John 1:1-18

Relax, Read and Reflect
Prayer- Lord, Open our hearts and open our minds and help us learn. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.

John 1

The Word Became Flesh

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning.

³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood^a]'>[a] it.

⁶There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. ⁸He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. ⁹The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.^b]'>[b]

¹⁰He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹²Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³children born not of natural descent,^c]'>[c] nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

¹⁴The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,^d]'>[d] who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " ¹⁶From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. ¹⁷For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,^e]'>[e]^f]'>[f]who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

We are kicking off on the Gospel of John. John does not start with the traditional Christmas story, rather John deals with the ministry of Christ. This Gospel begins with "The Word" which is God, "made flesh". This means that Jesus is God made flesh on the earth. God is everything, and so Jesus is everything. He is the light bringing truth to the world.

First, the Word has to be proclaimed, to be foretold. That is John the Baptists job. John was sent here to prepare for Jesus, and today's reading show how he was preparing.

Questions:

1. Why does John, (the author) need to prepare the reader about Christ?

2. How does John, (the Baptist,) prepare our world for Christs coming?

Prayer- Lord, as we prepare for Christ during this Lenten season, help us concentrate on "The Word." Go-Fight-Win. Amen