APRIL 25, 2014
Fearful
Fish
Read: John
1:6-14
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. —John 1:14
Managing a saltwater
aquarium, I discovered, is no easy task. I had to run a portable chemical
laboratory to monitor nitrate levels and ammonia content. I pumped in vitamins
and antibiotics and sulfa drugs and enzymes. I filtered the water through glass
fibers and charcoal.
You would think my
fish would be grateful. Not so. When my shadow loomed above the tank to feed
them, they dove for cover into the nearest shell. I was too large for them; my
actions incomprehensible. They did not know that my acts were merciful. To
change their perceptions would require a form of incarnation. I would have to
become a fish and “speak” to them in a language they could understand, which
was impossible for me to do.
According to the
scriptures, God, the Creator of the universe, did something that seems impossible.
He came to earth in human form as a baby. “The world was made through Him,”
says John, “and the world did not know Him” (John 1:10). So God, who created
matter, took shape within it, as a playwright might become a character within
his own play. God wrote a story, using real characters, on the pages of real
history. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (v.14).
All praise to Thee,
eternal Lord,
Clothed in a garb of
flesh and blood;
Choosing a manger for
a throne,
While worlds on worlds
are Thine alone. —Luther
God entered human
history to offer us the gift of eternal life.
Insight
As the “messenger”
(Isa. 40:3; Mal. 3:1; Mark 1:2-3), John the Baptist’s ministry was to introduce
Jesus to the world and “to bear witness of the Light” (John 1:7). John
presented Jesus as the Logos, the self-existent, preexistent, omnipotent,
eternal, Creator God who spoke everything into existence, giving light and life
to His creation (vv.4-5). He also presented Jesus as God incarnate (vv.9-14).
Jesus added humanity to His deity, becoming one Person with two
natures—perfectly human and yet perfectly divine (Phil. 2:6-8). He came to give
“light to every man” so that we don’t need to live in sin’s darkness (John 1:9)
and to give new life to those who believe so that we can live as God’s children
(vv.12-13).
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
