He pitched his tent among us

 

Thursday 25 December 2025

 

Lectio Divina:*

Isaiah 52:7-10

Psalm 97

 Hebrews 1:1-6

 John 1:1-18

 

Meditatio:

“And the Word became flesh and lived among us.” (John 1:14)

 

Commentary:

Of the four Gospels, John is the most reflective. Where Matthew opens with a long Jewish genealogy and Luke begins with pregnancy and birth narratives, John starts with a contemplative, high‑theology genealogy of the Divine: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

The Gospel opens like a hymn to the Logos — the very utterance of God‑who‑is‑love. Eastern and Asiatic mysticism could recognise here the manifestation of the Seed that gives life to many other seeds. John knows how to speak to a Jewish audience and, equally, to a Hellenistic‑Greek one. The Logos (the Word) is identified with Sophia (Wisdom); it is our life, our light, and the ground in which we are rooted. The Word is also linked with the Torah given through Moses. Yet this Word — this New Law — becomes a defining theme throughout John’s writings, including the Letters attributed to him, which we hear at the daily Eucharist in these closing days of a troubled 2025.

We are because the Word is. In him we have life, for the Word is not a philosophical idea or a moral code. The Word is personal and relational — more deeply personal and relational than we could ever imagine within our small worlds. The Word is not a mere manifestation or by‑product of the Divine. As John insists, the Word is God, without beginning or end.

Like the other evangelists, John writes from the experience of his community and its living tradition of faith and first‑century discipleship. The opening of this majestic Gospel introduces the themes that will echo throughout: Word, Life, Light, and God. The first eighteen verses, known as the Prologue, form the Gospel reading for Christmas Day.

John offers a panoramic contemplation of the mystery of Christ’s coming among us. His entire Gospel is a hymn to the Word made flesh — the One in whom glory, life, light, and the salvation of the world have appeared. It is fitting that on this day we hear again the good news of God’s Son made flesh and raised in glory. Each year that we recall the birth of the Saviour, our own resurrection draws nearer.

In the glory revealed in Bethlehem — the “house of bread” — we see a homeless family soon to be pursued into another country, where they will watch and wait. Today, thousands watch and wait on doorsteps, in hostels, and in occupied buildings. A deed of kindness to one of these is a deed done to Jesus. But kindness alone is not enough. We must read the signs of the times and join with others in the struggle to dismantle the structures, institutions, laws, and practices that leave thousands homeless in one of the richest countries in the world.

Our celebration of the Incarnation — of Christmas — is at best empty and at worst scandalous if we do not recognise the Christ‑child in those who are poor and on the margins. The Logos identifies fully with the one beside us here and now, and in a particular way with the neighbour who is outcast. If we fail to acknowledge and respond, he will say to us: “I was a stranger and you did not welcome me” (Matthew 25:43). Worse still, he might say: I was a stranger and you spread lies about me, drove me out, and destroyed me and my family.

Let us not stand on the wrong side of history or of God’s just judgment while calling ourselves Christians. “And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you?” (Matthew 25:38). As St James reminds us, “Faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (James 2:17).

And so the Prologue of John’s Gospel — the summary of the entire Gospel — becomes our hymn this morning. I hold a simple formula that helps me grasp this sublime summary:

In the beginning was the Word  / And the World became flesh   / And that flesh became bread /  Which has now become us / Broken for a united world /  At peace and returning to the source from which it came.

Oratio

Collect for this Christmas Day (Church of Ireland)

 Almighty God, you gave us your only Son to take on our human nature and to illumine the world with your light.  By your grace adopt us as your children and enlighten us with your Spirit, through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

Footnotes

*  These readings are taken from the Sunday lectionary used in most Catholic churches. The source is BibleGateway.com: A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages (using the New Revised Standard Version - anglicised catholic edition). Psalms in this Blog are numbered according to the Hebrew (Masoretic) text with the Greek Septuagint/Vulgate numbering in parenthesis where applicable.