation – his coming into the world. He tells us that Jesus is the light of men. In John 1:5, he says, “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” Allow me in my column this month to meditate with you on this idea.
We live in a dark world. In many ways, the world is far darker than the darkest cave. Jesus comes into that darkness to give us the light we need to make it through life. You can face any number of dark circumstances in life, from family difficulties or dysfunction to financial difficulties to misunderstandings with a co-worker or boss or person who works for you to any of the great challenges of life. It makes no difference what it is; Jesus comes to shed light that will enable us to handle our circumstances.
Jesus brings us that light because of who he is. This is the great theme of the opening of John’s Gospel. John’s Gospel shows us the real greatness of the baby born in Bethlehem. John does not tell us the story of Mary and Joseph the way Matthew and Luke do. He tells us who the child in the manger is. That child can bring light into the darkness because of who he is. So, who is he? Here is some of what John tells us:
(1) He is the Word of God. People have constantly wondered whether God speaks to us. Ingmar Bergman, about fifty years ago, produced a movie titled The Silence that spoke to this issue. It portrays the plight of three characters who do not hear the voice of God and who believe that God is silent. John says about Jesus, “In the beginning was the Word…” John states this as a continuing action, not as a past tense like we read it in English, and he intends it to mean that Jesus was born to speak God’s words to us. Through a baby born in Bethlehem, God was speaking to our world.
(2) He is God. Surveys show that although the vast majority of Americans believe in God, they are confused about the nature of God. John shows us that we can understand the nature of God by knowing Jesus. He uses two complementary phrases to state this: “the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In the first phrase, the idea is that Jesus is continually face to face with God. The second phrase directly states that the baby born in the manger is in his very essence God, just as he was human. It wasn’t just a baby sleeping in that manger – it was God. So if you want to know what God is like, if you want to teach people what God is like, show them Jesus.
(3) He is the Creator who gives us Life. The New Testament is clear that Jesus was present with God the Father in creating the world. He made it all so that we would have life (look at John 1:3-4). He gives us not just physical life, but a spiritual life with him – later in John’s Gospel, Jesus calls it abundant life – that leads to eternal life.
So meditate hard this Christmas season on who Jesus is, and show people the way to him. Someone wrote these lines about the light that comes into the world with the birth of Christ:
More light than we can learn,
More wealth than we can treasure,
More love than we can earn,
More peace than we can measure,
Because one Child is born.
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