John 1:14–18

Read the passage.

With the identity of the Word well-established, John drops a bomb. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” It was a common belief in the first century that spirit and flesh were diametrically opposed, representing good and evil, respectively. The Greek myths are rife with incidents of the gods disguising themselves as mortals and affecting people’s lives with their interactions, but for one of them to become a human, permanently, and still remain divine would have been a radical concept. For the Jewish mindset, accepting this idea would be even harder because God is shown to be so holy and transcendant in the Old Testament. And yet the Creator of the universe, the Almighty, laid aside His divine prerogatives and became one of His own creatures. Not only became one, but lived among them. “Dwelt” has the connotation of “pitched his tent”, which points to the temporary nature of the Word’s earthly location. It also recalls the tabernacle that God used when He dwelt with Israel as they wandered in the wilderness and established themselves in the Promised Land. God’s glory was visible to the people on the mountain, in the tabernacle, and in the temple. It was also visible when Jesus was transfigured and talked with Moses and Elijah, but it may be that John is talking about Jesus’s ministry or resurrection here.

John connects the glory of God to the grace believers receive from Jesus. The Son (i.e., the Word) has the same glory as the Father, being full of grace and truth, and from that fullness we receive grace upon grace. Like Paul in his letter to the Romans, John contrasts grace with the law given to Moses, though he only discusses grace in this passage. What grace does he refer to? The gift of seeing and knowing God through Jesus Christ. The Word who is God has been made visible, present, and relatable to the finite creatures He loves.

You reached down to us because we could never reach You in any manner or capacity.