The Word
It has been said by many that these first 18 verses of John’s gospel are so weighty that it’s as though they are his gospel and the rest it is commentary, more like an appendix. We still need the passion and resurrection, but this does tell us who Jesus is. In order to grasp the cosmic importance of these first 18 verses of John’s Gospel, it will be helpful to consider them in their context.
We don’t have a date stamp for John’s Gospel, but most scholars affirm it was written in the late first century, around 90 AD. The historic and textual evidence points strongly to it having been written by the Apostle John – who, with Peter and James, was one of the three closest to Jesus.
Unlike the rest of the 12 Disciples, John did not die an untimely death. He lived to a ripe old age, long enough to reflect on all he heard Jesus say and do, and how it shaped everything over 60 years or so. Surely John was aware of the other three Gospels and wrote his to fill in some important stories and perspectives missing from Matthew, Mark and Luke.
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Myth Became Fact
What is your favorite Christmas movie or show? One of my favorites is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, the old stop-action one starring Burl Ives as the snowman who narrates the story. I love the characters: Yukon Cornelius, the prospector looking for silver and gold, the Island of Misfit Toys, and my favorite, the Bumble. (Bumbles bounce!) I love the music.
And I love the story. Rudolph and Hermy, the elf who wants to be a dentist, are outcasts who wind up not only proving themselves but bringing everyone to appreciate each other and remind everyone of what they call “the true meaning of Christmas,” which is apparently something like giving and compassion.
That is, of course, NOT the true meaning of Christmas. If that were true, it would be called something like Givingmas or Compassionmas. (The true meaning of Christmas is the wonder-full joy of God sending his only son to redeem the world from sin and death.)
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Everything Changed
My grandfather on my mother’s side was born in 1885 in England. He was older than my great-grandparents on my dad’s side. He was too old to fight in WWI. He lived to a ripe old age of 91, dying in 1976. He’d be 138 if he were alive today.
He saw the world change a lot in his lifetime. When he was born, there were no light bulbs or electric appliances in people’s homes; no telephones or radios or televisions. Only the very wealthy had electricity at all. There were no cars; Karl Benz successfully drove the first automobile about a year and a half after he was born. Among his earliest memories, as a small boy, was watching the first electric street lights being installed in London. He was 18 when the Wright Brothers made their first flight.
There were of course other major changes and events, but this isn’t a history lesson. Each of these changes had a long series of developments that led up to them, preparation and discoveries, circumstances that built toward a brink, a moment when the next step changes the world. The Wright Brothers’ wheels left the ground and soon air travel becomes routine. And he lived to see Neil Armstrong walk on the moon.
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