A Christmas Hymn (John one):

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 not one thing came into being.

In him was life, and the life was the light of all people.

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not overcome it.

We can’t help but notice something of our Creation Hymn in this Christmas Hymn (Gn 1):

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

And the earth was formless and void;

And darkness was upon the face of the deep.

            Then the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 

           And God said, “Let there be light.”

           And there was light.

Just as our creation story cannot be told without a hymn; so too, the new creation in Christ Jesus begins with a hymn: “In the beginning was the Word…” Then, like our creation story, the Christmas story moves from this big majestic hymn to simple particular people in a particular place during a particular time. It’s the story of a certain man and a certain woman and the Child of Promise.

This is scripture’s way: careening back and forth between glorifying God in the Highest; to a simple, unpretentious human story about Mary and Joseph making their way towards Bethlehem of Judea. God transcendent—high and lifted up; and God imminent—“closer than a brother” (Pr 18:24). We honor God best when we hold both together—his highness: “glory to God in the highest”; and his closeness: “and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

A word about “Word”. It’s not from rhēma, the tame Greek word for “word”; but rather from that wild, deep and rambunctious word logos. Watch how these two “word” words play off one another in this scary Jesus warning (Mt 12:36-37): “Every careless word (rhēma) that people speak, they shall give an account (logos) for on the day of Judgment. For by your words (logos) you will be justified…”  To make sense of our many and often thoughtless words (rhēma—our reams of words), requires a logos—a rendering, an ordering, a making sense of, an account of the meaning of things. What is the meaning of all these words? What are you really saying? What’s your point? We could translate our Christmas Hymn thus:

In the beginning was the Meaning,

and the Meaning was with God,

and the Meaning was God…

            The Meaning became flesh

and dwelt among us

full of grace and truth.

What’s the meaning of all this—of the universe, of life? Christ is the meaning. Christ has a way of making sense of things. As Lewis puts it: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else” (Essay Collection, p. 21).

That’s how Christmas works. It’s better sung than explained. Because of Christmas, we see all things different.