The themes of darkness and light, of contrast, and of triumph emerge in the verses we have read today. John 1:1–18 constitute the prologue to John’s gospel, a beautiful and somewhat poetic passage that introduce many themes that John will develop in his Gospel. The main questions that John seeks to answer here are how does the eternal Word enter the realm of time, and why?

To answer these questions, John focuses on the events that are at the heart of Christmas: the incarnation of the Son of God. And in these opening verses, the theme that is before us particularly is that of triumph. How can light triumph over darkness? How can life triumph over death? We can answer those questions from these verses as we consider the triumph of Christmas.