John 1:14-18: The Word Became Flesh
Preacher: Josh Tancordo Series: Various Sermons Topic: Default Scripture: John 1:14–18
John 1:14-18: The Word Became Flesh
For the Christmas season, we’ve been working our way through the first chapter of the Gospel of John. And today the final passage we come to is John 1:14-18. It says,
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
May God bless the reading of his Word.
Let’s pray: Father, we thank you for the gift of your Word. And we pray what Jesus prayed in John 17—sanctify us in the truth, your word is truth. We understand, from this, that your Word isn’t just true but the very standard of truth itself. So please use your Word by your Spirit to sanctify Your people. And we pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.It’s possible, at times, for people to talk about something without having a very good idea of what exactly they’re talking about. For example, a few years ago, I flew down to Georgia in order to preach at a church down there. And when I arrived back from Georgia and landed at the Pittsburgh International Airport, my wife picked me up at the airport and also had our kids in the car with her—including a certain three-year-old boy whom I won’t name.
Now, keep in mind that this child had heard all week that I was in Georgia, and now he was helping to pick me up. So, he made an assumption that probably anyone would make who had never heard of Georgia before and had no clue what this strange land called Georgia was like: he thought the airport was Georgia. And all the way home, he kept talking about how he had seen Georgia. Regardless of how much we tried to explain to him that he’d simply been to the airport, it just went right over his head, and he kept on talking about his trip to Georgia.
And just like my three-year-old son was able to talk about Georgia but not really grasp what Georgia is, I believe many people talk about Christmas but don’t really have a very good understanding of why Christmas is so significant. Even if they have a general understanding that Christmas celebrates Jesus being born, they nevertheless fail to appreciate the magnitude of what took place on that starry night in Bethlehem. Yet, as we look at our main passage of John 1:14-18, we find a wonderful explanation of why the event we celebrate on Christmas is so astounding and so significant.
Before we dig into that passage, though, let’s remind ourselves of what we saw a couple of weeks ago in the first few verses of John 1. John spoke in those verses about one whom he—somewhat cryptically—called “the Word.” Looking back at verse 1, it says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Now, as we’ll see, “the Word” is a reference to Jesus. But in verse 1, he’s simply called “the Word.” Just as God communicated truths about himself to his people in the Old Testament through words, he’s now sent his Son Jesus to this earth as the ultimate “Word” that communicates divine truths.
We also learn in verse 1 that “the Word was with God.” A more precise translation would be that “the Word was continually oriented toward God.” This means that, from all eternity, the Word had intimate fellowship and communion with God the Father. However, John says not only that “the Word was with God” but also that “the Word was God.” Now, that’s a monumentally significant statement. Notice that it’s not merely that the Word was like God or similar to God or even that the Word was almost God. Instead, John says that “the Word was God.”
By the way, I love how the statements John makes about Jesus in this verse complement each other and help us understand the nature of the Trinity. On the one hand, John says that “the Word was with God,” implying that there’s a distinction of Persons in the Trinity. Yet on the other hand, John also says that “the Word was God,” implying that the Persons of the Trinity, though distinct, are nevertheless one in being and essence.
This means that all of the glorious attributes that are true of God the Father are likewise true of the Word. He’s infinite and eternal—perfect in holiness, awesome in power, unlimited in knowledge and wisdom, and worthy of all worship and devotion. Just as all of these things are true of God the Father, they’re likewise true of “the Word.”
And this makes what we read about “the Word” in our main passage all the more astounding. Look with me at verse 14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The first nine words of this verse are some of the most important words in the entire Bible and aptly communicate the main idea of this passage. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. I don’t think I can summarize the main idea of this passage any better than John himself does in that statement. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
And not only is that one of the most important ideas in the Bible, it’s also arguably the most profound. God became man in the person of Jesus Christ. As one commentator expresses it, “the infinite became finite; eternity entered time; the invisible became visible; the Creator entered His creation.” Now, it’s important to note that, when Jesus took on humanity, he didn’t stop being God. In fact, that’s one of the most important themes we find in the Gospel of John—that Jesus repeatedly claimed to be God. So, in becoming a man, Jesus laid aside some of the glory of his divinity but never stopped being divine.
