The Season of Advent is upon us, and we turn to the Gospel of John to move us toward the grand celebration of our Savior's birth. You might wonder why a Gospel that does not contain a nativity story would be chosen to take us through the Christmas season. The answer to this question is quite simple. Although John's Gospel does not say much about how Christ came to earth, it pays very close attention to why Christ came to be among us in the flesh.

Each lesson will delve into a portion of the tightly packed and beautifully expressed prologue, which comprises the first eighteen verses of the Gospel. These passages will be connected to an event in the ministry of Jesus that gives further insight into the meaning of the prologue.

John the Baptist is a major figure in this study as well. Although the writer of this Gospel does not develop the backstory of this extraordinary character in the way the other Gospels do, the power of the Baptist's message and the depth of meaning it contains are given in dynamic and dramatic style.

This unit will take us a bit off the beaten path of Advent studies. With no angels to sing for us and no shepherds to guide us to the manger, we are left to find a different pathway to the overwhelming reality of God's incarnation, the Word become flesh. In this study, the wise men do not lead us to the Christ child. Rather, the one who cries in the wilderness takes us to the water's edge and introduces us to the Lamb of God. We will not be invited to hear the cries of a baby at life's beginning, but to be present with God in the beginning of it all. This study will not ponder a star that hangs over the city of David, but will invite us to experience the reality of a light that shines untouched by darkness.

Welcome to Advent and to John's beautiful and bold account of God's incarnation.