Christmas
Mass During the Day
Catechism Links
CCC 456-460,
566: “Why did the Word
become flesh?”
CCC 461-463,
470-478: the Incarnation
CCC 437,
525-526: the Christmas mystery
CCC 439, 496,
559, 2616: Jesus is the Son of
David
CCC 65, 102: God has said everything in his Word
CCC 333: the incarnate Christ worshipped by the angels
CCC 1159-1162,
2131, 2502: the Incarnation and
images of Christ
Heb 1:1-3 102; Heb 1:1-2 65; Heb 1:3 241, 320, 2502, 2777, 2795; Heb 1:6 333
Jn 1:1-3 291; Jn 1:1 241, 454, 2780; Jn 1:3 268; Jn 1:4 612; Jn 1:6 717; Jn 1:7 719; Jn 1:9 1216; Jn 1:11 530; Jn 1:12-18 1996; Jn 1:12-13 706; Jn 1:12 526, 1692; Jn 1:13 496, 505, 526; Jn 1:14 423, 445, 454, 461, 594, 705, 2466; Jn 1:16 423, 504; Jn 1:17 2787; Jn 1:18 151, 454, 473
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Reading 1
Is 52:7-10
How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings glad tidings,
announcing peace, bearing good news,
announcing salvation, and saying to Zion,
“Your God is King!”
Hark! Your sentinels raise a cry,
together they shout for joy,
for they see directly, before their eyes,
the Lord restoring Zion.
Break out together in song,
O ruins of Jerusalem!
For the LORD comforts his people,
he redeems Jerusalem.
The Lord has bared his holy arm
in the sight of all the nations;
all the ends of the earth will behold
the salvation of our God.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 98:1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6
R. (3c) All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
his right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
The Lord has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Sing praise to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
sing joyfully before the King, the Lord.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Reading II
Heb 1:1-6
Brothers and sisters:
In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways
to our ancestors through the prophets;
in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son,
whom he made heir of all things
and through whom he created the universe,
who is the refulgence of his glory,
the very imprint of his being,
and who sustains all things by his mighty word.
When he had accomplished purification from sins,
he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
as far superior to the angels
as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
For to which of the angels did God ever say:
You are my son; this day I have begotten you?
Or again:
I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me?
And again, when he leads the firstborn into the world, he says:
Let all the angels of God worship him.
Gospel
Jn 1:1-18 or 1:1-5, 9-14
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 came to be through him,
and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life,
and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
A man named John was sent from God.
He came for testimony, to testify to the light,
so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light,
but came to testify to the light.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world,
and the world came to be through him,
but the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own,
but his own people did not accept him.
But to those who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God,
to those who believe in his name,
who were born not by natural generation
nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision
but of God.
And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth.
John testified to him and cried out, saying,
“This was he of whom I said,
‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me
because he existed before me.’”
From his fullness we have all received,
grace in place of grace,
because while the law was given through Moses,
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God.
The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side,
has revealed him.
or
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 came to be through him,
and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life,
and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world,
and the world came to be through him,
but the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own,
but his own people did not accept him.
But to those who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God,
to those who believe in his name,
who were born not by natural generation
nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision
but of God.
And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Isaiah 52:7 – 10
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of one who brings good news, who heralds peace, brings happiness, proclaims salvation, and tells Zion, ‘Your God is king!’ Listen! Your watchmen raise their voices, they shout for joy together, for they see the Lord face to face, as he returns to Zion. Break into shouts of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the Lord is consoling his people, redeeming Jerusalem. The Lord bares his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 97(98):1-6
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp
with the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
acclaim the King, the Lord.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Second reading Hebrews 1:1 – 6
At various times in the past and in various different ways, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in our own time, the last days, he has spoken to us through his Son, the Son that he has appointed to inherit everything and through whom he made everything there is. He is the radiant light of God’s glory and the perfect copy of his nature, sustaining the universe by his powerful command; and now that he has destroyed the defilement of sin, he has gone to take his place in heaven at the right hand of divine Majesty. So he is now as far above the angels as the title which he has inherited is higher than their own name.
God has never said to any angel: You are my Son, today I have become your father; or: I will be a father to him and he a son to me. Again, when he brings the First-born into the world, he says: Let all the angels of God worship him.
Gospel John 1:1 – 18
In the beginning was the Word:
and the Word was with God
and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things came to be,
not one thing had its being but through him.
All that came to be had life in him
and that life was the light of men,
a light that shines in the dark,
a light that darkness could not overpower.
A man came, sent by God.
His name was John.
He came as a witness,
as a witness to speak for the light,
so that everyone might believe through him.
He was not the light,
only a witness to speak for the light.
The Word was the true light
that enlightens all men;
and he was coming into the world.
He was in the world
that had its being through him,
and the world did not know him.
He came to his own domain
and his own people did not accept him.
But to all who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God,
to all who believe in the name of him
who was born not out of human stock
or urge of the flesh
or will of man
but of God himself.
The Word was made flesh,
he lived among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father,
full of grace and truth.
John appears as his witness. He proclaims:
‘This is the one of whom I said:
He who comes after me ranks before me
because he existed before me’.
Indeed, from his fullness we have, all of us, received –
yes, grace in return for grace,
since, though the Law was given through Moses,
grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God;
it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart,
who has made him known.
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Solemnity: Nativity of the Lord (Day)
From: Isaiah 52:7-10
The Messenger of Peace
------------------------------------
[7] How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good tidings,
who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."
[8] Hark, your watchmen lift up their voice,
together they sing for joy;
for eye to eye they see
the return of the Lord to Zion.
[9] Break forth together into singing,
you waste places of Jerusalem;
for the Lord has comforted his people,
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
[10] The Lord has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
[11] Depart, depart, go out thence,
touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of her, purify yourselves,
you who bear the vessels of the Lord.