I once heard this concept very helpfully illustrated by a man named Paul London, who used to be a missionary in Africa. And in this particular region of Africa, it was so dry that, in order to get water, they’d dig wells—but not the kind of wells we might typically assume, where you lower a bucket down into the well in order to draw out water. Instead, it was so dry that they’d dig wells in which water would condense on the sidewalls of the well and trickle down to the bottom in very small amounts. So, instead of lowering a bucket down into the well, they’d actually have to send someone down into the well in order to wipe the walls with a rag and also sop up water from the floor and then squeeze the water from the rag into a bucket. And there were rungs along the walls so that the people who did this would have a way to climb down. However, this missionary reports that, one day, as a man was climbing down into the well of one particular village, he fell a pretty good way down to the bottom and broke his leg. And someone from the village tried to rescue him but wasn’t big enough or strong enough to do so.
However, the chief of the village was the largest and strongest man around. So, the chief took off his elaborate robe and headdress, laid them to the side, and went down into the well himself. And fortunately, the chief was able to lift the injured man and bring him back up and out of the well.
Now, here’s the important thing to understand about that. When the chief took off his fancy rob and elaborate headdress, he didn’t stop being the chief. Although he laid aside those two items, he was just as much the chief when he was down in the well as he had been prior to that. Similarly, when Jesus became a man, he laid aside some of the glory of his divinity but never stopped being God.
So, that’s one misunderstanding we need to avoid—that Jesus ceased being God. In addition, another misunderstanding to avoid is the idea that Jesus merely appeared to be human. When John states here in verse 14 that “the Word became flesh,” he’s teaching not that Jesus merely appeared to be human but rather that Jesus actually “became” human. “[T]he Word became flesh.” He wasn’t just a walking hologram but a genuine human being.
And that’s confirmed throughout the four gospels. For example, John 4:6 tells us that Jesus became tired from a long journey, Matthew 4:2 tells us that he was hungry after a period of fasting, Luke 2:52 tells us that, during his childhood, Jesus grew both physically and in wisdom, John 11:35 tells us that Jesus wept when his good friend Lazarus died, John 12:27 records Jesus saying that his soul is troubled, Matthew 26:38 records Jesus saying that his soul is sorrowful, Luke 23:26 tells us that, after being beaten, Jesus lacked the physical strength to carry his own cross, and John 19:28 tells us that Jesus become intensely thirsty as he hung on the cross. None of these things could be true of a hologram. Instead, they’re all indications of the genuine humanity of Jesus. In fact, Jesus was so fully human that even his own family and others from his hometown who knew him for the first 30 years of his life refused to believe that he was anything more than a human being.
So, where does all of this leave us? Well, it leaves us with the idea that Jesus was fully God yet also fully man. Some of you may be aware that there were no shortage of discussions about this in the first few centuries of church history. These discussions produced a statement issued by the Council of Chalcedon in the year 451 A.D. This statement is probably the best that’s ever been produced about this subject and is one that Protestants and Catholics and Orthodox Christians all agree on—believe it or not. It reads as follows:
“Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all unanimously teach that our Lord Jesus Christ is to us one and the same Son, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood; truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father according to the Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; before the ages begotten of the Father as to the Godhead, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten; acknowledged in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the properties of each nature being preserved, and coming together to form one person and subsistence; not as though he was parted or divided into two Persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God, Word, Lord, Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the Fathers has handed down to us.”
So, there you go. I can’t say it any better than that. Jesus was fully God and fully man—two natures in one Person, without division but at the same time the essential properties of each of the two natures being preserved.
And I know this is all very abstract, but it’s also very significant for us even as we go through our daily lives. For example, the fact that Jesus became a genuine human being means that he perfectly understands everything we’re going through. Sometimes, we picture God as a distant deity who’s far removed from us and the suffering we face in this world. Yet Jesus actually understands what we’re going through and the challenges we face.
Speaking of Jesus, Hebrews 4:15 states, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus experienced all of the struggles—and even temptations—we face and is therefore able to sympathize with us in a way that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. So, even if you’re tempted to think that no one understands what you’re going through, the fact is that Jesus understands it completely and is able to walk with you every step of the way through that trial. He’s experienced your suffering and felt your pain.
