Logos (The Word), Light, and Life are filling my brain with all kinds of wonders these last few days.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it….(Jn. 1)
The Word brings the true Light.
Light is linked with Life and knowledge.
The term that has sought my attention, in this well known text, is “Life.”
At first glance it is ,seemingly, quite well defined, in the human mind.
Life is life — right?
We all know that we have life in this body we live in.
You might say DAAAA.
However it isn’t quite that simple.
Paul J. Achtemeier suggests, in his commentary (Feasting on the Word, Year C, volume 1, p.191)
“The word life, in this Gospel, does not refer to the quality of animated beings so much as to the life God give only through Logos, namely, eternal life. In verse 4, such life is identified with the “Light” providing again the clue to the significance of Light in this Gospel. Where light is spoken of, eternal life is also present.”
The Word, logos, brought Life and Light into the human, life of darkness, on this world.
Jesus, the Logos made flesh, came into the world to bring Light and a new kind of Life,
He came to manifest the true qualities of the invisible God who had never been seen or touched before.
Well, except for Moses who saw the bright burning Light of God in a bush, that is.
Or Job who stood before God to be questioned by God (Jobe 42:5-6)
In the 14th chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus is quite clear about who he is:
6Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (Jn 14)
Life is not a thing, but the vitality that characterizes all living things.
This Life is an extension of natural existence.
Light is meant to illumine, reveal, make known.
This Light is God in action.
The knowledge of this Light creates faith.
Any questions?
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please be mindful of the comments you leave. This is a place for a civil and engaged conversation.