[12] For you shall not go out in haste,
and you shall not go in flight,
for the Lord will go before you,
and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
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Commentary:
52:7-12. Salvation is approaching; it has reached the gates of Zion, and its herald is the messenger "who publishes salvation" (v. 7), proclaiming that the Lord is returning to his holy city, like a victorious king coming back with his men, having redeemed them from their captors (vv. 7-8). This victory parade includes songs of joy extolling the salvation brought about by the Lord, and also a pressing call to purification, to ensure that those who welcome the Lord are worthy to form part of his holy company (vv. 11-12). These verses form the famous poem of the "messenger of peace" who "brings good tidings". The ideas of the first oracle of this second part of the book (40:1-11) are repeated here very beautifully. The messenger's feet are praised -- a symbol of his speed and surefootedness when crossing the mountains, which is where important news comes from (cf. 40:9). His message (v. 7) is described very significantly as involving "peace", which in Isaiah means safety in Israel after the hardships of exile; "good tidings" or, more literally, "news of goodness and well-being", that is, genuine material and spiritual prosperity; and "salvation", which is permanent renewal on all levels. The three words read together mean the highest degree of happiness imaginable. The core of this message is the enthronement of God: "Your God reigns," similar to 40:9: "Behold your God." What is new about this poem is that it depicts God as the king of Zion (cf. 24:23). The kingdom of God is sublime; and only analogically is it comparable to earthly kingdoms, as can be seen in the psalms of divine kingship (Ps 47:8; 93:1; 96:10; 97:1), and, much more fully; in the New Testament, which records Jesus' preaching centered on the Kingdom of God.
As in a stage play, the arrival of the messenger, which is really the same thing as the arrival of God as king on Zion, causes the watchmen to raise shouts of joy that resound across the city (v. 8). Those whose job it was to give warning of any threat now provoke unconfined joy because of the "return of the Lord to Zion" (v. 8; Ezek 43:1-5).
In a beautiful personification, the "waste places of Jerusalem" are called to join in the watchmen's song (v. 9). The restoration has come, and the credit must go to the Lord, for he has bared his holy arm a symbol of vigorous action, as in the time of the exodus (v. 10; cf. 40:10, 5 1:9; Ps 98:1).
The short hymn at the end (vv. 11-12) is an exhortation to be cleansed from every trace of Babylonian idolatry and to follow the Lord's path, who, in the early trek through the wilderness (cf. Ex 13:21-22), travels at the head of the company and is also its rearguard.
St Paul quotes the words of v. 7 in Romans 10:15 when he is making the point that preaching is necessary if the Gospel is to be spread. So, they are an abiding call to apostolate.
The words of this oracle (especially v. 11) have also been applied by Christian tradition to those who have pastoral responsibilities: "A pastor should be a man whose thoughts are pure and purified. No stain should mar the character of the man who holds the office of pastor; thus shall he be able to cleanse the impurity of those in his care. The one whose work it is to purify stains must have clean hands, to ensure that, when he seeks to cleanse, he does not soil his charges more. The prophet says: purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord. Those who are entrusted with leading souls along the path of faith to their eternal home bear the vessels of the Lord. Consider carefully, then, how pure they must be who have devoted themselves to the task of bearing living vessels to the eternal Temple" (St Gregory the Great, "Regula Pastoralis", 2, 2).
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From: Hebrews 1:1-6
The Greatness of the Incarnate Son of God
--------------------------------------------------------------
[1] In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; [2] but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. [3] He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, [4] having become as much superior to angels as the name he has obtained is more excellent than theirs.
Proof from Sacred Scripture
----------------------------------------
[5] For to what angel did God ever say, "Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee"? Or again, "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son"? [6] And again, when he brings the first-born into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."
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Commentary:
1-4. The first four verses are a kind of prologue to the letter, which does not carry the greetings and words of thanksgiving to God normally found in letters of St Paul. Like the prologue of St John's Gospel, the letter moves immediately into its main subject -- the divinity of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. It speaks of Christ as a Son whose sonship is eternal, prior to the creation of the world and to his Incarnation; it speaks also of Christ's mission to save all men, a mission appropriate to the Word who created all things. This exposition culminates in the affirmation of Christ's absolute superiority over angels, a theme dealt with, in different ways, up to the end of the second chapter.
The entire epistle in fact develops the subject entered on in the prologue – the sublimity of Christ, the natural and eternal Son of God, the universal Mediator, the eternal Priest. This is why St Thomas Aquinas says that the subject matter of this epistle is the "excellence" of Christ. In this respect the Letter to the Hebrews is different from the other letters in the Pauline corpus: in some letters (the "Great Epistles" and the Captivity Letters) the Apostle deals with the grace which imbues the entire mystical body of the Church; others (the Pastoral Letters) deal with the grace bestowed on certain members of the Church (such as Timothy and Titus); whereas the Letter to the Hebrews looks at grace as it is found in the Head of the mystical body, Christ. This "excellence" of Christ the Angelic Doctor adds, is examined by St Paul from four points of view: the first is that of Christ's origin, which the sacred writer identifies by calling him the true (natural, metaphysical) Son of God, when he says that God has spoken to us by a Son; the second is that of his power, for he depicts him as being made the heir of all things; the third is that of his activity, when he affirms that he created the world; the fourth, his sublime dignity, when he says that Christ reflects the glory of God (cf. "Commentary on Heb.", Prologue and 1:1).
Christ is thus presented as the pinnacle and fullness of salvific Revelation, as the Second Vatican Council reminds us: "After God had spoken many times and in various ways through the prophets 'in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son' (Heb 1:1-2). For he sent his Son, the eternal Word who enlightens all men to dwell among men and to tell them about the inner life of God [...]. He did this by the total fact of his presence and self-manifestation -- by words and works, signs and miracles, but above all by his death and glorious resurrection from the dead, and finally by sending the Spirit of truth. He revealed that God was with us, to deliver us from the darkness of sin and death, and to raise us up to eternal life" ("Dei Verbum", 4).
1. Divine Revelation, which is rightly called "the Word of God", develops in stages in the course of the Old and New Testaments. "By this Revelation," Vatican II teaches,"'the invisible God (cf. Col 1:15; 1 Tim 1:17), from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends (cf. Ex 33:11; Jn 15:14-15), and moves among men (cf. Bar 3: 38), in order to invite and receive them into his own company. This economy of Revelation is realized by deeds and words, which are intrinsically bound up with each other. As a result, the works performed by God in the history of salvation show forth and bear out the doctrine and realities signified by the words; the words, for their part, proclaim the works, and bring to light the mystery they contain" ("Dei Verbum", 3). Revelation is, then, a gradual opening up of God's mysteries whereby little by little, like a wise teacher, it makes known who he is and what his plans are concerning the salvation of all mankind. For, although there is only one God and one way of salvation, man needs to be educated by means of many precepts and to progress by stages on his way to God and so advance in faith towards complete salvation in Christ. God in his mercy reveals his mysteries to man in this way in order that the whole world experiencing "this saving proclamation, on hearing it should believe, on believing it hope, on hoping in it love" (St Augustine, "De Catechizandis Rudibus", 4, 8).
