Special Readings for the Week of Christmas (#5)

JOHN 1:1-18

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth …

(verse 14)

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John has already told us remarkable things about this one he calls the “Word,” who was with God in the beginning, who is himself God. This one has now come into the world, the very world he made – but upon arrival, he was not recognized, nor was he received by those he himself had created, at least not by all.

Yet even so, he came. He entered our world. John now gives a further stunning revelation. When the Word actually “became flesh” – in other words, fully human – he wasn’t just masquerading. It wasn’t simply play-acting. He truly “became” one of us, combining within his own person full divinity and full humanity. Who could have anticipated such an entry? Who could have dreamed it?

And yet the Scriptures had long prophesied this arrival. “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14), a Hebrew name which literally means “with us - God.” Could Isaiah, let alone his hearers, have fully understood what this would mean? Yet the divine word was given – the Divine Word would take on flesh, be born of a woman, born as human, born into our world.

And so “the Word … made his dwelling among us,” or, as Eugene Peterson so vividly put it in The Message, he “moved into the neighborhood.” He entered into side-by-side, indeed face-to-face, relationship with the very ones he had created. With us. God.

As a result, John, and his fellow disciples (and others), got to see, “in-the-flesh,” the Creator himself, the Son of God. They didn’t always realize it. Indeed, Jesus had to clarify it more than once, on one occasion telling Philip, somewhat sharply, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9), making it clear that when they looked him in the face, they were seeing God himself.

This is the first time John uses a word that is crucial in his Gospel – “glory.” When used of God, it refers to a visible manifestation, making himself known, pealing back the veil, as it were, and revealing his awesome presence. It’s what Moses requested (“Show me your glory” Exodus 33:18) prior to the Lord passing in front of him and disclosing his character: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness …”(Exodus 34:6-7). John is saying that he and the other disciples had a similar sighting, simply by being in the presence of Jesus.

Two further points about “glory.” Firstly, when John says that Jesus “made his dwelling among us,” he uses a word that means “tabernacle,” literally saying that Jesus “tabernacled among us.”The tabernacle was the place, in Moses’ day, that the Sovereign Lord made his presence known, the place his “glory” dwelt – it seems John uses this word deliberately, fully-loaded. Further, it’s linked to the Hebrew word “shekinah,” which describes the bright cloud of God’s glory that settled on the tabernacle and later filled the temple. The “shekinah glory” is the visible manifestation of Almighty God. That’s what John saw in Jesus – nothing less.

But secondly, you need eyes of faith to see it. Of course, John (together with Peter and James) was privileged to see the actual Transfiguration of Jesus, when his glory fairly radiated from face and clothing. But intriguingly, John never reports that sighting in his Gospel. It’s a glaring absence. Instead, John chooses to direct us to the cross. He wants us to understand that when Jesus is “lifted up”physically on the tree, he is truly “lifted up” in exaltation – that’s where Jesus’ full glory is most powerfully revealed.

“We have seen his glory,” John claims. Through the rest of his Gospel, John is wanting us to follow his gaze and see it, too.

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Lord Jesus, all-glorious One, I turn my gaze to you. Fill all my sight. Give me eyes to see. Strengthen me to follow. Both now and ever more. To your glory. Amen.

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Reflect:

What aspects of Jesus’ glory do you already see in these opening verses of John’s Gospel? Turn the sightings to praise.

What aspects of his glory have you seen in your own experience? Turn it to thanksgiving.

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Excerpted from Eyes on Jesus: Through John's Gospel

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Photo by Jon Carlson on Unsplash