The Word Is The Light And The Life :: John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was turned toward God, and the Word was God. ... In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overtaken it.

 

Words are powerful. With words we make promises, pledge allegiance, and express our thoughts and feelings. We want others to hear our words, believe our words, and trust our words. With words we can build up relationships ... or tear them down. We can show ourselves trustworthy ... or destroy reputation and hope through broken promises, forgotten pledges, and a history of tiny deceits.

If you think our words can have power, then think of the power of God’s Word. 

Our Old Testament reading from Genesis shows this power: God said, Let there be light, and there was light. God’s Word separated the light from the darkness. God’s word works. The book of Hebrews teaches that in many and various ways God spoke ... you know, words ... by the prophets, and that, now, in these last days, God speaks to us in his Son, who is the very Word of God Become Flesh ... a Word who was seen and touched ... a Word to believe. Jesus now speaks his Word forgiveness to you and opens to you the Kingdom of the Heavens.

God’s Word is trustworthy in all things. His promise of a Savior was not an after-thought because of sin ... It is a constant confession of his love and forgiveness for all of you. Though Adam used his newly corrupted tongue to curse his wife and to curse God, God’s Word still spoke hope, future, and life. God said, I will make enmity between the serpent’s offspring and the woman’s offspring. He ... the Word Become Flesh ... will crush the head of the serpent. This word of Promise was the very same Word that was with God in the beginning ... the Word turned toward God as God ... the very Word that spoke light over all creation.

We still hear this Word today, and it’s not some mystery to be solved ... it’s not a secret knowledge to be gained. You don’t need special training to receive this Word. Nor do you need to tune your ears in a certain way to decipher it. Saint Paul writes in 1 Corinthians that God is not a God of confusion, but a God of Words who makes himself known through the scriptures, which speak God’s never-ending, always-enduring Word of Love to you.

For proof of this, look and see that this Word is still working in creation. Light still shines forth each day. The earth bears forth fruit season after season. Life springs forth even in the midst of tragedy, fear, and despair. 

Now hear his Word that announces forgiveness, light, and eternal life in the work of Christ Jesus ... the Word of God Become Flesh. He isn’t a thought or a feeling of the heart, but an audible word ... a Spoken Word. He enters our ears, tickles our auditory nerve, and grants us his real presence, real promise, and a real hope for the life to come.

In John’s Gospel, especially in his opening verses, the Word of God becomes as real as the eyes on your face and the ears on the side of your head. In the beginning was the Word. The word of God that created the heavens and the earth with the Word that said let there be light ... this light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overtaken it. The Word of God from the very beginning comes to change lives, grant hope, forgive sins, and establish peace through his calling ... through his speaking.

This is the same Word of God that gave a promise to Abraham. He said, in him, all the families in the world would be blessed ... and here you are, receiving the blessings of Christ’s forgiveness, spoken to you from the cross. 

This is the same Word that spoke to Moses from a burning bush. ... The same Word that held back the Sea while the children of God passed through, before finally drowning the sin of tyranny Pharaoh’s army represented. ... The same Word of God that rained down manna and quail. The same Word of God that declared Israel to be his treasured possession. 

And here you are, receiving the grace of God by the hand of God through Holy Baptism and the blessed Sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood. This is the same Word of God that spoke through Ezekiel and gave new life to the valley of dry bones ... a resurrection of triumph that You will be a part of when the Word of Christ calls you out of the grave on the Last Day. 

The Word of God speaks strength to the weak, forgiveness to the guilty, comfort to the grieving, and life to the dead. This is the Word of God that lives and reigns to all eternity with all authority over all creation. This Word of God is turned toward God ... He is God ... and His name is Jesus.

As Saint John says, In him was life, and The Life is the light of men. The greatness of Jesus’ Word is that whenever he tells a corpse to rise ... it does. Whenever he tells someone to take courage ... they do. Whenever he is pressed between what is and is not a sin, he speaks rebuke and forgiveness, saying to the sinner, neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more. 

Instead of a life lived under the shadow of sin and darkness of death, Jesus comes, scatters the darkness, and grants life by going into the darkness of death and destroys the power of darkness in his resurrection. He is the light unto our path; He is the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overtaken it.

But the darkness of sin, Satan and death does not lay down without a fight. You feel this fight throughout each day of your earthly lives. ... The darkness of depression, shame, guilt, and anger. ... The darkness of loneliness, illness, hospital stays, and cancer. ... The darkness that Satan tries to condemn you to by accusing you of failed discipleship, failed relationships, and failed promises. Satan wants you to be in that darkness. He reminds you that you deserve silence. 

So the Word of God Become Flesh and gave himself over to the darkness for three hours as He hung upon the cross. The Word of Life gave himself over to the anguish and sorrow of despair and loneliness. The Word of Creation became the very same Word that cried out with a loud voice and gave himself over to death and the grave. Then rising from the dead, the Word of the victorious Christ began shining for us brightly ... The light [which] shines in the darkness, and [which] the darkness has not overtaken. 

Though we live in darkness on this side of the resurrection, the light of Christ continues to shine as he serves us in his Word and Sacraments. His Word speaks to you and absolves you. He pours out his Word upon you to make you holy. He feeds you his Word to strengthen and nourish you. He continues to teach you through this word to remind you of his promises to you. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, soon, very soon, his promise, his pledge, and his desire will be perfectly known to us. He will come, with all glory and honor. The darkness itself will be no more, for he will be our eternal light. He will call us out of the grave and into his everlasting Kingdom of light and life. Until then, let us continue to hear his word, find hope in his Word, and be lifted out of the darkness of sin and death and into his victorious light. Amen.