When speaking of Revelation, the First Vatican Council recalled that although "God, the origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of human reason from the things that he created, [...] it was, nevertheless, the good pleasure of his wisdom and goodness to reveal himself and the eternal decrees of his will to the human race in another and supernatural way" ("Dei Filius", Chap. 2). This supernatural revelation, as it says (reaffirming the teaching of the Council of Trent), is contained in books and in oral traditions which the Apostles received from Christ or from the Holy Spirit and passed on to us. Christ's Gospel had earlier been promised by the prophets and, more generally, by the entire Old Testament. The epistle refers to this when it says that God spoke in the past through the mouth of the prophets "in many ways", that is, at various stages in the history of the chosen people, and "in various ways", that is, by means of visions, words, actions and historical events.
2. "The most intimate truth which this revelation gives us about God and the salvation of man shines forth in Christ, who is himself both the mediator and the sum total of Revelation" ("Dei Verbum", 2).
St John of the Cross comments on this passage in a very beautiful and profound way: "And this is as if he had said: That which God spoke of old in the prophets to our fathers in sundry ways and divers manners, he has now, at last, in these days, spoken to us once and for all in the Son. Herein the Apostle declares that God has become, as it were, dumb, and has no more to say, since that which he spoke before, in part, to the prophets, he has now spoken altogether in him, giving us the All, which is his Son.
"And so he who would now enquire of God, or seek any vision or revelation would not only be acting foolishly, but would be committing an offense against God, by not setting his eyes altogether upon Christ, and seeking no new thing or aught beside. And God might answer him after this manner, saying: 'If I have spoken all things to you in my Word, which is my Son, and I have no other word, what answer can I now make to you, or what can I reveal to you which is greater than this? Set your eyes on him alone, for in him I have spoken and revealed to you all things"' ("Ascent of Mount Carmel", Book 2, Chap. 22).
The "last days" refer to the period of time between the first coming of Christ and the second coming, or Parousia. These days have begun because the definitive "Word" of God, Jesus Christ, can be seen and heard. Mankind already finds it- self in the "last age", in the "end of the ages" (cf. 1 Cor 10:11; Gal 4:4; Eph 1:10).
By speaking to us through his Son, God reveals to us his saving will from the moment of the Incarnation onwards, for the second person of the Blessed Trinity has come into the world to redeem us by dying for us and to open for us the way to heaven by his glorification. Therefore, Jesus Christ is the "prophet" par excellence (cf. note on Jn 7:40-43), for he perfects and completes God's merciful revelation. The Incarnation and the subsequent events of our Lord's life are, like his teaching, a source of salvation.
It was appropriate that the Son who perfectly revealed God the Father should also be the divine Word, the Creator of the world (cf. Jn 1:3). The creative action of the divine "Logos" or Word is not contradicted by the statement that Creation is the work of God the Father, for everything done by God outside himself ("ad extra") is an action common to the three divine persons; nor is it correct to see the Word as merely an instrument used by the Father, for he is one in substance with him.
"It is the good Father's own, unique Word who has ordered this universe. Being the good Word he has arranged the order of all things [...]. He was with God as Wisdom; as Word he contemplated the Father and created the universe, giving it substance, order and beauty" (St Athanasius, "Oratio Contra Gentes", 40 and 46). Not only did the Word make the Father manifest by creation; he, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, acted in the revelation of the Old Testament: in fact, many patristic writers attributed to the Son -- as "angel" or "messenger of Yahweh" -- the divine epiphanies witnessed by Moses and the prophets. St Irenaeus writes, for example, that Christ prefigured and proclaimed future events through his "Patriarchs and prophets", thereby acting in his role as Teacher, promulgating the divine commandments and rules and training his people to obey God the Father (cf. "Against Heresies", XIV, 21). A profound harmony links God's revelation in Creation, in the Old Testament and in the New Testament: in each case it is the same God who is manifesting himself and the Word is ever actively involved. This activity of the Word is hidden and happens through the prophets in the Old Testament; whereas in the New the Word becomes flesh and acts directly. This passage in Hebrews combines the revelation of Jesus Christ as Mediator and maker of the universe (cf. Col 1:15-18; 1 Cor 8:6) with the idea that God has at last spoken to us in his Son, who "is in the bosom of the Father", and has made known to us the invisible mysteries of the Godhead (cf. Jn 1:18).
3a. These words, which describe Christ's divinity and eternity, recall the passage in the Book of Wisdom which reads, "For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God" (Wis 7:26). What the Old Testament described as an attribute of God is now revealed as a personal being the second person of the Trinity, the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ.
Using three images, the text teaches that Jesus Christ is perfect God, identical to the Father. By saying that he "reflects" the glory of the Father it means that he and the Father share the same nature -- which is what we profess in the Creed when we say that Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, is "light from light, true God from true God" (Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed). "The author means", St John Chrysostom writes, "that Christ has this glory in his own right; it can suffer no eclipse nor can it either increase or diminish" ("Hom. on Heb.", 2).
The Son is also "stamped" with the nature of the Father; "stamp" is a translation of the Greek word "character", which means the mark left by a tool used to engrave or seal (for example, the impression of a seal on wax, or the seal affixed to a document, or the brand used to identify livestock). This word indicates two things -- first, the perfect equality between the mark and the seal which makes it, and second, the permanence of the mark.
"Upholding the universe by his word of power": the Son, through whom all things have been created, is also maintaining them in existence. God the Father not only creates but, through the Son, maintains a continual, direct influence on his creation; if he did not do so, as St Thomas Aquinas explains, the world would revert into non-being: "If the divine power ceased to operate, existence would cease, the being and subsistence of every created thing would end: (the Word) therefore upholds all things in respect of their existence, and he sustains them also by virtue of being the first cause of everything he has created" ("Commentary on Heb.", 1, 2). It makes sense that God the Father should wish to keep the world in existence by means of the same Word by whom he created it.
