Last week we looked at the very first verses of the Gospel of John and saw that John went way back before the birth stories, back before any genealogy that might take us back to Abraham and even before Adam.

John opens his gospel the way the Bible itself opens: “In the beginning”. But rather than go forward from the beginning with the creation story, he goes backwards from the beginning to before the beginning, introducing us to the Word who was in the beginning. He was before the beginning, He was with God, He was God. And He was creator.

And then we saw two great words that describe the Word who was: light and life.

The prologue to John’s Gospel has two stories about the birth of Jesus. Neither one of them has a baby or a manger or wise men or shepherds or angels.

John’s birth stories are that light and life came to live in the world. Light and life arrived on our planet.

But before light arrived, he was preceded by a witness, a testifier. And when the true light arrived, light demanded a response. Some did not recognize and some received.

Light always demands a response. We must reject or receive. Neutrality is rejection. Those who receive the Light receive an amazing gift: a new life in God’s family.