People of the Prologue

If it’s 4 a.m. and you can’t sleep, get your Bible and begin reading the first chapter of John’s Gospel.  You’ll be asleep in about 10 minutes.  It’s not that the text is uninteresting, it’s just that it’s unintelligible.  A “word” became God and was “with” God.  The “word” created everything and in this “word”, one can find light and life.  Read that about four times and then turn out the light.

Now, Bible students and scholars might be offended, but I don’t mean to offend or be flippant about John’s prologue to the story of Jesus.  You have to admit, though, that the average guy on the street might have some difficulty with such philosophical concepts and strange ideas.  So I hasten to add that the first 18 verses of the Gospel contain little nuggets of gold waiting to be mined.  In these ancient words, truth and hope are just below the surface.  Let me make just two observations that seem particularly helpful for me.

First, it’s all a Prologue, a lead-in to something else.  And the something else is John’s interpretation of the life and meaning of Jesus.  But notice the first words of Genesis 1 and John 1.  “In the beginning…”  The Genesis author is writing prologue to Jewish history while John’s “in the beginning” is about the continuation of Jewish history, now captured in the person of Jesus.  He sets Jesus firmly in Jewish history and that is very important for those who will hear the story.

One more observation.  It appears that the anchor idea in this whole prologue is expressed in verse 12.  The words are not in bold print, but they ought to be.  They are not underlined, but that wouldn’t be a bad idea.  The mission and purpose of Jesus, the Word enfleshed in human form, is to give the “power to become children of God” to all who believe and follow his Way.  That’s astounding!  Here’s the gift of the Gospel:  I am offered the opportunity to be directly related to God, to Light and to Life.  Now, that’s a Christmas present worth unwrapping.

So, you see, just below the surface of what sounds like a bunch of convoluted words are treasures worth pursuing.  I hope you will get your little garden tool and start digging around in John 1.  Finally, I suspect that you will need a nap in the afternoon because once you begin exploring for treasure, you won’t be turning off the Light.

Peace to all in this New Year.