The Prologue [Christmas I]
The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson
John 1:1-18
The Prologue
According to author Kristen Lamb,
there are two, and only two, good reasons to include a prologue at the
beginning of one's novel. I should tell
you, she has a much longer list of reasons to not include one, but the “pros”
list is rather short. And I take this
list seriously because she has multiple award graphics posted in the right-hand
margin of her blog, including a “2013 Top Ten blogs for writers award”
from, I assume, an organization that
ranks blogs. And also, she is wearing a
viking hat in her picture, so...
She writes that “Prologues can be
used to resolve a time gap with information critical to the story” or “...if
there is a critical element in the backstory relevant to the plot.”[1]
Today we are talking prologues –
specifically the prologue that begins the Gospel of John, those eighteen verses
that open the Fourth Gospel. You know
the one; it begins, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.” Also, we just
read it.
So let's consider, does this meet
the blogger's criteria? First, does
John's prologue “resolve a time gap with information critical to the
story”? Well, there is certainly a time
gap. John begins before there is time. Things happened between his starting point
and the birth of Jesus – things like, well, all of the things. It is difficult to resolve that kind of time
gap – especially in the span of a few verses – but the prologue does address
the history of the Divine Word. John
tells us that Christ was active long before the Incarnation – active before
there was even time. But also active in
the in-between time. All things came
into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. Before he was born, he was birthing all things.
John's prologue resolves the 'time
gap”. It sets the Gospel in the context
God's on-going Creation story, the oldest story of all. God has been actively making a world since
before there was time. God's master plan
is still unfolding – now most profoundly in the person of Jesus, God's eternal
Word made flesh. This is the same Divine
work that started with the first words of the book of Genesis, which read, no
coincidence, “In the beginning...” - the very same phrase that begins John's
sweeping prologue.
And then the second question: “Is
there a critical element in the backstory relevant to the plot?” Biblical scholar Francis Moloney writes,
“[The Prologue] informs the reader that Jesus Christ is the incarnation of the
preexistent Word and that life, light, and divine filiation flow from an
acceptance of the story of the unseen God revealed by the incarnate Word. This story perfects the former gift of the
Law given through Moses. However, this
theology and christology have only been affirmed.
The reader has been told who Jesus is and what he has done, but an important question remains unanswered: how did this action of God in the human
story take place?”[2] The Prologue answers the who and the what;
the rest of John's Gospel is the how.
And so the answer is “yes”. The
prologue provides the mysterious backstory of this mysterious healer, teacher,
prophet, savior. Jesus is much more than
just an historical person. We know that
because of the prologue; it is the Jesus backstory; it is everything that just
below the surface.
So, John has successfully crafted a
prologue that meets our blogger's criteria.
I'm sure he would be very proud to know that. But unless you are a huge fan literary
criticism, you might now be wondering what any of this has to do with the
Christmas season – which is a fair question since it is the first Sunday of Christmas
today.
You might be aware that the
Episcopal Church follows the Revised Common Lectionary – which is a three-year
schedule of scripture readings for Sunday worship. And we are not alone. Many other churches use the same lectionary,
including the United Methodist Church, most of the Lutheran churches in the US,
the Anglican Church of Canada, the Church of England, the United Church of
Christ, and many others.
And so on most Sundays, we hear and
meditate on the same readings as many other Christians. However, not today. Today most of your church-going friends and
family will hear about the twelve year-old Jesus and his Temple adventures. But we do not. Every year on the first Sunday of this season
of the Incarnation, we read the Prologue to John's Gospel.
And I think the reason is because
it meets the criteria: it fills in the gaps and gives us the backstory. Without this story, the nativity scene is
really just a peasant family having some bad luck. There is nothing inherently special or
romantic about having a baby out back by the feed troughs. That is simply a story of a birth that took
place in a not-at-all sterile environment.
But once you know the backstory,
you get why Christmas is such a profound miracle. You begin to understand that the Word
becoming flesh and living among us is as shocking as it is impossible as it is
unbelievably Good News.
The Prologue really tells us that
this story, this Christmas story, is the story God has been telling since the
beginning. It is a love story. It has
always been a love story. It was God’s Love
that came down at Christmas. He was the
most important piece in God's master plan, the most important chapter of the
story. And it turns out, it was all in
the Prologue.
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