Week 18 Devo – MONDAY

Christmas: The Word Made Flesh

With the first portion of John’s prologue speaking about the Word’s eternal divinity and cosmic activity, why is the middle portion concerned with John the Baptist (vv. 6-9)?

The Old Testament pointed forward to a messenger whom God would send to prepare the way for the Messiah. In Isaiah 40:3, a voice is described as crying out, “Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.” In Malachi 3:1, “See, I am going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way before me.” John the Baptist was not the light, but he pointed to the light—to Jesus, the eternal Word, the One who shines life-giving light to humanity. The forerunner himself therefore testified that Jesus is the Messiah who was and is the eternal Word.

This Christmas, let’s make sure we don’t lose sight of the staggering significance of the incarnation. John the Baptist, the last in line of the old-covenant prophets, prepared people for the coming of the Messiah who was also God. The true light indeed was coming into the world.

Why is it overwhelming to consider the cosmic breadth of the Word’s activity?