The Christmas Story in John

John 1: 1 – 14 (NIV): 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 were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John says Jesus was the “Word”. In the Greek, this is the word “logos”. This is where we get the term “logo”, a business symbol that represents it. Jesus, then, is the “face” of God – the person in the Trinity that we can see and experience with our senses. He is the essence of God. (Paul also says this in Colossians 1:15). What does God look like? Jesus.

John says Jesus was with God and was God. He is the second person in the Trinity. He is the creator of all things.

John's good news is that God became one of us. He became flesh. He had a body. He was born. John says he “made his dwelling among us” – in the Greek, he “tabernacled” with us. This is the only Christmas mention we find in John, but I believe it tells us something Luke and Matthew leave out – when Jesus was born – during the Feast of Tabernacles. John reminds us that he didn't just hear about Jesus, he walked with him, heard him speak, touched him with his hands, and saw him day after day.

John says everyone who believes in Jesus' name is given the right to become one of God's children. To be born again. The message of Christmas is that God became one of us and gives eternal life to all who believe.