Originally published at The Catholic Thing
In the Prologue of John’s Gospel, I believe the Evangelist presented his theological interpretation of Christmas, that is, of the Incarnation.
John first declares: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Since the Word was with God and was God, He existed before the beginning began, that is, before Creation.
Existing prior to when the beginning began, “all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” The reason the Word was the author of all that came to be is that “in him was life,” and that the “life was the light of men.”
Being the Word, he possessed the fullness of divine life, and so, he could bring to life all that came to be. The Word’s godly life was the light of men, for he was the life-giving light wherein humankind could behold God.
For John, the Word’s life-giving light “shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” This is an enigmatic statement, for it refers to a twofold darkness.
First, the Evangelist, in replicating the first phrase of the Book of Genesis, alludes to the dark nothingness
