Peace That Makes Us Whole
The opening of John’s Gospel is striking. It paints the picture of a God who is utterly and undeniably complete and needs nothing else. Consider John’s words,
“1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (Jn. 1:1-5)
These five verses set the stage for the greatest intervention of all time. One that humanity was and continues to be in desperate need of. Yet, it comes from a God who is complete and whole in and of himself. John plays on the Greek idea of the divine through his usage of logos (word), and at the same time, he draws back to the God revealed in the Old Testament who spoke creation into existence and who revealed himself through speech. Jesus (logos), the Word, is not only God and an agent of creation, but, curiously, he is “with God.” This is a beautiful expression that reveals the completeness of the Triune God. It means that the Word was faced towards God, in an intimate relationship with God. In other words, it means that their hearts and motives were aligned; they were of one purpose. And, not only were they of one purpose, but the Father and Son were unified in power and glory; in them is a light that the darkness cannot overcome.
These five verses are so theologically rich that we could focus on them forever. However, we would miss the true beauty because John goes on to tell us this,
“14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (Jn. 1:14)
This Word that is God and is unified in purpose with the Father has come in the flesh to dwell with us. Why? So that we could experience his completeness. Or, as the OT describes, that we could be brought into his Shalom (peace). One of the beautiful mysteries of Christmas and Advent is that God, who is utterly complete in and of himself, would enter into our space, take on our form, and suffer in our place so that we could be brought into peace (wholeness/ Shalom) with him. He did not need to do this. Instead, he did because he is full of grace and truth.
This Advent, let us be present to Jesus’ presence and experience a peace that makes us whole.