3b. This is the central message of the Epistle to the Hebrews: Christ, the consubstantial Son of the Father, the perfect reflection of his substance, who created all things and maintains them in existence, by becoming man brought about purification for sins and by his sacrifice was glorified and put at the right hand of the Father, receiving "the name which is above every name" (cf. Phil 2: 6-11; Jn 1:1, 3, 14). The actions of Jesus Christ are a continuum of mercy and salvation which extends from the creation of the world and mankind to the point where he is seated in heaven at the right hand of the Father. Creation and Redemption are mysteries intimately linked to each other. The Son, the divine Word, is both Creator and Redeemer. "It is appropriate to speak in the first instance", St Athanasius writes, "of the creation of the universe and of God its Creator, in order correctly to appreciate the fact that the new creation of this universe has been brought about by the Word who originally created it. For there is no contradiction in the Father's effecting the salvation of creatures by him through whom they were created" ("De Incarnatione Contra Arianos", 1). This is why the tradition of the Church, echoing certain references in the New Testament (cf. Gal 6:15; 2 Cor 5:17; Eph 4:24; Col 3:10), describes the Redemption as a "new creation".
To "sit down at the right hand of the Majesty" is equivalent to saying "has the status of God": "Majesty" is a term of reverence used to refer to God without naming him; thus, Jewish rabbis would refer to God as "Lord", "the most High", "the Power", "Glory", etc. Sitting in the presence of God was a prerogative of the Davidic kings (cf.2 Sam 7:18; Ezek 44:3), and the person at the right hand was seen as occupying the place of honor (cf. Ps 45: 10). Psalm 110 proclaims that God will have the Messiah sit at his right hand, and at various times Christ referred to that prophecy to assert that he was the Messiah and God (cf. Mt 22: 44; 26:63-65; Jn 5:17-18; 10:30-33). The exaltation of the Son to the right hand of the Father was a constant theme of apostolic preaching (cf. Acts 2:33; Rom 8:34; 1 Pet 3:22; Rev 3:21; Eph 1:20). As St John Chrysostom comments, when St Paul says that the Son sat down at the right hand of the Majesty he means principally to refer to the status of the Son as equal to that of the Father. And when he says that he is on high, in heaven, far from meaning to confine God within spatial limits, he wants us to see God the Son, as Lord of the universe, raised up to the very throne of his Father (cf. "Hom. on Heb.", 2).
4. The prologue ends with a very important statement, which introduces the theme of the rest of the first chapter: Christ is superior to the angels. To understand this comparison of Christ with the angels, one needs to bear in mind the outlook of the Jews at the time. The period immediately prior to the New Testament had seen a considerable development of devotion to angels among the ordinary religious Jews; with the result that this was the danger of Jesus, because he was a man, in some way being seen as on a lower level than angels, who, created beings though they are, are pure spirits. In the Acts of the Apostles (cf. Acts 23:9), we find the Pharisees in the Sanhedrin surmising that St Paul's preaching may result from revelation given him by an angel; and belief in the existence of angels was a point of contention between Pharisees and Sadducees (cf. Acts 23:7). For this reason the author of Hebrews wants to make it quite clear to Christians of Jewish origin that Jesus is much more than an angelic being.
Christ is superior to angels, the inspired writer says, because he has the title of Son, which is his by natural right. This name demonstrates his divine nature, a nature superior to that of any visible or invisible created being, whether material or spiritual, whether earthly or angelic: something's name describes its essence and, particularly in Sacred Scripture, name and essence are at times one and the same. Thus, for example, the phrase "in the name of" (cf. Mt 28:19; Acts 3:6; 4:7; 4:12; etc.) refers not just to the authority or power of the person named, but to the person himself. Jesus Christ, because he is the very Son of God, is superior to angels by virtue of the glory due to his eternal oneness with the Father. As eternal Son of God, to him belonged, by right of inheritance, the title of Son and Lord. Moreover, after his passion and resurrection he has "become" superior to angels by a new title through his exaltation on high (cf. 1 Cor 15: 24- 27; Phil 2:9-11). This passage refers primarily to Jesus' glorification as man; for the words "having become as much superior to angels..." cannot refer, St John Chrysostom points out, to his divine essence: by virtue of his divinity the Son is equal to the Father and cannot be subject to change, cannot "become" anything: he is eternally what he is by generation from the Father: "Eternal Word by nature, he did not receive his divine essence by way of inheritance. These words, which manifest his superiority over the angels, can only refer to the human nature with which he has been clothed: for it is that nature that is a created one" ("Hom. On Heb.", 1).
On the essence of angels and what they are, see the note on Lk 1:11.
5. Ancient Hebrew exegesis of this verse of Psalm 2 took it in a messianic sense: the Messiah or Anointed would be king of Israel and would enjoy God's special protection. Therefore he merited being called "Son of God", in the same kind of way, though more eminently, as other kings and just men of Israel deserved the title. But in Hebrews 1:5 the verse is given a much more profound interpretation: the Messiah, Jesus Christ, is the eternal Son of God, begotten "today", that is, in the continuous present of the eternal Godhead. It is affirming the generation of the Son by the Father in the bosom of the Trinity, whereby the Son proceeds eternally from the Father and is his mirror image. This form of generation is radically different from physical generation, whereby one living being physically begets another like unto himself; and it is also quite different from Creation, whereby God makes everything out of nothing. It is different from physical generation because, in the Holy Trinity, Father and Son co-exist eternally and are one and the same and only God, not two gods. It is different from Creation because the Son has not been made from nothing but proceeds eternally from the Father. God created angels in the context of time, as the Fourth Lateran Council says in its profession of faith: "We firmly believe and profess without qualification that there is only one true God [...], Creator of all things visible and invisible, spiritual and corporeal, who, by his almighty power, from the very beginning of time, has created both orders of creatures in the same way out of nothing, the spiritual or angelic world and the corporeal or visible universe. And afterwards he formed the creature man, who in a way belongs to both orders, as he is composed of spirit and matter" ("De Fide Catholica", Chap. 1).
The Son, on the other hand, proceeds from the Father eternally as light rays come constantly from the sun or as water forms one single thing with the spring from which it flows.
"These words have never been addressed to an angel," St Thomas Aquinas comments, "but to Christ alone. In them three things may be observed. First, the mode of origin, expressed in the word 'say'. It refers to a type of generation which is not of the flesh but rather of a spiritual and intellectual kind. Second, this generation has an altogether singular character, for he says, 'Thou art my Son', as if saying that although many others are called sons, being [God's] natural son is proper to Him alone; others are called sons of God because they partake of the Word of God. Third, this is not a temporal but an eternal generation" ("Commentary on Heb.", 1, 3).
