First Sunday after Christmas 2024

John 1:1-18

Rev. Neli Miranda

 

On this First Sunday After Christmas, the Gospel passage does not depict a traditional Christmas scene of baby Jesus lying in a manger with his parents. Instead, John the evangelist offers a profound statement which captures the essence of Christmas: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Christmas is rightly called the Feast of the Incarnation as it reveals to us how God incarnates among us, taking on a human form through Jesus.

Using first-century language that may seem complex to us twenty-first-century Christians, John tells us about Jesus, the Word of God: “In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God" (1:1).  In referring to Jesus, John continues proclaiming him as the light that comes to illuminate humanity and brings forth life: “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness…” (John 1:4).  John connects the glorious moment of God becoming human in Jesus with the narrative of Creation in Genesis, where we learn that when God began to create, “…the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep…” (Genesis 1:2). Then, Creation commenced with God’s Word, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good…” (1:3-4).  

During Christmastime we experience a re-creation receiving the Living Word of God among us. This is a season of light where darkness is dispersed and our lives are enlightened by Jesus, the Light of God, “The true light that gives light to everyone”.  In this Christmas season, have you perceived the mighty voice of God whispering “Let there be light.”?

 John adds that those who believe in his name, those who understand the mystery of the Incarnation, become part of the new creation, God’s family: “… to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God…” (John 1:12). How do we understand the mystery of the Incarnation? How do we understand to see God incarnate among us?

Dear sisters and brothers, Christmas season calls us to embrace the scandal of the Divine Incarnation when God visits us not as a powerful, mighty king or warrior, but as a fragile newborn baby, born on the margins where many experience fragility and are able to understand the glorious fragility of God.  Let us not seek Christmas in the splendor and power of this world but rather in the little ones, on the margins, in our fragility.  Only when we experience fragility, we are able to experience God made flesh dwelling among us. When we experience God’s visit in the Christmas season, we participate in the continual re-creation of this world, we see the light that shines in the darkness. 

Let the Christmas light shine upon us! Amen.