Word & Light

Kumi Yamashita

John 1:1-28

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men...

 

It all begins with the word. The word is the expression of our internal will and intellect. The word is both used by the speaker to reveal one's internal self and to creatively fashion the external world after one's internal desire. The word is something with such immense power that it can take the seemingly inexpressible and make it expressible. Kumi Yamashita is a word artist. When I say that I don't mean a poet, novelist, speech writer or any other traditional type of writer. She is a visual artists that works with words. Yamashita takes the conceptual, verbal and textual nature of the word and solidifies it into a tangible, three dimensional reality. She does this by changing our understanding of the nature of the word. When she takes the word and deconstructs it to its own most basic components (letters), the results are even more expressive than before. When Yamashita arranges letters in a in a seemingly disorganized fashion it appears that she has robed it of its ability to be comprehended verbally. Yet when the light is shined on these sporadically spaced consonants and vowels their descriptive ability becomes all the more potent. These letters that were deprived of their ability to make linear and coherent statements create human profiles better than the writing of Gore Vidal. Even though it is beyond our expectation, these letters have found an unconventional way to form a word. A word that is inaudible, yet perceivable. A word that became more than verbal, it became tangible. The word manifested itself in form and we saw that form is a human like us. The artist illuminates our eyes to see that when we see this word, what we are seeing is the work of the light. She shares in her artist's statement that , “My art making helps me realize that in everyday life we are seeing only a tiny fragment of something that is immeasurably and inexpressively grand!” Though those words came from the lips of a twenty-first century visual artist, I feel as though she could have plucked them from the mind of of a first century evangelist. An evangelist who we believe to be the Apostle, St. John. An apostle that we remember as the beloved disciple that lay next to the heart of Jesus at the Last Supper. And it is that heart that he strives to reveal in his Gospel. The heart of the Messiah, who is the Mind and Word of God. The heart, mind that Word that is the spirit of the Law. The Word that was there in the beginning with God. The Word that John the Gospel reveals is that very God himself. So when John wrote his gospel sharing how he had glimpsed the immeasurable, inexpressible grandness of the Divine for three years of his life, he does so with a slyly subtle, and familiar structure. One that had been used continuously all throughout Scripture going back to the original Creation narrative in the first chapter of Genesis. John reminds us how the Creation story opens with only God and His Word, God speaks and light is created. God speaks and life is created. John used this to reveal that Jesus' ministry was much grander than just a first century rabbinate. It was part of ages old plan where God revealed himself to Mankind. In it He reveals himself as the Word. The Creator illuminates our minds to see that when we see this Word, what we are seeing the source of Light and Life. The Word manifested itself in form and we saw that form as a human like us. The Word revealed Himself as Jesus Christ. Just like Kumi Yamashita, John is a word artist. His art form is writing the Gospel narrative of Jesus' life. When I say that I don't mean anything like Matthew, Mark, Luke or any traditional type of gospel narrative. In creating this Gospel of the Word, John not only tells the story of Jesus' few years of earthly ministry but his eternal ministry as the Creator. John goes back to Genesis and retells the Creation story.



Kumi Yamashita

Light

...In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

 

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

 

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God...


The strength of the genus behind Kumi Yamashita's work is that it highlights as a stated medium an unstated medium that is integral to any other work of visual art: light. Without light we are unable to register color, depth, line or any other visual phenomenon. Without visible light there is no visual art. Yamashita forces us to be aware of this subtle truth. Light also finds itself integral to the creation of several other things as well. The book of Genesis (and therefore all of Scripture) begins with a poem. It doesn't use rhyming words (like much of our contemporary poems) but rather uses rhyming ideas (like much of the ancient world's poems). Just like the Psalms, Genesis 1 (and all of Genesis) uses parallelism, repetition and clause structure to communicate a story. In telling the story of Creation, Moses (the assumed writer) describes the world in six sections. On each of the first six days of the week he describes God as creating one of these sections. This is the structure of Moses' Creation poem:

On day one God uses His Word to create Light and separates it from darkness (day and night).