The quotation from Psalm 2 is completed by Nathan's prophecy to David (2 Sam 7:14: "I will be his father, and he shall be my son"), which announces that a descendant of David will be the Messiah and will ever enjoy God's favor. But the Hebrews text also makes it much clearer that the Messiah is the Son of God in the proper sense of the word -- a son by nature, and not by adoption (cf. Lk 1:32-33). In Christ, therefore, two things combine: he is the Son of God and he is the Messiah King.
6. Here the words of Deuteronomy 32:43, identical with those of Psalm 97:7 as given in the Septuagint, are used to convey, as a divine commandment addressed to spiritual beings, a directive to adore the Son. This is a further proof of Christ's superiority: the angels are to worship him. "This adoration shows his absolute superiority over angels: it is the superiority of the master over his servants and his slaves. When Jesus Christ left the bosom of his Father to enter this world, God required his angels to worship him. This is what a monarch does when he brings some great personage into his palace and wishes to have him honored: he orders his dignitaries to bow in his presence "Hom. on Heb.", 3).
This reference to "bringing the first-born into the world" is consistently interpreted by the Fathers of the Church and by ancient writers as a reference to the Incarnation. Some authors also see this verse as referring to the second coming of Christ, when the world to come, unlike the present world, will be totally subject to the Redeemer. This interpretation connected with the end of time may explain why the text of Deuteronomy 32:43 is used: that passage is followed by reference to the last judgment by God.
Christ's human nature should be worshipped now and always by angels and men alike, for by doing so they adore Jesus, who is one person -- which is divine -- with two natures, one divine and one human; he is worshipped as one: his divinity and his humanity are worshipped at one and the same time.
This worship due to Christ over every created being is reminiscent of what St Paul says in Philippians 2:10: "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth", referring to the glorified human nature of Christ. "It is fitting that the sacred humanity of Christ should receive the homage, praise and adoration of all the hierarchies of the angels and of all the legions of the blessed in heaven" (St. J. Escriva, "Holy Rosary", Second Glorious Mystery).
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From: John 1:1-18
Prologue
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[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 anything 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.
[6] There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. [7] He came for testimony to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. [8] He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.
[9] The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. [10] He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. [11] He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. [12] But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; [13] who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
[14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the father. [15] (John bore witness to him, and cried, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.'") [16] And from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace. [17] For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. [18] No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.
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Commentary:
1-18. These verses form the prologue or introduction to the Fourth Gospel; they are a poem prefacing the account of Jesus Christ's life on earth, proclaiming and praising his divinity and eternity. Jesus is the uncreated Word, God the Only-begotten, who takes on our human condition and offers us the opportunity to become sons and daughters of God, that is, to share in God's own life in a real and supernatural way.
Right through his Gospel St John the Apostle lays special emphasis on our Lord's divinity; his existence did not begin when he became man in Mary's virginal womb: before that he existed in divine eternity as Word, one in substance with the Father and the Holy Spirit. This luminous truth helps us understand everything that Jesus says and does as reported in the Fourth Gospel.
St John's personal experience of Jesus' public ministry and his appearances after the Resurrection were the material on which he drew to contemplate God's divinity and express it as "the Word of God". By placing this poem as a prologue to his Gospel, the Apostle is giving us a key to understand the whole account which follows, in the same sort of way as the first chapters of the Gospels of St Matthew and St Luke initiate us into the contemplation of the life of Christ by telling us about the virgin birth and other episodes to do with his infancy; in structure and content, however, they are more akin to the opening passages of other NT books, such as Col 1:15-20, Eph 1:13-14 and 1 Jn 1-4.
The prologue is a magnificent hymn in praise of Christ. We do not know whether St John composed it when writing his Gospel, or whether he based it on some existing liturgical hymn; but there is no trace of any such text in other early Christian documents.
The prologue is very reminiscent of the first chapter of Genesis, on a number of scores: 1) the opening words are the same: "In the beginning..."; in the Gospel they refer to absolute beginning, that is, eternity, whereas in Genesis they mean the beginning of Creation and time; 2) there is a parallelism in the role of the Word: in Genesis, God creates things by his word ("And God said ..."); in the Gospel we are told that they were made through the Word of God; 3) in Genesis, God's work of creation reaches its peak when he creates man in his own image and likeness; in the Gospel, the work of the Incarnate Word culminates when man is raised -- by a new creation, as it were -- to the dignity of being a son of God.
The main teachings in the prologue are: 1) the divinity and eternity of the Word; 2) the Incarnation of the Word and his manifestation as man; 3) the part played by the Word in creation and in the salvation of mankind; 4) the different ways in which people react to the coming of the Lord -- some accepting him with faith, others rejecting him; 5) finally, John the Baptist bears witness to the presence of the Word in the world.
The Church has always given special importance to this prologue; many Fathers and ancient Christian writers wrote commentaries on it, and for centuries it was always read at the end of Mass for instruction and meditation.
The prologue is poetic in style. Its teaching is given in verses, which combine to make up stanzas (vv. 1-5; 6-8; 9-13; 14-18). Just as a stone dropped in a pool produces ever widening ripples, so the idea expressed in each stanza tends to be expanded in later verses while still developing the original theme. This kind of exposition was much favored in olden times because it makes it easier to get the meaning across -- and God used it to help us go deeper into the central mysteries of our faith.
1. The sacred text calls the Son of God "the Word." The following comparison may help us understand the notion of "Word": just as a person becoming conscious of himself forms an image of himself in his mind, in the same way God the Father on knowing himself begets the eternal Word. This Word of God is singular, unique; no other can exist because in him is expressed the entire essence of God. Therefore, the Gospel does not call him simply "Word", but "the Word." Three truths are affirmed regarding the Word -- that he is eternal, that he is distinct from the Father, and that he is God. ''Affirming that he existed in the beginning is equivalent to saying that he existed before all things" (St Augustine, "De Trinitate", 6, 2). Also, the text says that he was with God, that is, with the Father, which means that the person of the Word is distinct from that of the Father and yet the Word is so intimately related to the Father that he even shares his divine nature: he is one in substance with the Father (cf. "Nicean Creed").
To mark the Year of Faith (1967-1968) Pope Paul VI summed up this truth concerning the most Holy Trinity in what is called the "Creed of the People of God" (n. 11) in these words: "We believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God. He is the eternal Word, born of the Father before time began, and one in substance with the Father, "homoousios to Patri", and through him all things were made. He was incarnate of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, and was made man: equal therefore to the Father according to his divinity, and inferior to the Father according to his humanity and himself one, not by some impossible confusion of his natures, but by the unity of his person."
