The Word became flesh and dwelt among us

 The Gospel of John reads quite a bit differently than Matthew, Mark, and Luke. He has a bit more of a poetic and philosophical flair in his writing in comparison to his peers. What Luke presents with great historical detail, John weaves into sweeping, epic story lines. I like to imagine his friends ribbing him for his expressive manner:  “Can’t you just keep your head out of the clouds? There’s got to be an easier way to say that!”

John 1:14 describes the nativity scene with just a few quick words: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” With such a swift announcement of the coming of the Messiah it may seem that John is perhaps missing out on a key opportunity to play up one of the biggest moments in all of human history. There is no mention of shepherds and wisemen, mangers or stars. Even Mary fails to make an appearance in John’s account. 

So what was John getting at with such a sparsely detailed telling of the Christmas story?

There are a few loaded phrases in this verse that help us see far deeper meaning than appears at first glance. 

At this point in his gospel John has gone to lengths to highlight the eternal nature of the Word and His relationship with God as equal. He has also established the fact that the Word is responsible for all creation. Further, John reveals the Word’s unique relationship with humanity and with Israel in particular. The Word comes to His own and His own did not perceive him.

Now when John says that the Word became flesh, he is saying something unfathomably mysterious and profound. With the pretext of the Word's divine power already set, John states in a shockingly matter of fact way that God Himself became human. This reality is so mind-numbingly difficult to comprehend that it is the source of more than a few controversies through the history of the Church. Creeds and councils and heresies all have come from this fact.

John’s simple pronouncement does something important for us and any other readers of his gospel. Yes there are fruitful conversations that can be had regarding the nature of Jesus Christ as both God and man. Yes, it is important to establish what can and can’t be true of Jesus. However, at the end of the day, John’s statement here is to be understood as an article of faith. 

There are ways that “the Word became flesh” simply won’t compute in our finite minds. There is glory and mystery hidden in Christ’s being that, try as we might, just can’t be articulated. John’s terse treatment of this is a great reminder that the deepest mysteries of the faith will always remain so.

So we fall in line with John and accept that God indeed became human in the person of Jesus. We are meant to swallow it whole, with mystery and glory and infinitude all wrapped up together.

John’s gospel takes us from this first leap of faith and asks us to take another one. In saying that this “Word became flesh” and then “dwelt among us” John forces his readers to dig deep into their Old Testament theology. It is easy for us to miss things, sitting 2,000 years from Jewish life and worship as John’s original readers knew it.

Throughout the Old Testament, there are numerous places where the idea of God dwelling with His people comes up. Perhaps most obvious to a modern reader is the Garden of Eden where God is found walking in the cool of the day looking for Adam and Eve. However, for John’s contemporary readers, the temple and tabernacle and ark of the covenant would have been the most obvious places to see God’s promise to dwell with His people. 

You see, for a Jewish reader, the idea of “dwelling” would be directly tied to the tabernacle. The word tabernacle quite literally means “dwelling” or “tent of meeting”. In Jewish life, worship of God revolved around the tabernacle and later the temple, where within the “Holy of Holies” God’s presence was found.

In John 1:14 John confronts his readers with a new and shocking reality. No longer would God’s people only meet Him in a holy place. No longer would the infinite chasm between God’s holiness and ours be demonstrated through required symbolic separation of physical spaces in the tabernacle and temple. No longer would repeated sacrifices and ceremonies be the defining feature of the once-a-year meeting of a priest with God before the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies.

The new reality that John hits us over the head with is that God has left the Holy of Holies to come and dwell with His people in all of their profound hurt and grief and brokenness. The Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us flips Jewish worship on its head and points us towards the once-for-all perfect sacrifice of Christ and the one day dwelling with God that will happen in heaven. 

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He dwells with us still and one day we will dwell with Him face to face in a land where there will be no more sorrows or tears or strife. 

We love our manger and shepherds and wisemen at Christmas and for good reason. They reveal the humble, upside down kingdom of God established by a humble, upside down King who rules by service and sacrifice. However, we would be wise to consider the depth and beauty of John’s  eight word Christmas announcement. 

God Himself chose to step out of the perfect majesty, glory, and holiness of heaven to enter into a world that is marred by everything He isn’t. He flips the script on worship built on sacrifice and ceremony and pretenses of righteousness. In dwelling with us, in the mess of the world, Jesus Christ makes a way for us to dwell with Him in the world to come.

John’s short and sweet nativity scene (if you can call it that) reveals as much about God as any of the lengthier gospel accounts. I hope that this Christmas you will spend time in wonder over the Word become flesh who dwells among us.