In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. – John 1:1

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 19, 2020): John 1

Communication can be challenging, especially because words can take on different meanings depending on the situation, or even the generation that is speaking. In talking with your kids, you might notice that to call something "sick" is not necessarily a bad thing, and it has nothing to do with the coronavirus. Something that is "sick" is actually something that my generation would have been called cool (nothing to do with temperature) or sweet (not referring to things containing sugar). If a kid asks you to "give them the tea," they are not asking for a hot drink. They are asking for the current gossip about a particular situation. And the swiftly changing slang of a language can make communication hard.

And it isn't just a problem with modern English. For centuries, theologians and philosophers had used the word Logos or Word to substitute for God. For instance, Exodus 19:17, which reads, "Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain." But in ancient Hebrew, the passaged is phrased as, "Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with the Logos (or the Word of God)." Greek philosophers believed that it was this divine Logos that brought order to the chaos of the world. The Logos was the mental reasoning that allows our world to make sense. Logos was reflected in the Natural Laws that enable our world to function predictably. And that reason was present in the world from the very beginning.

John makes the most of this tradition. John purposefully mirrors the opening words of Genesis as he begins his gospel. John extends the ministry of Jesus back to the beginning of time. He argues that you have been speaking and writing about Logos for generations. Well, let me introduce you to the Logos of the world, the Word of God. His name is Jesus. Jesus might have been born, or better understood as incarnated, in Bethlehem, but that was not his beginning. In fact, it is nonsensical to even speak of his beginnings, because at the moment that everything began, in the beginning, the Logos which is Jesus was already there.

John writes, "In the beginning was the Word." While the words might sound strange to us, he introduced Jesus to both Jews and Greeks, not only with a language that they understood but also with a language they were using in their academic dialogue.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Matthew 3