"In the beginning": "what this means is that he always was, and that he is eternal. [...] For if he is God, as indeed he is, there is nothing prior to him; if he is creator of all things, then he is the First; if he is Lord of all, then everything comes after him -- created things and time" (St John Chrysostom, "Hom. on St John", 2, 4).
3. After showing that the Word is in the bosom of the Father, the prologue goes on to deal with his relationship to created things. Already in the Old Testament the Word of God is shown as a creative power (cf. Is 55:10-11), as Wisdom present at the creation of the world (cf. Prov 8:22-26). Now Revelation is extended: we are shown that creation was caused by the Word; this does not mean that the Word is an instrument subordinate and inferior to the Father: he is an active principle along with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The work of creation is an activity common to the three divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity: "the Father generating, the Son being born, the Holy Spirit proceeding; consubstantial, coequal, co-omnipotent and co-eternal; one origin of all things: the creator of all things visible and invisible, spiritual and corporal." (Fourth Lateran Council, "De Fide Catholica", Dz-Sch, 800). From this can be deduced, among other things, the hand of the Trinity in the work of creation and, therefore, the fact that all created things are basically good.
4. The prologue now goes on to expound two basic truths about the Word – that he is Life and that he is Light. The Life referred to here is divine life, the primary source of all life, natural and supernatural. And that Life is the light of men, for from God we receive the light of reason, the light of truth and the light of glory, which are a participation in God's mind. Only a rational creature is capable of having knowledge of God in this world and of later contemplating him joyfully in heaven for all eternity. Also the Life (the Word) is the light of men because he brings them out of the darkness of sin and error (cf. Is 8:23; 9:1-2; Mt 4:15-16; Lk 1:74). Later on Jesus will say: "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (Jn 8:12; cf. 12:46).
Vv. 3 and 4 can be read with another punctuation, now generally abandoned but which had its supporters in ancient times: "All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made; in so far as anything was made in him, he was the life and the life was the light of men." This reading would suggest that everything that has been created is life in the Word, that is, that all things receive their being and activity, their life, through the Word: without him they cannot possibly exist.
5. "And the darkness has not overcome it": the original Greek verb, given in Latin as "comprehenderunt", means to embrace or contain as if putting one's arms around it -- an action which can be done with good dispositions (a friendly embrace) or with hostility (the action of smothering or crushing someone). So there are two possible translations: the former is that given in the Navarre Spanish, the latter that in the RSV. The RSV option would indicate that Christ and the Gospel continue to shine among men despite the world's opposition, indeed overcoming "it", as Jesus later says: "Be of good cheer: I have overcome the world" (Jn 16:33; cf. 12:31; 1 Jn 5:4). Either way, the verse expresses the darkness' resistance to, repugnance for, the light. As his Gospel proceeds, St John explains further about the light and darkness: soon, in vv. 9-11, he refers to the struggle between them; later he will describe evil and the powers of the evil one, as a darkness enveloping man's mind and preventing him from knowing God (cf. Jn 12:15-46; 1 Jn 5:6).
St Augustine ("In Ioann. Evang.", 1, 19) comments on this passage as follows: "But, it may be, the dull hearts of some cannot yet receive this light. Their sins weigh them down, and they cannot discern it. Let them not think, however, that, because they cannot discern it, therefore it is not present with them. For they themselves, because of their sins, are darkness. Just as if you place a blind person in the sunshine, although the sun is present to him, yet he is absent from the sun; in the same way, every foolish man, every unrighteous man, every ungodly man, is blind in heart. [...] What course then ought such a one to take? Let him cleanse the eyes of his heart, that he may be able to see God. He will see Wisdom, for God is Wisdom itself, and it is written: 'Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.'" There is no doubt that sin obscures man's spiritual vision, rendering him unable to see and enjoy the things of God.
6-8. After considering the divinity of the Lord, the text moves on to deal with his incarnation, and begins by speaking of John the Baptist, who makes his appearance at a precise point in history to bear direct witness before man to Jesus Christ (Jn 1:15, 19-36; 3:22ff). As St Augustine comments: "For as much as he [the Word Incarnate] was man and his Godhead was concealed, there was sent before him a great man, through whose testimony He might be found to be more than man" ("In Ioann. Evang.", 2, 5).
All of the Old Testament was a preparation for the coming of Christ. Thus, the patriarchs and prophets announced, in different ways, the salvation the Messiah would bring. But John the Baptist, the greatest of those born of woman (cf. Mt 11:11), was actually able to point out the Messiah himself; his testimony marked the culmination of all the previous prophecies.
So important is John the Baptist's mission to bear witness to Jesus Christ that the Synoptic Gospels stage their account of the public ministry with John's testimony. The discourses of St Peter and St Paul recorded in the Acts of the Apostles also refer to this testimony (Acts 1:22; 10:37; 12:24). The Fourth Gospel mentions it as many as seven times (1:6, 15, 19, 29, 35; 3:27; 5:33). We know, of course, that St John the Apostle was a disciple of the Baptist before becoming a disciple of Jesus, and that it was precisely the Baptist who showed him the way to Christ (cf. 1 :37ff).
The New Testament, then, shows us the importance of the Baptist's mission, as also his own awareness that he is merely the immediate Precursor of the Messiah, whose sandals he is unworthy to untie (cf. Mk 1:7): the Baptist stresses his role as witness to Christ and his mission as preparer of the way for the Messiah (cf. Lk 1:15-17; Mt 3: 3-12). John the Baptist's testimony is undiminished by time: he invites people in every generation to have faith in Jesus, the true Light.
9. "The true light..." [The Spanish translation of this verse is along these lines: "It was the true light that enlightens every man who comes into the world."] The Fathers, early translations and most modern commentators see "the Word" as being the subject of this sentence, which could therefore be translated as "the Word was the true light that enlightens every man who comes into the world...". Another interpretation favored by many modern scholars makes "the light" the subject, in which case it would read "the true light existed, which enlightens...". Either way, the meaning is much the same.
"Coming into the world": it is not clear in the Greek whether these words refer to "the light", or to "every man". In the first case it is the Light (the Word) that is coming into this world to enlighten all men; in the second it is the men who, on coming into this world, on being born, are enlightened by the Word; the RSV and the new Vulgate opt for the first interpretation.
