THE WORD BECAME FLESH

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

The very first sentence of the Gospel Reading (John 1:1-18) summarizes the eternal status of the logos (the word) who is Jesus Christ. This means that the Christ born in our midst has been right from the beginning. There was no time he was not. However, His advent into the world marks the end of the beginning of the definite plan of God towards the redemption of humans. This is why the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews (cf. Second Reading; Heb. 1:1-6) could say that Christ, the Son of God is the last prophet of the last days who the Father sent to finally speak to us. God has spoken to us through His Son in these last days as the completion and fulfilment of all the prophets and prophecies of old. God’s manifestation of Himself to the people has progressive stages which has its highest point in Christ. Hence, Christ, the Word became flesh is the highest of all revelations.  

It is John’s great idea that Jesus is none other than God’s creative, life-giving and light-giving word; the power with which the world was created and the reason for which the world is sustained. The sentence in the beginning was the word can be placed side by side with the very first sentence in the Bible: in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Gen1:1). By using the same formula (in the beginning) as of the first sentence of the Bible, John tries to make us understand that the Word was not part of the created things. The word possesses the character of eternity. This Word which is uncreated never existed apart from God. The Word was with God. There was never a time when the Word separated Himself from God. And if there can be any person to tell us about and to lead us to the Father, that one person is Jesus the Christ who has never lived a life apart from the Father. The Word was God. This same Word that never was separated from God has every attribute that God has, in such a manner that anywhere and at all times, He is God. Thus, Jesus is so perfectly identical with God. In Him, we perfectly see what God is like. To have seen Jesus is to have seen the Father. When Jesus works, it is the Father that works (cf. John 14:10-12). And because Jesus is everything as the Father, He is a Creator.

What does this mean? By the word of mouth, the universe was created according to the Genesis account of creation. The powerful Word that brought forth material creation is the same that was made flesh. In creation, the spoken word made all things. In Incarnation, the Word made itself the product of itself. This signifies that the omnipotence of the Word reached its highest level in the Incarnation. He does not only end in giving life and flesh to nothingness (I.e, creation), He became flesh like that which he created, in order to redeem what He has created. In natural science, we have seen how gases can turn into liquid (i.e condensation) and from liquid into solid (I.e freezing). We can actually employ this physical change to understand this eternal mystery of how the word can be made flesh. We know how temperature can have some effects on the state of a substance. At high temperature, substances boil and change their states into gases. But as temperature lowers, the momentum of the particles reduces and the particles begin to slow down. As they slow down, they begin to come together and stick to one another. Hence, a liquid is formed. This process is called condensation. When the temperature is lowered more, the particles stick more to one another to form a solid. This process becomes freezing. If we then consider the word of our mouth to be gaseous, then we can imagine that they too can be made solid through this process.

A practical instance would be the experience of seeing our breadths at low temperatures. In actual fact, nothing has changed about the way we speak. What changes is that the movement of the gases let out by our words has been made to slow down as a result of the low temperature, making them visible as vapour, and furthermore can become solid when all the more acted upon by lower temperatures. Does this not mean that the gases from the words of our mouth and the breadth of our nostrils can be made solid? Then, how about God? Yes, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. God’s word made the world. God’s word was made flesh in Jesus Christ. The word is so powerful. The Lord sends out His word and it melts every hardened structure (Ps. 147:18). With this omnipotence that lies in His mouth, the Lord made man, and breathed into him (cf. Gen 2:7).The word of the Lord also guides and protects us. Psalm 119:105 unequivocally stated that the word of the Lord is a lamp for our feet and a light for our paths. Proverb 30:5 states: every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Hence, the word made flesh is pure and was actually made flesh to direct us, guide us and protect us.

From this physical changes, we can grasp the spiritual changes that lies hidden in our words. Many people have failed to understand the power that lies in the words of our mouths. The human being is the image of God, and so his/her word has powers too. We need only to be conscious of this as we ask ourselves: How many times have we uttered bad words with our mouths? How many times have we cursed people with our mouths? Being conscious of this can really help us to control the words of your mouth. The very best we can do is to utter words of blessings to people. Remember that the word made flesh is a blessing to all of us. Jesus is the best thing that ever happened to humanity. The Word made flesh who is born for humanity today has come to show us the way and protect us as we journey towards the light.

It is the visibility of this word made flesh that we celebrate this Christmas season. Christmas is the feast of merciful love. The love of God was made palpable through the nativity of Him who as son is God. We must imitate our Lord by loving God as He loves us and loving our neighbours as ourselves. Let their be joy in the air, let us rejoice in the birth of Christ. And in the spirit of the joy at our redemption of the First Reading (Isaiah 52:7-10) and borrowing some leaves from Adolphe Adam in the famous Christmas song: O Holy Night, we cannot but say: Yes, the weary world rejoices, because his law is love and his gospel is peace. With his birth, chains shall be broken and all oppression shall cease. Let us be joyful for Christ is the Lord. We shall continue to proclaim his power and glory. It is Christmas. Happy Christmas. God bless you.