Christmas Presence: One of Us


Last week, we thought about the mind-stretching and mind-bending truth of the eternal Word, who was God, and was with God in the eternal past.  John 1:1 reflects the truth of the Trinity, that God is three persons in one being: Father, Son (Word), and Holy Spirit.  We also saw that the eternal Word had life, and in him was the light of humanity.  His light shines in the darkness of our broken world, and the darkness hasn't overcome it.

This week, we explore something equally mind-stretching and mind-bending!  John 1:14 says that this Word that was God, and was with God in the eternal past, became flesh and lived among us!  This is the great miracle we celebrate at Christmas: God became a real human being in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

Why did he do that?  He had many reasons, but one of them was to reveal himself to humanity.  John suggests this truth when he says in the latter part of verse 14 that we've seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, full of grace and truth.  

The word John used for the Word "dwelling" literally means "put up his tent."  Likely, when he used "tent," and "glory" in such proximity, he was pointing us to the tabernacle of the Old Testament.  He was saying Jesus was God's glory in a human body, something like the tabernacle, which housed God's glory on the earth. (See Ex. 40:24ff)

In John 1:18, he says that no one has seen God.  Not even Abraham, Moses, or Elijah.  But God the One and Only, the Word who became flesh, who is intimate with the Father, has made him known.  

This means the clearest and best revelation of God we've ever received is Jesus.  If we want to know what God is like, we just need to look at Jesus.  

When Joseph and Mary first saw Jesus on that night in Bethlehem, they saw something far more wonderful than they knew, something we're still trying to understand more than 2,000 years later: The eternal Word of God who became flesh, revealed God, and redeemed humanity.  

Something deep to meditate on this year!

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