The Word is called "the true light" because he is the original light from which every other light or revelation of God derives. By the Word's coming, the world is fully lit up by the authentic Light. The prophets and all the other messengers of God, including John the Baptist, were not the true light but his reflection, attesting to the Light of the Word.
Apropos the fullness of light which the Word is, St John Chrysostom asks: "If he enlightens every man who comes into the world, how is it that so many have remained unenlightened? For not all, to be sure, have recognized the high dignity of Christ. How, then, does he enlighten every man? As much as he is permitted to do so. But if some, deliberately closing the eyes of their minds, do not wish to receive the beams of this light, darkness is theirs. This is not because of the nature of the light, but is a result of the wickedness of men who deliberately deprive themselves of the gift of grace (Hom. on St. John, 8, 1).
10. The Word is in this world as the maker who controls what he has made (cf. St Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang.", 2, 10). In St John's Gospel the term "world" means "all creation, all created things (including all mankind)": thus, Christ came to save all mankind: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him" (Jn 3:16-17). But insofar as many people have rejected the Light, that is, rejected Christ, "world" also means everything opposed to God (cf. Jn 17:14-15). Blinded by their sins, men do not recognize in the world the hand of the Creator (cf. Rom 1:18-20; Wis 13:1-15): "they become attached to the world and relish only the things that are of the world" (St John Chrysostom, "Hom. on St John", 7). But the Word, "the true light", comes to show us the truth about the world (cf. Jn 1:3; 18:37) and to save us.
11. "His own home, his own people": this means, in the first place, the Jewish people, who were chosen by God as his own personal "property", to be the people from whom Christ would be born. It can also mean all mankind, for mankind is also his: he created it and his work of redemption extends to everyone. So the reproach that they did not receive the Word made man should be understood as addressed not only to the Jews but to all those who rejected God despite his calling them to be his friends: "Christ came; but by a mysterious and terrible misfortune, not everyone accepted him. [...] It is the picture of humanity before us today, after twenty centuries of Christianity. How did this happen? What shall we say? We do not claim to fathom a reality immersed in mysteries that transcend us -- the mystery of good and evil. But we can recall that the economy of Christ, for its light to spread, requires a subordinate but necessary cooperation on the part of man -- the cooperation of evangelization, of the apostolic and missionary Church. If there is still work to be done, it is all the more necessary for everyone to help her" (Paul VI, General Audience, 4 December 1974).
12. Receiving the Word means accepting him through faith, for it is through faith that Christ dwells in our hearts (cf. Eph 3:17). Believing in his name means believing in his Person, in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. In other words, "those who believe in his name are those who fully hold the name of Christ, not in any way lessening his divinity or his humanity" (St Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on St John, in loc.").
"He gave power [to them]" is the same as saying "he gave them a free gift" -- sanctifying grace -- "because it is not in our power to make ourselves sons of God" ("ibid."). This gift is extended through Baptism to everyone, whatever his race, age, education etc. (cf. Acts 10:45; Gal 3:28). The only condition is that we have faith.
"The Son of God became man", St Athanasius explains, "in order that the sons of men, the sons of Adam, might become sons of God. [...] He is the Son of God by nature; we, by grace" ("De Incarnatione Contra Arrianos"). What is referred to here is birth to supernatural life: in which "Whether they be slaves or freemen, whether Greeks or barbarians or Scythians, foolish or wise, female or male, children or old men, honorable or without honor, rich or poor, rulers or private citizens, all, he meant, would merit the same honor. [...] Such is the power of faith in him; such the greatness of his grace" (St John Chrysostom, "Hom. on St John", 10, 2).
"Christ's union with man is power and the source of power, as St John stated so incisively in the prologue of his Gospel: '(The Word) gave power to become children of God.' Man is transformed inwardly by this power as the source of a new life that does not disappear and pass away but lasts to eternal life (cf. Jn 4:14)" (John Paul II, "Redemptor Hominis", 18).
13. The birth spoken about here is a real, spiritual type of generation which is effected in Baptism (cf. 3:6ff). Instead of the plural adopted here, referring to the supernatural birth of men, some Fathers and early translations read it in the singular: "who was born, not of blood...but of God", in which case the text would refer to the eternal generation of the Word and to Jesus' generation through the Holy Spirit in the pure womb of the Virgin Mary. Although the second reading is very attractive, the documents (Greek manuscripts, early translations, references in the works of ecclesiastical writers, etc.) show the plural text to be the more usual, and the one that prevailed from the fourth century forward. Besides, in St John's writings we frequently find reference to believers as being born of God (cf. Jn 3:3-6; 1 Jn 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18).
The contrast between man's natural birth (by blood and the will of man) and his supernatural birth (which comes from God) shows that those who believe in Jesus Christ are made children of God not only by their creation but above all by the free gift of faith and grace.
14. This is a text central to the mystery of Christ. It expresses in a very condensed form the unfathomable fact of the incarnation of the Son of God. "When the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman" (Gal 4:4).
The word "flesh" means man in his totality (cf. Jn 3:6; 17:2; Gen 6:3; Ps 56:5); so the sentence "the Word became flesh" means the same as "the Word became man." The theological term "incarnation" arose mainly out of this text. The noun "flesh" carries a great deal of force against heresies which deny that Christ is truly man. The word also accentuates that our Savior, who dwelt among us and shared our nature, was capable of suffering and dying, and it evokes the "Book of the Consolation of Israel" (Is 40:1-11), where the fragility of the flesh is contrasted with the permanence of the Word of God: "The grass withers, the flower fades; but the Word of our God will stand for ever" (Is 40:8). This does not mean that the Word's taking on human nature is something precarious and temporary.
"And dwelt among us": the Greek verb which St John uses originally means "to pitch one's tent", hence, to live in a place. The careful reader of Scripture will immediately think of the tabernacle, or tent, in the period of the exodus from Egypt, where God showed his presence before all the people of Israel through certain sights of his glory such as the cloud covering the tent (cf., for example, Ex 25:8; 40:34-35). In many passages of the Old Testament it is announced that God "will dwell in the midst of the people" (cf., for example, Jer 7:3; Ezek 43:9; Sir 24:8). These signs of God's presence, first in the pilgrim tent of the Ark in the desert and then in the temple of Jerusalem, are followed by the most wonderful form of God's presence among us -- Jesus Christ, perfect God and perfect Man, in whom the ancient promise is fulfilled in a way that far exceeded men's greatest expectations. Also the promise made through Isaiah about the "Immanuel" or "God-with-us" (Is 7:14; cf. Mt 1:23) is comple- tely fulfilled through this dwelling of the Incarnate Son of God among us. There- fore, when we devoutly read these words of the Gospel "and dwelt among us" or pray them during the Angelus, we have a good opportunity to make an act of deep faith and gratitude and to adore our Lord's most holy human nature.
