The memories of last Christmas may be fading, but the wonder has just begun.
The miracle of Christmas is usually framed in our passage today. We hear it a lot at Christmastime and in our journey through the Gospel of John, he wants to ensure we do not let the miracle fade.
We read in John 1:14-18:
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. (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
John 1:14-18
New International Version
The Word (the Son of God) became a human. The construction of this sentence in Greek (The Gospel of John’s original language) leaves no doubt: the Word became something that until this point He was not. The Son of God was not human before this point, but then he pulled on the robe of flesh and become one of us.
The Eternal Word of God left the splendor and unending worship He had in Heaven to step into our human condition. And by doing this, He has shown us His glory. With John’s own eyes, he had looked into the eyes of the Almighty in human form. Jesus was the Father’s grace and truth to us!
John the Baptizer witnessed this as well. He saw Jesus and recognized Him as the eternal Son of God in human form. What an overwhelming moment that must have been—when John the Baptizer put the pieces together (the Holy Spirit’s help!) and recognized his own cousin as Savior of the World!
Millennia of prophecies and four centuries of silence from God the Father were broken when the Word became flesh. Hatred, strife, alienation, loneliness, sin…they were finally offered a chance to find wholeness and holiness because of the grace found in Jesus.
As a Christmas song so beautifully states:
He could have chosen to break through the sky
“One King”
With anthems and angels wings
But He knew we’d understand a baby’s cry
And learn love from a servant King
Words and Music by David Phelps
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Used by Permission
This is the One we serve. This is the One we are following when we say we are “Christian”. We live, move, and serve a King who loved us so much He came down. Our sin prevented us from getting to Him so He came to us.
It’s miraculous. It’s amazing. It’s shocking. And it’s the “Word made flesh” who has saved us and empowered us to walk in the newness of His life.
Life Meets Theology 