Why? Incarnate

By Jared Warner

Willow Creek Friends Church

January 04, 2026

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Click to read in Swahili

Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili

John 1:1–18 (ESV)

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. ⁸ He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. ⁹ The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) ¹⁶ For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. I often contemplate this passage. I think on it because I find it comforting. In the beginning was the Word. The term word or logos here is more than merely a word. It is knowledge, wisdom, or when looking at it from a Hebrew tradition, it would be similar to the word we translate into command. In the beginning was the commands, the knowledge, the wisdom, the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.

How often do we consider that aspect of creation? Not only did God speak and things emerged into existence, but there was wisdom, and purpose to the words. There was an intention.

This is what I find comforting. God is interacting, and participating. But what was the intention?

For the past weeks I have been posting on Facebook the background and covert meaning behind the song the 12 Days of Christmas. Tradition believed that this song was written in a code of sorts to be used to teach Catholic children the meaning of Christmas during the persecution of Catholics in England. Some of you might have seen the posts. The twelve days of Christmas are not the twelve days leading up to Christmas, as that is still advent. Instead the twelve days of Christmas are Christmas Day and the eleven days after Christmas until January 5^th and the 6^th is Epiphany. Today is the eleventh day of Christmas, the day our true love gave us eleven drummers drumming. You will have to look at Facebook to get the report on that, but this seemingly simple and secular song, when looking at the potential deeper meaning is profound. Like yesterday, the 10 lords a leaping speaks of the ten commandments, and the lords are leaping not because they have a bunch of rules to follow. They are leaping for joy because they get to follow those commandments.

I have contemplated the commandments many times over the years. I have looked at them as check marks in boxes and I have looked at them as I hope we all look at the Quaker Queries. I have come to understand that Western civilization has often misunderstood the commandments. They are not rules but wisdom. They are a guiding framework to start us along a path. It is the beginning.

I think this is why I love this opening of John’s gospel. Yes, it speaks about all of creation, and it also speaks about our beginning. In the beginning of our own journey of faith we began to realize that our understanding, our wisdom was leading us to a place we did not intend to go. We may have had good intentions when making those decisions, but eventually we came to recognize that the consequences. resulting from our choices were not what we expected. What do we do? What do we do when we lack knowledge, when we are living in ignorance, or when we have a deficiency of understanding.

There are a few options actually. The first is we can willfully remain ignorant. And yes I use that term because I hope it shocks us a bit. There are people that live in willful ignorance. They know that they do not have knowledge, they are aware that the consequences of continuing along that path will continue to lead them deeper into a situation they cannot get out of, yet they refuse help, they refuse to learn. We know people like that. I am a person like that in certain areas within my life. I willfully reject learning a different way, I would rather remain ignorant because if I gain knowledge then I know enough to know that I would be expected to act upon that knowledge.

Then there is a second option. We can seek out understanding. We can go to the library, the school, the university and we can gain some knowledge. We can fill our minds with philosophies, research, ideologies and many other things. This is good. I believe God want us to gain knowledge. But here is the issue, are we seeking knowledge or wisdom?

This second option like the first lacks something. The first is clear that they are refusing to try. They accept fate. Life has no point and suffering is just a part of life. Or worse they believe superstitious ideas, as long as I say the right words or position myself properly things will change, but they never really question why they act that way. And when they are presented with evidence to the contrary they blatantly refuse to acknowledge it. But the second is potentially more dangerous. They are seeking knowledge. They are seeking to grow in understanding in the areas they recognize their own invariance. They seek out teachers, and professors, but they often do not look beyond that. They make an assumption that the things they are being told are accurate without looking deeper.

This second group I feel can be worse because often they seek knowledge to support a preconceived idea. They do not want to actually know, they only want to be able to argue and make those that disagree look bad. That might not be their initial intentions, but they have stopped the journey midway. They have not completed the thought or examined potential outcomes. They found the proof they wanted and that is it.

Then where did this knowledge come from? What was the intention? Is the knowledge gained to give one group power over another, or is the advantage giving greater hope for all people?

This brings us to the third response. This is where we acknowledge our lack of knowledge, we seek knowledge, and we weigh that knowledge with wisdom.

This is what John is speaking about. The wisdom was in the beginning, the wisdom was with God, and the wisdom was God.

God urges us to pursue knowledge and God encourages to apply that knowledge or become wise. In a sense what John is saying is that we should reflect God. This is where the ten leaping lords encourages us. When we look at the commandments of God from a Latin perspective we often see them as things or activities we should not do. And we cannot be blamed for taking this approach the commandments say Thou shalt not… There are a couple of exceptions, we should keep the Sabbath and we should honor our father and mother. Other than that they all say we should not do them. Like I said earlier, these are teachings, they are to begin our journey. If we should not do something our mind should not stop there. We should follow that with a question, what then should I do?

Children have this follow-up almost intuitively. We tell them to do something, and what is the question that often follows, why? We can go around and around with toddlers and teenagers giving reason upon reason, until we become annoyed and finally break down and say, “because I said so that’s why.” Toddlers might cry or do it, teenagers will roll their eyes and might do it half heartedly, but there is something within that exchange that should cause us to pause. They are in the beginning. They are starting a journey, they are at a cross road in their life and they are yearning to know, they are yearning to have wisdom. Will we walk with them?