On day two God uses His Word to create a separation (Heaven/the heavens) of the waters below from the waters above (rain).  

On day three God uses His Word to create a separation between the waters below and dry land appears. In addition to that He uses His Word to begin creating procreative beings. The first if these being plants.  

On day four God uses His Word to create the Sun, Moon and stars in the heavens to rule over and give meaning to day and night.  

On the day five God uses His Word to create procreative beings that populate the seas and fly through the skies.  

On the day six God uses His Word to create procreative beings that populate the earth (land animals). Then He creates Mankind in His own image. He creates Man as a procreative being to rule over a care for all of the other procreative beings.

On the day seven God finishes His workweek by resting from His creative labor. Even though Moses separates Creation into six sections, you can see that each section is itself separated into a substructure of two sections. Each day is devoted to opposites like light and dark or air animals and sea animals. When you look at it another way Moses has also embedded another categorical division within the sections. Moses has mentioned that some of the Creations are procreative (the smaller, animate and organic ones) and some are not (the larger, inanimate and inorganic ones). John takes notice of this and bases his retelling of the Creation story on this two part structure. But just like each day in Genesis, John's structure has a substructure.

Word as a living being: A) Creation B) John C) Grace

It always starts with the Word of God being revealed to be a conscious (yet uncreated) being. It then shares how the Word was integral in some aspect of Creation. Then it relates that aspect of Creation to the prophetic preaching of John the Baptist (not the Gospel writer) Finally it tells of acceptance and rejection of Grace of the preaching of the Word. We can see the poetic substructure at play in John 1:1-13:

Word Deified: A) Light B)John C) Grace

It is with this substructure that he begins to teach us about the Word. John begins his poem by teaching us that the Word is not only a being but Deity Himself. Then he tells us how the as the Creator, the Word uses His creative power to redeem Mankind. This is where we see John's retelling of the Creation story. If we were to separate the sections of creations into two parts (inanimate and animate) then the first and greatest of the inanimate creations would be Light. John shares that Jesus the Word of God has come to save His creation through bringing Light to Mankind and dispelling spiritual darkness. This is the message that John preached. This is the Grace that is freely offered.                              

Kumi Yamashita

Flesh

...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’”

And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him...

Like any clever artist who wants to have repeated gallery sales and collectors Kumi Yamashita works in series. Her artwork surrounding the word is not one or two pieces, it is several. Artists are encouraged to do this because it shows a focus and a direction. It shows that the artist has a specific outlook, insight and message to communicate through their medium. This is not limited to visual artists, since writers do the same thing. The Apostle John can be seen doing this in the introductory prologue in his gospel. John mimics the parallelism of Moses' creation poem in his own creation poem in the beginning of his gospel. He employs his poetic substructure a second time in John 1:14-18 to reveal more of the truth about Jesus the Word.

Word Personified A) Flesh B) John C) Grace

If we were to separate the sections of creations into two parts (inanimate and animate) then the first and greatest of the animate creations would be Mankind. Mankind is a subset of a subset. It is included type procreating creation that has bodies made of flesh (or meat). These creations are mostly mobile and are what we refer to as animals. Being that Mankind was created to rule over and care for all of procreating creation, the Word took upon flesh in the form of a man so that he might completely care for the Mankind that He ruled over. He would care for them by redeeming them. he would redeem them by dying for their sins. This is the eternal truth that John bore witness to. This is the fullness of Grace that was revealed and declared in the person of Jesus Christ. It is a story that Moses starts in delivering of the Law but John completes in his full unveiling of Grace.


Kumi Yamashita

Ripples and Waves

...Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
And he answered, “No.”

Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”
He said: “I am

‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Make straight the way of the Lord,”’

as the prophet Isaiah said”

 

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose”...

