Bible Study – First Sunday After Christmas – The
Word Became Flesh
Share: Your highs (something that made you happy) and lows (something that made you sad) this week with others around you or write them down.
The Gospels appointed for these two Sundays after Christmas offer a fitting conclusion to Advent’s mystery of “both/and” time. The first Sunday is from John’s Gospel a mystery-laced view of the divinity of Jesus, “The Word became flesh and lived among us.” The second Sunday is a very human story of the little boy Jesus. Just as Jesus was both human and divine, we also balance two worlds: the world in which we do our day to day tasks -- a world mostly unaware of its true potential -- and our life in Christ: "from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace." (John 1:16)
Here we have Salvation history in a nutshell. In the beginning was the "Word." Word as verb: moving, creating, redeeming. Word: creating since the beginning, now here as an infant. The prophets proclaimed this would happen, right through to the last of the prophets: John the Baptist. We have the law, thanks to Moses. Now we receive grace and truth through Jesus, the only Son. He is the Light; the Light that no darkness can extinguish dawns on. Now we are invited to decide who is this child for us?
John, the writer of the Gospel, is saying that Jesus has been since the very beginning with God, and all things come through God and through Jesus. Verses 6-8 describe John the Baptist who was sent to get people ready for the Light that was Jesus. Even though John the Baptist clearly understood who Jesus was, his own people to whom Jesus came, did not understand who he was. “The Word became flesh” is our way of saying that Jesus came among us as an infant taking on a body just like ours. Jesus came to pour out on us all the grace and truth available to him. We simply need to accept it. No one has seen God. But now the world has seen Jesus, so they have also seen God.
Have you ever been in the position of knowing something was true, being sure you had your facts, and the person you were talking to simply did not believe you. Can you think of something you know is true, but you are not confident you know how it works. (For example, the Internet, for cell phones, or more natural phenomenon like lightning or the northern lights.)
Opening Prayer: Light-filled God, thank you for the words we have today to help us think about who this Jesus really is in every possible way. Amen.
Please open your Bibles to John 1: 1-18 and read or read the scriptures below.
John 1:1-8
The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and[b] is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
Questions:
- Parts of this Gospel are talking about John and parts are talking about Jesus. Find the parts that are talking about John the Baptist. (Verses 6-8 describe John, Verse 15 is a quote from John)
- Which parts talk about Jesus? What phrases are about Jesus?
- Notice the words that might be different descriptions of Jesus. (Word, true light, Word became flesh, grace and truth, for example).
- Which parts did you understand?
- Which parts were not clear?
Click here for the young learner’s lesson
Videos (Click on url)
The Walk of God – John 1:1-18: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgJAe2femsc
Gospel of John Summary: A Complete Animated Overview (Part 1) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-2e9mMf7E8
Song: Light light of the world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRJ4qfaJG4A
Activities:
Translation: Can you translate these passages so friends can understand it. It is okay to use slang words, as long as you are sure your friends will understand. Write out John 1:1-18 in your own words.
You could also read from another Bible such as “The Message” or “The Common English Bible” to get a different reading of the passage to get some ideas. Following is John 1:1-18 from the Message Bible:
The Life-Light
1 1-2 The Word was first,
the Word present to God,
God present to the Word.
The Word was God,
in readiness for God from day one.
3-5 Everything was created through him;
nothing—not one thing!—
came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn’t put it out.
6-8 There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light.
9-13 The Life-Light was the real thing:
Every person entering Life
he brings into Light.
He was in the world,
the world was there through him,
and yet the world didn’t even notice.
He came to his own people,
but they didn’t want him.
But whoever did want him,
who believed he was who he claimed
and would do what he said,
He made to be their true selves,
their child-of-God selves.
These are the God-begotten,
not blood-begotten,
not flesh-begotten,
not sex-begotten.
14 The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
the one-of-a-kind glory,
like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
true from start to finish.
15 John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.”
16-18 We all live off his generous abundance,
gift after gift after gift.
We got the basics from Moses,
and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
This endless knowing and understanding—
all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
No one has ever seen God,
not so much as a glimpse.
This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
who exists at the very heart of the Father,
has made him plain as day.
Candle In Beans: You will need an empty baby food jar (or some other similar container). Place various beans that you have such as dried split peas, navy beans, lentils etc. in the jar. Use a craft stick to stir some white glue into the jars of beans and place a red candle in the middle of the jar of beans. Hold the candle for a few minutes so that the glue and candle can “set up”. Take a small piece of construction paper and write “JESUS IS THE TRUE LIGHT” on the paper and then tape it around the outside edge of the baby food jar.
Is Christmas Over - Crossword: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/is-christmas-over
Is Christmas Over – Fill in the Blank: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/is-christmas-over-2
Is Christmas Over – Missing Words: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/is-christmas-over-missing
Is Christmas Over - Word Search: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/is-christmas-over-3
Is Christmas Over – Decoder: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/is-christmas-over-1
Light of The World – Cryptogram: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/light-of-the-world-1
Light of The World – Multiple Choice: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/light-of-the-world-2
Prayer: Thank you, God, for the beautiful words in today's scripture and for the words we found today to make them easier to understand. Be with us as we continue to live into the Christmas Season, celebrating Jesus who always has been. Amen.
