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THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH

Rev Fr. Clement Okarah, CM

I will begin this reflection by asking a question, what are we really celebrating at this season of Christmas? So many will say we are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ the Son of God. Yes they are right but most importantly this season of Christmas we are celebrating the incarnation of the Son of God. By incarnation I mean the Son took to himself the nature of man: “the word was made Flesh” and dwell among us”. (CCC460). In the gospel of St. John, “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made that; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:1-5).That means the divine nature of the Son was united with the human nature like ours. Let us analyze the key words in this passage “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God” (John 1:1).

In the Beginning was the Word: John begins his Gospel discourse with the word in the beginning, the word is often use among the Jews to  mean the creative power of God, the word of God in action and the dynamic word  of God. No wonder the letters to the Hebrews says, “The word of God is alive and active” (Heb. 4:12). And Jesus said my word are spirit and they are alive” (John 6:63). “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made” (Psalm 33:6). “God made all these by the power of his spoken word” (Wisdom 9:1). God word also refers to as the wisdom of God. The book of proverbs put it succinctly that “the Lord by wisdom founded the heavens and earth and all that they contains” (proverbs 3:19). Therefore “word” and “wisdom” are the same to describe the creative power of God. “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or power or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16). And John said; Jesus is that Force ‘The word’ through whom all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In the Book of Genesis 1:1 in the beginning God created the heavens and earth. Jesus is the creative power and wisdom of God. John established the divinity of Jesus by referring to Him as the word. The word that proceeded from the beginning during creation was the same word that took flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary and dwelt with us.

Jesus became truly man while remaining truly God. According to St. Gregory of Nazianzus he says; “What he was, he remained and what he was not, he assumed”.  The forth ecumenical council, at Chalcedon in 451, proclaimed: Jesus Christ as truly the Son of God who, without ceasing to be God and Lord, became a man and our brother. Our Lord Jesus Christ: the same truly God and truly man, composed of rational soul and body; consubstantial with us as to his humanity; “like us in all things but sin”. He was begotten from the Father before all ages as to his divinity and in these last days, for us and for our salvation, was born as to his humanity of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God”.

 “The Son of God assumed a human nature in other to accomplish our salvation in it. For by His incarnation the Son of God has united Himself in some fashion with every man. He worked with human hands; he thought with a human mind. He acted with a human will, choice and love with a human heart. Born of the Virgin Mary, he has truly been made one of us, like to us in all things except sin” (Gaudium et Spes no. 22). Therefore as Christians our faith is rooted on the incarnation of God’s Son” who came in the flesh and dwelt among us. His name is Immanuel God is with us.  Christians proclaim anew every year the mystery of God made man.

Jesus partakes in our human nature so that we can partake of the divine nature. “And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires” (2 Peter 1:4). “Through the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves” (Colossians 1:13).

The word was with God expresses the co-existence, but at the same times the distinction of person. It implies a relation with the father and the Holy Spirit. The term ‘with’ signify a relationship of persons with like minds. “Who is himself God and is the closest relationship with the Father, has made him know” (John 1:18b). With God in the gospel of St. John is in line with “let us make man” in the Book of genesis 1:26. With represent a Being that is not alone, a Being that lives with others and in communion with others.

And the word was God: “Was God” means the distinction of person, but at the same time asserts the unity of essence. That Jesus has the same nature with the father and the Holy Spirit. The Nicene Creed put it in a simple term “God from God, Light from Light true God from true God, Begotten, not made, consubstantial with the father, through him all things were made”

Having known the mystery we celebrate, let us now go and speak the language of Christmas. The language of Christmas is hope, “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31). Love, “my command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12-13). Especially in this season of Christmas do everything in Love” (1Corinthians 16:14). Peace and joy; this day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the Joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).