"Remembering that 'the Word became flesh', that is, that the Son of God became man, we must become conscious of how great each man has become through this mystery, through the Incarnation of the Son of God! Christ, in fact, was conceived in the womb of Mary and became man to reveal the eternal love of the Creator and Father and to make known the dignity of each one of us" (John Paul II, "Angelus Address" at Jasna Gora Shrine, 5 June 1979).
Although the Word's self-emptying by assuming a human nature concealed in some way his divine nature, of which he never divested himself, the Apostles did see the glory of his divinity through his human nature: it was revealed in the transfiguration (Lk 9:32-35), in his miracles (Jn 2:11; 11:40), and especially in his resurrection (cf. Jn 3:11; 1 Jn 1:1) The glory of God, which shone out in the early tabernacle in the desert and in the temple at Jerusalem, was nothing but an imperfect anticipation of the reality of God's glory revealed through the holy human nature of the Only-begotten of the Father. St John the Apostle speaks in a very formal way in the first person plural: "we have beheld his glory", because he counts himself among the witnesses who lived with Christ and, in particular, were present at his transfiguration and saw the glory of his resurrection.
The words "only Son" ("Only-begotten") convey very well the eternal and unique generation of the Word by the Father. The first three Gospels stressed Christ's birth in time; St John complements this by emphasizing his eternal generation.
The words "grace and truth" are synonyms of "goodness and fidelity", two attributes which, in the Old Testament, are constantly applied to Yahweh (cf., e.g., Ex 34:6; Ps 117; Ps 136; Osee 2:16-22): so, grace is the expression of God's love for men, the way he expresses his goodness and mercy. Truth implies permanence, loyalty, constancy, fidelity. Jesus, who is the Word of God made man, that is, God himself, is therefore "the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth"; he is the "merciful and faithful high priest" (Heb 2:17). These two qualities, being good and faithful, are a kind of compendium or summary of Christ's greatness. And they also parallel, though on an infinitely lower level, the quality essential to every Christian, as stated expressly by our Lord when he praised the "good and faithful servant" (Mt 25:21).
As Chrysostom explains: "Having declared that they who received him were 'born of God' and 'become sons of God,' he then set forth the cause and reason for this ineffable honor. It is that 'the Word became flesh' and the Master took on the form of a slave. He became the Son of Man, though he was the true Son of God, in order that he might make the sons of men children of God ("Hom. on St John", 11,1).
The profound mystery of Christ was solemnly defined by the Church's Magisterium in the famous text of the ecumenical council of Chalcedon (in the year 451): "Following the holy Fathers, therefore, we all with one accord teach the profession of faith in the one identical Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We declare that he is perfect both in his divinity and in his humanity, truly God and truly man, composed of body and rational soul; that he is consubstantial with the Father in his divinity, consubstantial with us in his humanity, like us in every respect except for sin (cf. Heb 4:15). we declare that in his divinity he was begotten in this last age of Mary the Virgin, the Mother of God, for us and for our salvation" (Dz-Sch, n. 301).
15. Further on (On Jn 1:19-36) the Gospel tells us more about John the Baptist's mission as a witness to the messiahship and divinity of Jesus. Just as God planned that the Apostles should bear witness to Jesus after the resurrection, so he planned that the Baptist would be the witness chosen to proclaim Jesus at the very outset of his public ministry (cf. note on Jn 1:6-8).
16 "Grace upon grace": this can be understood, as it was by Chrysostom and other Fathers, as "grace for grace", the Old Testament economy of salvation giving way to the new economy of grace brought by Christ. It can also mean (as the RSV suggests) that Jesus brings a superabundance of gifts, adding on, to existing graces, others -- all of which pour out of the one inexhaustible source, Christ, who is for ever full of grace. "Not by sharing with us, says the Evangelist, does Christ possess the gift, but he himself is both fountain and root of all virtues. He himself is life, and light, and truth, not keeping within himself the wealth of these blessings, but pouring it forth upon all others, and even after the outpouring still remaining full. He suffers loss in no way by giving his wealth to others, but, while always pouring out and sharing these virtues with all men, he remains in the same state of perfection" (St John Chrysostom, "Hom. on St John", 14, 1).
17. Here, for the first time in St John's Gospel, the name of Jesus Christ appears, identified with the Word of whom John has been speaking.
Whereas the Law given by Moses went no further than indicate the way man ought follow (cf. Rom 8:7-10), the grace brought by Jesus has the power to save those who receive it (cf. Rom 7:25). Through grace "we have become dear to God, no longer merely as servants, but as sons and friends" (Chrysostom, "Hom. on St John", 14, 2).
On "grace and truth" see note on Jn 1:14.
18. "No one has ever seen God": in this world men have never seen God other than indirectly: all that they could contemplate was God's "glory", that is the aura of his greatness: for example, Moses saw the burning bush (Ex 3:6); Elijah felt the breeze on Mount Horeb -- the "still small voice" (RSV) -- (1 Kings 19: 11-13). But in the fullness of time God comes much closer to man and reveals himself almost directly, for Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God (cf. Col 1:15), the maximum revelation of God in this world, to such an extent that he assures us that "he who has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn 14:9). "The most intimate truth which this revelation gives us about God and the salvation of man shines forth in Christ, who is himself both the mediator and the sum total of Revelation" (Vatican II, "Dei Verbum", 2).
There is no greater revelation God could make of himself than the incarnation of his eternal Word. As St John of the Cross puts it so well: "In giving to us, as he has done, his Son, who is his only Word, he has spoken to us once and for all by his own and only Word, and has nothing further to reveal" ("Ascent of Mount Carmel", Book II, chap. 22).
"The only Son": the RSV note says that "other ancient authorities read "God" (for Son); the Navarre Spanish has "the Only-begotten God" and comments as follows: some Greek manuscripts and some translations give "the Only-begotten Son" or "the Only-begotten". "The Only-begotten God" is preferable because it finds best support in the codices. Besides, although the meaning does not change substantially, this translation has a richer content because it again explicitly reveals Christ's divinity.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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