“30 Pictures of Jesus” 30 Day PlanНамуна

Today we see Jesus as the Word.

John begins his Gospel with the same words that begin the Bible: “In the beginning.” Just like Genesis 1, John’s story opens with a world of darkness, chaos, and death. And just like Genesis 1, God brings light and life through his Word. At creation, God’s Word pushed back the darkness, tamed the chaos, and shaped the world into a flourishing garden filled with peace and goodness.

John is saying that the same thing is happening again in Jesus. The world Jesus entered was like the world at the beginning: darkened by evil, filled with chaos, and ruled by death. But into that darkness, God once again sends his Word. Only this time, the Word does not remain a distant voice creating from above. The Word becomes flesh and enters the darkness Himself. The Creator binds himself to creation.

This is the great mystery of the Gospel: God becomes like us so that we can become like him. The Word takes on flesh so that flesh can be filled with the Word. The Light enters into darkness so that those trapped in darkness can be brought into the Light.

But John also tells us something devastating. The Creator came to his creation, but his creation did not recognize him. The Light shone into the darkness, but the darkness resisted. Yet there were some who did receive him. And those who believe are “born again”—recreated out of chaos, darkness, and death into the flourishing life of God.

John makes clear that this could not be accomplished by God’s Word in the Law of Moses. The Law was good. It was meant to bring God’s light and life into the world. But flesh and blood humans failed to keep it. So in his grace, God sent not just words on stone tablets but his very Word in flesh and blood. In Jesus, the Word accomplishes what the Law could not. He shows us God’s glory, makes God known, and speaks life into us so we can become children of God.