The flesh became the Word

If the gospels tell the story of Jesus forwards from his beginning, our reading forwards may be enhanced by recalling that the beginning of Jesus is told with hindsight because only through the resurrection is light cast on the true meaning of Jesus.

In a certain sense then, John's great gospel claim, that the Word became flesh (1:14) is only revealed to us because the initial revelation after the resurrection was that the flesh (Jesus of Nazareth) was more than who he seemed, more than the One who spoke God's words as a prophet and teacher: the flesh was, in reality, the Word of God. The flesh became (that is, was revealed to be) the Word. This was not understood before the resurrection.

Everything then turns on the resurrection and those theologians among us who have played fast and loose since the Enlightenment with the resurrection have done a lot of damage to the credibility of Christianity.

Fortunately many have remained faithful and have not bowed to Baal. One example is brought to us today by the Sydney Morning Herald, the tiny Assyrian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem.

May your commemorations and celebrations through these great holy days disclose new depth to the love of God in Christ for you.