And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. Here is John’s confession in its entirety. Not just that the Word became flesh in general, as if to demonstrate solidarity with us in principle. But...

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine...

With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples. We’ve already talked about parables, describing them as truth delivered “sideways,” or indirectly. They...