{"id":17465,"date":"2025-12-24T11:03:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T10:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/behold.mt\/?post_type=talba-bil-kelma&p=17465"},"modified":"2025-12-18T23:07:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T22:07:10","slug":"the-word-became-flesh-and-lived-among-us","status":"publish","type":"talba-bil-kelma","link":"https:\/\/behold.mt\/en\/talba-bil-kelma\/the-word-became-flesh-and-lived-among-us\/","title":{"rendered":"The Word became flesh and lived among us"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collect<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>

O God, who wonderfully created the dignity of human nature\u00a0and still more wonderfully restored it,\u00a0grant, we pray,\u00a0that we may share in the divinity of Christ,\u00a0who humbled himself to share in our humanity.\u00a0Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,\u00a0one God,\u00a0for ever and ever.\u00a0Amen.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Reflection<\/strong>\u00a0

The readings for each Sunday\u00a0in\u00a0this Advent\u00a0season\u00a0were taken from the Gospel according to Matthew.\u00a0But\u00a0on Christmas day, the\u00a0Liturgy\u00a0gives special prominence to the opening\u00a0of the Gospel according to John.\u00a0The poetic manner by which John begins this account\u2014referred to as the Prologue\u2014is unique\u00a0to the Gospel literary genre.\u00a0The Prologue\u00a0does not take us back to Jesus\u2019 origins in this world,\u00a0that is, his birth in Bethlehem.\u00a0It goes\u00a0back\u00a0even\u00a0further\u00a0and\u00a0actually takes\u00a0us to\u00a0\u2018the beginning\u2019<\/strong>.\u00a0

Almost instinctively, the First Book in Sacred Scripture comes to mind (Genesis), because it also begins\u00a0with\u00a0the precise words\u00a0\u201cIn the beginning\u00a0\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>What is this\u00a0\u2018beginning\u2019<\/strong>? What\u00a0does\u00a0it refer to?\u00a0This is when we start to savour the richness of John\u2019s account.\u00a0While the sacred author uses the same word \u2018in the beginning<\/strong>,\u2019 John gives it a new and powerful meaning.\u00a0The beginning<\/strong>\u00a0mentioned in the Book of Genesis refers to the beginning of creation.\u00a0The beginning<\/strong>\u00a0we find in John\u2019s Prologue goes beyond that\u00a0\u2026\u00a0it is not\u00a0bound by\u00a0time; it is not temporal.\u00a0In fact,\u00a0this\u00a0beginning<\/strong>\u00a0takes us to another dimension,\u00a0even before creation itself, because it takes us to God\u2019s dimension. Before anything was created, the Word (Logos \u2013 The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity) from\u00a0the beginning\u00a0<\/strong>\u2026\u00a0was always present.\u00a0

In this brief reflection, we will\u00a0focus only\u00a0on the first verse:\u00a0

In the beginning\u00a0was<\/strong>\u00a0the Word,\u00a0

And the Word\u00a0was<\/strong>\u00a0with God,\u00a0

And the Word\u00a0was\u00a0<\/strong>God.\u00a0

If one\u00a0observes\u00a0closely, this verse is\u00a0divided into\u00a0three\u00a0parts,\u00a0and,\u00a0in each\u00a0part,\u00a0we find the\u00a0Word\u00a0was<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(einai).\u00a0Yet, it has a different meaning\u00a0every time.

– In the first part (In the beginning\u00a0was<\/strong>\u00a0the Word),\u00a0it\u00a0means that the Word (Jesus)\u00a0already existed<\/strong>\u00a0from all eternity, before creation, before the very beginning of\u00a0anything.
– In the second part (and the Word was with God), the word \u2018was\u2019 describes\u00a0the\u00a0relationship between the Word (Jesus) and God<\/strong>.\u00a0The Word (Jesus) was in the presence of God,\u00a0showing\u00a0that the Word (Jesus) and God are distinct from each other but are in each other\u2019s presence.\u00a0
– In the third part (And the Word\u00a0was<\/strong>\u00a0God),\u00a0the word\u00a0\u2018was\u2019\u00a0is used\u00a0to declare\u00a0that the nature of the Word (Jesus)\u00a0is the same as that of God Himself.<\/strong>\u00a0

To put it simply, we could say that Jesus, who has the nature of God and is in relationship with the Father, has always existed.\u00a0|

What does all this have to do with the Incarnation?\u00a0When one \u2018understands\u2019 God\u2019s greatness, then we can better appreciate the mystery of the Incarnation!\u00a0

He\u00a0who has always existed,<\/strong>\u00a0became temporal\u00a0\u2026\u00a0bound to\u00a0time.\u00a0

He who is in relationship with the Father\u00a0desired\u00a0to have a relationship with us, to the extent of becoming one of us.\u00a0

He\u00a0who is God<\/strong>\u00a0took on\u00a0human\u00a0flesh like us.\u00a0

The Psalmist is correct in saying: \u201cHe is clothed\u201d (Psalm 93:1).\u00a0St Paul also rightly says to the Philippians:\u00a0\u201cThough he was in the form of God,\u00a0
he did not regard equality with God\u00a0as something to be grasped.\u00a0Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave\u201d (Phil 2: 6-7).\u00a0

This is the Incarnation!\u00a0This is the\u00a0very heart\u00a0of Christmas!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prayer<\/strong><\/p>

Lord Jesus, although I do not know how, and I am not as poetic as John, I too wish to sing to you my praise for the abysmal descent you made from your greatness to our smallness. Thank you, Jesus, because in this way you have also drawn us into the same relationship that has existed between you and the Father from all eternity. Amen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13915,"template":"","rizors":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Word became flesh and lived among us - Behold<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/behold.mt\/en\/talba-bil-kelma\/the-word-became-flesh-and-lived-among-us\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Word became flesh and lived among us - Behold\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ  Collect\u00a0O God, who wonderfully created the dignity of human nature\u00a0and still more wonderfully restored it,\u00a0grant, we pray,\u00a0that we may share in the divinity of Christ,\u00a0who humbled himself to share in our humanity.\u00a0Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,\u00a0one God,\u00a0for ever and ever.\u00a0 ... 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