Then, returning to verse 14 of our main passage, we see that “the Word” not only “became flesh” but also “dwelt among us”—just as we’ve been saying. Jesus left the perfect paradise of heaven and “dwelt among us.” This is the miracle of divine grace we celebrate on Christmas.
Interestingly, the original Greek word translated “dwelt” is more literally translated “pitched his tent.” Jesus pitched his tent among us. And the reason that’s significant is because it alludes to the tabernacle of the Israelites in the Old Testament. Before King Solomon built the temple, God dwelled in the midst of his people in a large tent called the tabernacle. God’s manifest presence was located in that tabernacle. Similarly, God’s come to us again in the Person of Jesus, who “pitched his tent” among us.
And let me encourage you to take a moment and consider how amazing it is that Jesus would do that. Remember from verse 1 that Jesus was God. As we’ve said, he possessed all the glorious attributes of God. He was infinite in power, perfect in holiness, and altogether worthy of more worship than we could ever give. He was the supreme Ruler of this universe.
Yet Jesus left behind the glories of his heavenly existence and became one of us and entered the brokenness of our world. Let that sink in. You know, if you simply scan through the news headlines on any given day, you’ll instantly be reminded of what a broken and messed-up place this world is. Yet Jesus left his heavenly paradise in order to enter this messed-up world. And he didn’t even enter it as a king or some kind of important ruler. He entered it in stunning humility—as a helpless infant in a dirty manger in the backwater town of Bethlehem. What an incredible thought!
And don’t forget that the Bethlehem manger was only the first stop on the way to Jesus’s ultimate destination. The reason Jesus was born in Bethlehem was so that, one day, he could die just outside of Jerusalem—on a cross, as a sacrifice for our sins. You see, the Bible teaches that you and I have rebelled against God. And because we’ve rebelled against a God who’s infinitely holy, the punishment we deserve is infinitely terrible. We deserve eternity in hell. However, by dying on the cross, Jesus took upon himself the punishment our sins deserved.
So, the love Jesus has for us is infinitely beyond what we can comprehend. Not only did he leave the glories of heaven to dwell among us, he ultimately did that so he could one day die in our place on the cross. Jesus didn’t just come for a few quick photo ops before jetting back to his heavenly paradise. He came so he could be crucified. And by his death on the cross, together with his subsequent resurrection from the dead, Jesus accomplished everything that needed to be accomplished in order for us to be rescued from our sin.
Of course, this rescue isn’t automatic but requires that we embrace Jesus and put our trust exclusively in him for rescue. This involves renouncing our confidence in our own supposed goodness or in anything we try to do to merit God’s favor and instead placing our confidence in Jesus alone to cleanse us of our sins and make us right with God and give us the free gift of eternal life. By the way, if you haven’t yet done that, there’s nothing more important or urgent for you to do today.
And going back to the main thrust of verse 14—that Jesus, the eternal Word, became a real flesh-and-blood human being—the reason it was so critical for Jesus to do that is because Jesus had to be a human himself in order to pay for the sins of humans on the cross.
Some of you may have heard me compare it before to the way things work in the United States Senate. If someone wants to represent the people of Pennsylvania in the Senate, what’s one of the requirements for doing that? Among other things, one of the requirements is that they have to live in Pennsylvania. They have to actually be a resident of the state they’re seeking to represent. If they’re from Ohio, they’re not allowed to represent the people of Pennsylvania. And if they’re from New Jersey, certainly not. Just joking—I used to live in New Jersey myself for a little while.
Similarly, in order for Jesus to represent humanity on the cross and serve as our substitute and bear our sins, he had to be one of us. He had to be a real human being. In the words of verse 14, that’s why it was so important and so necessary for “the Word” to actually become “flesh.”
So, a couple of weeks ago in our examination of John 1:1, we learned why it was so important for Jesus to be God, since it was only if he was God that his blood would have sufficient value to pay for our sins. And this week, we learn the corresponding truth that Jesus had to be not only fully God but also fully human in order to pay for the sins of humanity on the cross.
