ACKNOWLEDGING GOD (6 OF 52)
Scripture: John 1:9-18
This content is part of a series.
Acknowledging God (6 of 52)
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
John 1:9-18
There are many ways to acknowledge people, but they do not all mean the same thing. We can notice that people exist. We can greet someone with a nod. We can offer a polite handshake. We can go a step further and ask questions to get to know them. We can treat them with deference or keep them at arm's length. We can bring them into our circle of friends and family. We can allow them to influence our lives or treat them as persons only worthy to remain on the periphery of our lives. When it comes to Jesus, how do we acknowledge him?
John's gospel begins by setting the stage for us to encounter Jesus as the active Word of creation. We find this Word at the origin of creation and life itself. John tells us that nothing came about that did not have its origin in this creative Word. Then he tells us that this life-giving Word was making an entrance into the realm of the created order as light that illumines our lives. Then he immediately begins with the disclaimers. The world was created through the action of God's living Word, but it would not go as far as acknowledging this Word upon his arrival in our midst.
We quickly respond that we are different from that generation. Unlike the First Century people living in Palestine, we accept Jesus as God's active Word made flesh. We uphold as fact that in Jesus God took human flesh to live among us, that God assumed human nature to identify with us and better introduce us to the full character of God's love and grace. All too often, however, we have been more enamored with the idea of Jesus than with Jesus per se. We acknowledge data about Jesus that we have received in our traditions, creeds, and Sunday school lessons. Then we keep Jesus at a safe distance from the realities of our daily living.
There are some special words in today's passage we need to clarify. The term we generally translate as glory has more to do with ...
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
John 1:9-18
There are many ways to acknowledge people, but they do not all mean the same thing. We can notice that people exist. We can greet someone with a nod. We can offer a polite handshake. We can go a step further and ask questions to get to know them. We can treat them with deference or keep them at arm's length. We can bring them into our circle of friends and family. We can allow them to influence our lives or treat them as persons only worthy to remain on the periphery of our lives. When it comes to Jesus, how do we acknowledge him?
John's gospel begins by setting the stage for us to encounter Jesus as the active Word of creation. We find this Word at the origin of creation and life itself. John tells us that nothing came about that did not have its origin in this creative Word. Then he tells us that this life-giving Word was making an entrance into the realm of the created order as light that illumines our lives. Then he immediately begins with the disclaimers. The world was created through the action of God's living Word, but it would not go as far as acknowledging this Word upon his arrival in our midst.
We quickly respond that we are different from that generation. Unlike the First Century people living in Palestine, we accept Jesus as God's active Word made flesh. We uphold as fact that in Jesus God took human flesh to live among us, that God assumed human nature to identify with us and better introduce us to the full character of God's love and grace. All too often, however, we have been more enamored with the idea of Jesus than with Jesus per se. We acknowledge data about Jesus that we have received in our traditions, creeds, and Sunday school lessons. Then we keep Jesus at a safe distance from the realities of our daily living.
There are some special words in today's passage we need to clarify. The term we generally translate as glory has more to do with ...
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