December 27: Incarnation of the Word
♫ Music:
The Feast of John the Evangelist
Witness to the Incarnation
John 1:1-18
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.
Of the Mystery of the Incarnation
by Denise Levertov
It's when we face for a moment
the worst our kind can do, and shudder to know
the taint in our own selves, that awe
cracks the mind's shell and enters the heart:
not to a flower, not to a dolphin,
to no innocent form
but to this creature vainly sure
it and no other is god-like, God
(out of compassion for our ugly
failure to evolve) entrusts,
as guest, as brother,
the Word.
INCARNATION OF THE WORD
Today is the Feast of John the Evangelist, and thus it is fitting that today’s reading comes from the Gospel of John.
Our passage is a transition from the ethereal to the concrete. John the Apostle begins his Gospel in the beginning of time, in a holy place where “the Word was with God.” (v.1) The passage proceeds into an introduction of the good news – “to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (v. 12)
Throughout the passage, John repeatedly refers to Jesus as the Word and the true light, only choosing to directly refer to him as Jesus Christ in v. 17. The crescendo comes in the last verse of the passage: “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” (v.18) This passage takes us from the holy embrace of the Trinity before the creation of all things, to the incarnate conclusion: The Word became flesh and has made God known to us.
Both the artwork and the audio for today are centered on the Word. Donald Jackson’s Gospel of John frontispiece highlights both the words of the text and the Incarnation of the Word, cleverly making us aware of the undeniable connection between the word and the Word. Similarly, the Word of Promise Audio New Testament ensures that we interact with the text through hearing. The truth of the Word is presented to us in a variety of formats so that we are forced to confront and acknowledge “his glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father.” (v. 14)
It is striking that John 1:1-18, which focuses on the existence and earthly arrival of the Word, includes John the Baptist. John the Evangelist mentions three separate times in this passage that John the Baptist came “to bear witness about the light.” The inclusion of John the Baptist should serve to remind us that God incorporates individuals into his greater work in this world, and continues to do so today. Much like John the Evangelist and John the Baptist, we are to “let [our] light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) How are you bearing witness to the light in your interactions with others? How have you represented the Word to those in the world who do not know him?
Before you move on with your day, reread John 1:1-18. In this Christmas season, there can be nothing more deserving of our worship and witness than the Incarnation of the Word.
Prayer
Father God, thank you for the Incarnation of the Word. Thank you for the witness of John the Evangelist and all who came after him, testifying to the revealed truth of your Son. May you grant us boldness to speak the truth in love to those who do not know you.
Amen.
Stacie Schmidt
Reference and Instruction Librarian
The Word Was Made Flesh
Gospel of John Frontispiece, The St. John’s Bible
Donald Jackson (illuminator & calligrapher)
Ground pigments, egg yolks, gold, silver, and platinum
About the Artist and Artwork:
The new Saint John's Bible (2005-2012) is a seven volume illuminated Bible featuring stunning full-page illuminations that depict Bible passages in dramatic detail. The result is both inspiring and thought-provoking. The Saint John's Bible is a work of art and a work of theology. A team of scribes and artists coordinated by renowned calligrapher and illuminator Donald Jackson in Wales and a team of scholars and theologians in Central Minnesota brought together the ancient techniques of illumination with an ecumenical Christian approach to the Bible rooted in Benedictine spirituality. The result is a living document and a monumental achievement.
http://www.saintjohnsbible.org/
Donald Jackson (b. 1938) is one of the world's leading calligraphers and the artistic director and illuminator of The Saint John's Bible. He is a Senior Illuminator to the Queen of England's Crown Office and is an elected Fellow and past Chairman of the prestigious Society of Scribes and Illuminators. Jackson is artistic director of The Saint John's Bible, a hand-written and illuminated Bible commissioned by the Benedictine monastery of Saint John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. He is the author of two books: The Story of Writing and The Calligrapher's Art.
About the Audio:
“John Chapter One”
From The Word of Promise Audio New Testament
The Word of Promise New Testament Audio Bible is a 20-hour, star-studded audio Bible production. This multi-voiced, scripted dramatization of the New King James Version (NKJV) is presented in a compelling, dramatic audio-theater format. Complete with an original musical score by prolific Italian composer Stefano Mainetti (Abba Pater) and movie-quality sound effects, it is woven together with compelling narrations by actor Michael York.
About the Poetry:
Denise Levertov (1923-1997) was educated entirely at home and claimed to have decided to become a writer at the age of five. When she was twelve, she sent some of her poetry to T. S. Eliot, who responded with two pages of “excellent advice” and encouragement to continue writing. At age seventeen she had her first poem published, in Poetry Quarterly. Her poems of the 50s won her widespread recognition and her book, With Eyes at the Back of our Heads (1959), established her as one of the great American poets. Levertov went on to publish more than twenty volumes of poetry and was also the author of four books of prose. Levertov’s conversion to Christianity in 1984 was the impetus for her religious poetry. In 1997, she brought together 38 poems from seven of her earlier volumes in The Stream & the Sapphire, a collection intended, as Levertov explains in the foreword to the collection, to "trace my slow movement from agnosticism to Christian faith, a movement incorporating much doubt and questioning as well as affirmation."