Page 16 - Life of Christ w videos

The Word becomes Flesh (John 1: 1-14)

John’s Gospel begins with establishing the identity of Jesus Christ as the divine “Word” or as
expressed in the Greek language, the logos. In the Greek mind, the word logos meant universal
“Reason”, or the force behind establishing and maintaining the universe. The Greeks, reading
these verses, understood John as proclaiming Jesus as the principle or “Reason” behind the
universe.

The Jewish mind associated logos with divine “Wisdom” which they also identified with God’s Law, the
Torah. In their mind, they brought various ideas together: that God created all things and that the logos
or Word was life and light and that “Wisdom” was a manifestation of who God is. Logos literally means
“the expression of God” or “all of what God is”.

John declares that this Word became flesh and dwelt among the people. To the Greek mind, logos was
“invisible reason”; to the Jewish mind, logos was a divine attribute of Yahweh. What John is declaring is
that divinity became humanity in the person of Jesus Christ. “Full of grace and truth” was a declaration
that the Word possessed the full character of God. He was Immanuel – God with us.

Colossians 2:9For in him (Jesus) the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily…

Colossians 1: 15-17He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn (preeminent one) of all

creation. For byhim all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
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whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for
him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
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Hebrews 1: 3 He (Jesus) is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he
upholds the universe by the word of his power.

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Philippians 2: 5-7 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was
in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by
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taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Angelic Announcement of John the Baptist (Luke 1:1-25 and 1:57-80)

It had been 400 years since the last prophet spoke on behalf of God. When the time was ordained by
God to send the Messiah, God broke into history once again to announce the coming of a child who
would become the precursor to the Messiah; to prepare the way by introducing the Lamb of God. This
incident is only told in the gospel of Luke.

Summary of Event Zacharias was a Levite who burned incense in the Holy Place in the temple
generally only once per year for a week. About a thousand years earlier, King David had organized the
Levitical priesthood into 24 “courses” or “divisions”. As explained in 1 Chronicles 24 and more
specifically in verses 3, 10 and 19, there was an abundance of priests to serve in the various
temple functions.

Not wanting any to be left out of serving, David's solution was to divide the priests into 24 courses. Each
priest would then serve for a specified week-long term twice during the year, plus the three festival

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