“He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. … The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”

To me this sounds like every parent’s struggle. It sounds like every student’s struggle. It sounds like everyone’s struggle. We want to know and be known. We do not want the simple answer or the platitude we want the knowledge so that we can have the wisdom. The parent just wants their children to listen. They do not want to spend hours upon hours arguing about every little thing, they only want you to clean your room so you do not die in a fire. The student want to know why a clean room is so important, why does it matter so much. But they do not listen, we are unable to pass on the knowledge because walls have been erected and assumptions have been made. How do we overcome?

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Incarnation. That is what Christmas is all about. We are celebrating the gifts that God our True Love has given. The word, the wisdom of God became flesh and dwelt among us. God left his throne in heaven to be born into a family, to live within a community. He came to do chores, to work with his hands. He came sitting listening to teachers, asking questions, getting disciplined even when he did not do what they thought he did. He worked with his family. Worked as a carpenter or stone mason right along side his cousins, his uncles, brothers, and Joseph for nearly twenty years. He experienced most of what life can offer. Joy, pain, love, betrayal, and friendship. He became humanity, and he shows us wisdom. And this is what we are called to reflect in our world today.

The world needs to hear the words, but they long for the why. Why is it important to honor, why is it important to have integrity, why is it important to remain faithful? Why? Is it simply because we are told to?

There is a second tradition attached to the ten leaping lords of the twelve days of Christmas. That tradition is that it speaks of the ten trails Israel faced in their wilderness wanderings. They were afraid of Pharaoh’s army as they faced the Red Sea, they grumbled over the lack of water. They longed for the food they once had in Egypt, they hoarded Manna when they were only supposed to gather enough for the day. They worked on the sabbath, they again complained about water, about their food, and the lack of meat. And they did not trust that God could drive out the Giants they faced.

These are called the trials, but there is something more to them. They are the slow and steady process of learning. Of becoming a people, a nation that lives within the wisdom of God. It was the steady progress moving from oppression and looking out for only you basic needs, and moving toward a community and culture reflecting the light and wisdom of God. God was answering the question, that every adolescent asks, he was enduring the eye rolls and the complaints. He was showing them that there are consequences to actions, along with blessing. Until eventually they became a people that could face the giants in faith. This is how Solomon explains it in the book called Wisdom of Solomon:

Wisdom of Solomon 10:15–21 (NRSV)

¹⁵ A holy people and blameless race wisdom delivered from a nation of oppressors. ¹⁶ She entered the soul of a servant of the Lord, and withstood dread kings with wonders and signs. ¹⁷ She gave to holy people the reward of their labors; she guided them along a marvelous way, and became a shelter to them by day, and a starry flame through the night. ¹⁸ She brought them over the Red Sea, and led them through deep waters; ¹⁹ but she drowned their enemies, and cast them up from the depth of the sea. ²⁰ Therefore the righteous plundered the ungodly; they sang hymns, O Lord, to your holy name, and praised with one accord your defending hand; ²¹ for wisdom opened the mouths of those who were mute, and made the tongues of infants speak clearly.

In this book, Solomon speaks of wisdom of God, or Sophia, in an almost incarnate manner. He also speaks of wisdom from a feminine perspective which is beautifully poetic and inclusive. And it quickly became one of my favorite books outside of scripture. The people he says was delivered from a nation of oppressors, and wisdom entered the soul of a servant of the Lord, and that servant stood up against the dread kings with wonders and signs. Wisdom empowers, and wisdom sets us free. It gives us a reward for our labors. People should be rewarded for their labor, when they are not justly compensated eventually there will be trouble. Wisdom guides. It provides light in the darkness and assurance along the path. She bring us through the troubled waters, and removes provides a way past the things that seek to hinder us. She will plunder the unrighteous not because it is rightfully ours, but justice will reign and those that hand out injustice will find their reward.

Wisdom guided Israel through her trials. Wisdom was there in the beginning. In the beginning of creation, in the beginning of the wandering, in the beginning of the nation. Wisdom was with them in the beginning. And wisdom became flesh and dwelt among us.

For From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

The lords are leaping because they have wisdom from God. We are called Friends because we have listened to Jesus’s commands, his teachings and we know what he is doing. We know what he is doing because it is written throughout scriptures. “Go out into to all creation and bring it into submission.” God told our first parents. This is not forcing people to become something they are not, but it is becoming an incarnation of God’s wisdom for all of creation to see. Go and make disciples of all the nations, or all the peoples, Jesus commands us baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit. Go and saturate them with the wisdom of God so that they are no longer raw cloth but cloth dyed and fit for a king. Put off the old self Paul, teaches us, and put on Christ be armored in God.

All of this points to the same place. We need to be God’s people in word and in life. We need to live a life reflecting the life and lifestyle of the Word made flesh, or we need to be flesh made Word. And we need to accept the gifts of God given to us for Christmas. The 11 pipers piping, 10 lords a leaping, 9 ladies dancing, 8 maids a milking, 7 swans a swimming, 6 geese a-laying, 5 golden rings, 4 calling birds, 3 french hens, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. These are gifts of grace, gifts of mercy. Not laws that we must abide by, but word made flesh living with us.

Will we let wisdom dwell in us? Will we let wisdom empower us to face the dread kings of this world, and promote justice for the oppressed? Will we be friends of Christ and follow his teachings and know his will? May our communities and families know Christ as they look upon our lives, and may we have a Merry Christmas.

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