GLORY
In the Prologue of John’s Gospel we find the themes of Life, Light, Love and Glory poetically woven together. It’s hard to separate one from the other. As the Gospel unfolds John shows us that Christ’s glory is revealed through the ‘signs’ (miracles) he performs. Glory is as much about doing as it is about being.
We can follow the theme of glory through salvation history. It is there in an implicit form in Genesis in God’s creative acts and the refrain that God sees that is ‘good’ and ‘very good’. That we are made in God’s image means that we are created to bear and reflect that glory. In Advent our focus sharpens and we hear through the prophecies of Isaiah how God’s glory is revealed. God promises Judah a glorious return, with every mountain laid low and every valley exalted. The Israelites are caught up in the glory of God’s saving actions.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we saw his GLORY, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
This is a touchstone text of our faith. However our path has been shaped, whichever spirituality has drawn and shaped us, we are invited to be open to God’s glory and live lives that reflect it.
Can you name people in your own life who reflect God’s glory?
Thank God for them.
(John 1:1-18, Christmas Day)