I may have falsely given you the impression that Kumi Yamashita only makes word art. She doesn't. However her art most often does include the creative use of Light. Take the above posted image. In it she shines light upon ripples and waves in paper and creates beautiful human profiles, silhouettes and shadows. I saw this because it it easy to think that John changes his literary style once finishes his introductory Creation poem. It appears that he begins a separate narrative that floats along the ripples and waves of the baptismal waters of John the Baptist. This is not the case. John uses the same structure throughout the rest of the chapter and the whole gospel itself. Every word and clause has been carefully structured, placed, repeated or inverted to show the flow of the Word's seamless ministry from the beginning of creation until the Roman Empire's rule of first century Palestine. The Power that created light and flesh would now separate flesh from darkness...beginning with the baptismal waters of John the Baptist. The God of eternity had truly stepped into the Apostle John's time. But how would he communicate it in his gospel narrative?  What structure would he use? The repetitive structure that I started noticing earlier was what is called Chiastic structure. Wikipedia describes it this way:

Chiastic structure, or chiastic pattern, is a literary technique in narrative motifs and other textual passages. An example chiastic structure would be two ideas, A and B, together with variants A' and B', being presented as A,B,B',A'. Alternative names include ring structure, because the opening and closing 'A' can be viewed as completing a circle, palistrophe, or symmetric structure. It may be regarded as chiasmus scaled up from clauses to larger units of text. These often symmetrical patterns are commonly found in ancient literature such as the epic poetry of the Odyssey and the Iliad. Various chiastic structures are also seen in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, where biblical writers used it to illustrate or highlight details of particular importance.

To put it lightly, I was seeing the wrong things. Yes there were patterns in John but I was seeing them make the wrong shape. The "chi" part of "chiastic" refers to the Greek letter "X", which is referred to as "chi." The chiastic structure puts word clauses and ideas in an 'X" shape pattern to emphasis a point.  Where I saw a ABCABC pattern earlier, John 1:19-28 definitely reveals a more chiastic and inverted parallel structure. This is shown in an excerpt from a presentation slide at Society of Biblical Literature 2010: 

[2]  John 1:19-28
	A(1:19)					1:19 Who are you? (1:19)
		B(1:20-21)					1:20 I am not the Messiah (1:20)   (ὁ χριστός)
			C(1:22)					1:22 we can give an answer to those who sent us? (1:22)   (πέμψασιν)
				D(1:23)					1:23 I am the voice of one crying out in the desert (1:23)
			C'(1:24)					1:24 Some Pharisees were also sent.(1:24)   (ἀπεσταλμένοι)
		B'(1:25)					1:25 Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet? (1:25)   (ὁ χριστὸς)
	A'(1:26-28)					1:26 I baptize with water (1:26)

As you can see, the structure looks just like the side of an "X." But in my defense, when you pair it with the prior verses it sure does look like a series of waves and ripples:

[1]  John 1:1-18

A(1:1-2)

1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God (1:1)"   (ὁ λόγος)

B(1:3)

1:3 All things came to be through him (1:3)   (δἰ αὐτοῦ)

C(1:4-5)

1:4 this life was the light of the human race (1:4)   (ζωὴ)

D(1:6-7)

John   (Ἰωάννης)

E(1:8-9)

1:9 The true light was coming into the world. (1:9)   (κόσμον)

F(1:10-11)

1:11 his own people did not accept him.(1:11)   (παρέλαβον)

F'(1:12-13)

1:12 those who did accept him (1:12)   (ἔλαβον)

E'(1:14)

1:14 the Word became flesh (1:14)   (σὰρξ)

D'(1:15)

John   (Ἰωάννης)

C'(1:16)

1:16 we have all received, grace in place of grace, (1:16)"   (χάριν)

B'(1:17)

1:17 grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (1:17)   (διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ)

A'(1:18)

1:18 The only Son, God, who is at the Father's side(1:18)"   (μονογενὴς)

    A: God and only son. B: Through Jesus Christ. C: Grace for human. D: John. E: Coming into the world. F: Accepted and not accepted.  

