sermonsonjohn

John 1:14

1. "The Word became flesh..."
John now reminds us that he is speaking of 'the Word' (first use since v.1). He carries forward everything he's already written and adds to it what has been called "the most significant and memorable (statement) ever penned" (Bruce Milne).

What makes it so stunning is the combination of 'Word' and 'Flesh'. The Word is the creative, revealing, saving personal expression of the eternal God. And this God we are told here became flesh. John doesn't use the words 'man' or 'person'; instead he chooses to use a word that speaks of "human existence in its frailty and vulnerability" (Milne) - cf Isaiah 40:6.

He became flesh. That word "expresses (the fact) that a person or thing changes its property and enters into a new condition and becomes something it was not before" (Milne). That isn't saying that Jesus ceased to be the Word when he was born at Bethlehem; it is saying that he added true humanity to his God-ness. And he added it permanently; he became flesh. The incarnation is irreversible.

This is profound theology which should move us to fervent worship (Who is he...'tis the Lord!). He humbled himself for our sakes. Eternity steps into time; power embraces weakness; infinity is "contracted to a span".

Doesn't this show the love God has for us? It also affirms the validity of human existence, in that God himself was prepared to become a man, to don human flesh and then to carry it with him into eternity.

But then it is also intensely practical teaching. It tells us that God himself has come where we are and experienced, really and truly, what we experience. All the weakness of our creatureliness was felt and experienced by Jesus.

As such, he is able to sympathise with us in the fullest sense and pray for us in the light of his understanding. The writer of Hebrews is very keen to make this point - see 2:17,18. No one else feels so much for us and no one else prays so much for us. Take heart!

2. "...and made his dwelling among us."
The Word came in flesh and John says he "made his dwelling among us". In time and space, the eternal Word came and lived in this world, among people, seen by them, touched by them.

John is telling us here that he wasn't just on a day trip; "he made his dwelling among us". But he is saying more than that. What John is doing is picking up on OT themes and showing how they are fulfilled in Jesus.

The word he uses here is 'tabernacled'. He is linking the Word made flesh with the place in the OT where the presence and glory of God was known. Just as God used to show something of himself in the tabernacle and the temple, now he has shown himself in Jesus.

It seems almost paradoxical but the greatest and fullest revelation of God was not in his awesome presence in the tabernacle or in the splendour of Solomon's temple but in the 'the Word made flesh', through the medium of frail humanity.

3. "And we beheld his glory..."
Did taking human flesh extinguish the glory of God? No, not at all says John. "We beheld his glory"; we saw it, we gazed on it. The word 'beheld' means to literally see something with your eyes. John and others did not see a vision; they saw a real man walking this real earth. And in him they saw the glory of God.

One writer has said that "When the Evangelist says 'We beheld his glory', he is really saying that the final purpose of God is already achieved in the historical person of Jesus" (Strachan). This is what mankind was made for: to know God, to look up into his face, see his glory and live and share his life. In the OT there were hints of God's glory and temporary manifestations of it but the way it is really and fully shown is in Jesus.

How does John describe this glory of God?

i) It is "the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father". Older translations have here the term 'only begotten' but the word doesn't really mean that. It is the same word that is used in Heb. 11:17 to describe Isaac. He wasn't Abraham's only begotten son but he was his special son. And that is what the word means: unique, special, hence NIV's 'one and only'.

As we said last week, John only uses the term 'son' for Jesus; Christians are called in John the 'children of God'. He is saying that Jesus has a special relationship with the Father. He is his unique son.

Now, the glory that Jesus displayed in his life on earth is the glory that comes through that special relationship. He alone is qualified to reveal God's glory because he is the unique son of God. He has come from the Father for this express purpose.

Jesus is special and we ever need to guard this teaching. He is not just one of many expressions of God. In Jesus, God has revealed himself fully and finally.

ii) It was glory that was "full of grace and truth". Here again John is picking up on the OT, especially Ex. 33,34 where Moses is shown something of God's glory and God declares what he is like to Moses (see 34:6). This glory of God is fully seen in Jesus as he demonstrates the grace and truth of God (corresponding to 'love and faithfulness' in Ex. 34).

Do you want to know what God is like? John says, Look at Jesus and you'll see. And what is he like? Full of grace and truth; he is loving and faithful. That says that all who look to him for mercy will find it and he will never forsake them or fail them. He is true and dependable; he is forgiving and gracious.

This glory of God that was seen in Jesus, this display of the grace and truth that are at the heart of the being of God, it was seen in the miracles that Jesus performed (see 2:11 & 11:4,40) but it was seen most clearly and perfectly in the death and exaltation of Jesus. Look at 13:31,32; 17:1-5.

Jesus as God's unique son who reveals God's glory does so in the most incredible way by dying for our sins and rising again. That is the summit of the grace and truth of God. If this doesn't lead us to trust him and love him and serve him, what will?

We can't behold his glory as John did, in the physical sense, but we can see by faith the glory of God as we read of Jesus, as we consider him and as we trust in him.

May we all see God's glory, full of grace and truth!

posted by minternational @ 2:41 AM