Grandpa sits at the fireside on Christmas morn, Bible in hand, his family eagerly awaiting to hear the familiar tale of our Savior’s birth. Yet there will be no talk of shepherds and angels this day, nor of wise men and gifts fit for a king. For Grandpa has bypassed Matthew and Luke to read an older version of the old, old story. “In the beginning was the Word,” he intones between puffs on his pipe. “And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.” Thus begins the advent according to John, with its stunning reminder that the incarnation is not just an event within history but is the invasion of the world by God of life.