[2]  John 1:19-28
	A(1:19)					1:19 Who are you? (1:19)
		B(1:20-21)					1:20 I am not the Messiah (1:20)   (ὁ χριστός)
			C(1:22)					1:22 we can give an answer to those who sent us? (1:22)   (πέμψασιν)
				D(1:23)					1:23 I am the voice of one crying out in the desert (1:23)
			C'(1:24)					1:24 Some Pharisees were also sent.(1:24)   (ἀπεσταλμένοι)
		B'(1:25)					1:25 Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet? (1:25)   (ὁ χριστὸς)
	A'(1:26-28)					1:26 I baptize with water (1:26)    "A: Who is John. B: Messiah, Eliah, and the Prophet. C: Being sent. D: The voice of one crying out in the desert."

And when you compare it to Genesis 1 you get the same ripples and waves running right through the story:

[1]  Gen 1:1-2:4a
P(1:1-2)				The Creation     (שׁמיםארצ)
	A(1:3-5)				"The first day, light and darkness, day and night"     (אור)
		B(1:6-8)				"The second day, water and sky"     (מים)
			C(1:9-13)				"The third day, land and plant"     (עשׂב)
	A'(1:14-19)				"The fourth day, light and darkness, day and night"     (מאור)
		B'(1:20-23)				"The fifth day, water and sky"     (מים)
			C'(1:24-31)				"The sixth day, land and plant"     (עשׂב)
P'(2:1-4a)				The Creation    (שׁמיםארצ)

A: Light and darkness. B: Water and sky. C: Land and plant. Gen 1:24-31    A(1:24-25)    "Words of God 1, good"     (טוב)       B(1:26)       "Words of God 2, domonion"     (וירדו)          C(1:27)          God created man       B'(1:28)       "Words of God 3, dominion"     (ורדו)    A'(1:29-31)    "Words of God 4, good"     (טוב)     A: Good. B: Dominion. C: God created man.

 

By now you may be wondering why I am being such a theological nerd about the textual pattern of Scripture. It is because it is placed there to reveal a thematic pattern in Scripture. The pattern is lying there beneath the surface and testifying to the synthesis of all of Scripture. Through the pens of several writers over hundreds of years God has been communicating one central theme. Through the voices of many prophets The Lord has been foretelling of one time. Through the movements of plethora of acts through history God has been pointing to one Person. All of these streams flow into the prologue of St. John the Apostle's gospel as we meet John the Baptist preaching in the Jordan River about the coming Kingdom of Jesus the Messiah.

Kumi Yamashita

The Continuing Narrative
...These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Kumi Yamashita has used various mediums in her artwork but the one constant is her use of light. Even when she doesn't use waves or letters, the light still evokes her work involving the word. The memory of the viewers first encounter with the word still lingers and speaks in every piece no matter the medium. The power of the light evokes the image and intention of the original works centered around the word. Often that is where we find ourselves as modern day disciples of Christ. We may not be baptizing in the Jordan River or authoring gospel narratives and epistles like John the Apostle, yet just like these first century believers we too testify of our encounter with the Word. The waves of the central theme that flows throughout the narrative of Scripture ripples into our own lives as we are illuminated by the Light. No matter the medium, our Creator continues to communicate the message that it is in Jesus, the Word. that Creation is fully redeemed and restored. The Creation poem that begins the gospel of John not only parallels the creation poem of Genesis but also proclaims that the Gospel message is one of the Creator re-Creating all of us through Christ, the Word. Christ, the Word, is the immense Power that it can take the seemingly inexpressible, unknowable and intangible God and make Him tangible and known through the expression of His love to us. Christ, the Word, is both God's self revelation in flesh and the Creator fashioning the World after eternal desire to redeem it. Christ, the Word, is the expression of God's will and intellect. It all begins with the Word.


Kumi Yamashita