Also, keep in mind that Jesus didn’t have to do any of this. He was under no obligation to do anything to rescue us. He could have just remained in heaven, aloof from our sorrows and suffering and ignoring our miserable condition. But he didn’t. Instead, in an act of extraordinary mercy, he came to our rescue.
Just as lifeguards often have to not only throw out a flotation device but actually jump into the water themselves in order to save those who are drowning, Jesus understood that he had to enter our world and become one of us in order to save us. And he was willing to do that.
After that, John continues in verse 14, “and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The statement that “we have seen his glory” indicates that John was an eyewitness of Jesus’s glory. He saw Jesus’s glory with his own eyes, both in the transfiguration of Jesus—recorded in Matthew 17:1-8—as well as in the perfect righteousness and love and compassion Jesus exhibited on a daily basis. Jesus’s entire life displayed the glory of God.
Moreover, John refers to Jesus here in verse 14 as “the only Son from the Father.” The phrase “only Son” in the original Greek language emphasizes the uniqueness of Jesus. Other translations render it “one and only Son” or “only begotten” Son. The point is that Jesus is one of a kind. Whereas all Christians are described in the New Testament as children of God, Jesus is the Son of God in a unique and distinct way.
He’s also—as John says here in this verse—“full of grace and truth.” God’s “grace” is his unmerited favor toward sinners, and that grace is found in Jesus. Jesus is also the culmination of all “truth.” In fact, according to John 14:6, Jesus is the truth.
Then, moving forward to verse 15, we find a parenthetical note. It says, “(John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”).” And continuing into verse 16, “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” The phrase “grace upon grace” refers to grace that’s unlimited and overflowing.
Commenting on this verse, Martin Luther once wrote, “This spring is inexhaustible…it never loses anything, no matter how much we draw, but remains an infinite fountain of all grace and truth; the more you draw from it, the more abundantly it gives of the water that springs into eternal life. Just as the sun is not darkened by the whole world enjoying its light, and could, indeed, light up ten worlds; just as 100,000 lights might be lit from one light and not detract from it…so is Christ, our Lord, an infinite source of all grace, so that if the whole world would draw enough grace and truth from it to make the world all angels, yet it would not lose a drop; the fountain always runs over, full of grace.” What a wonderful description of the “grace upon grace” that’s available in Jesus.
John then tells us in verse 17, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” The Old Testament law that came through Moses was undoubtedly good, but the “grace and truth” that “came through Jesus” are infinitely better. Jesus provides the salvation from sin that the law never could.
And then, verse 18: “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” Even though people saw glimpses of God in the Old Testament, they never saw God in his fullness. Yet Jesus has revealed to us who God is. He has made God known.
And again, all of this comes back to the fact that God became a man in the Person of Jesus. As verse 14 said so well, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” And not only is that arguably the most profound truth taught anywhere in the Bible, it’s also one of the most consequential truths and even one of the most inspirational truths.
Because, by leaving the glories of heaven and entering our world as a man, Jesus is the ultimate missionary prototype. And just as he left his place of comfort for the sake of God’s redemptive mission, Jesus invites us many times to leave our places of comfort for the sake of God’s redemptive mission as well. And many Christians throughout the history of the church have done that very thing.
I’ve always found one story, told by a twentieth-century preacher named Paris Reidhead, to be especially memorable. According to Reidhead, “Two young Moravians heard of an island in the West Indies where an atheist British owner had 2,000 to 3,000 slaves. And the owner had said, ‘No preacher, no clergyman, will ever stay on this island. If he's shipwrecked, we'll keep him in a separate house until he has to leave, but he's never going to talk to any of us about God, I'm through with all that nonsense.’ So, 3,000 slaves who had been brought from Africa to an island in the Atlantic were basically doomed not only to toil in the sugar cane fields under the burning sun but to live and die without ever hearing about Christ. But two young Germans in their 20's from the Moravian denomination heard about their plight. And they were willing to do whatever it took to reach these people with the gospel and spread the fame of Jesus. So, they voluntarily sold themselves into a lifetime of slavery. And as the rest of the Moravian community came to see the two you men off as they boarded the ship that would take them to their destination, they were all understandably emotional, and there was plenty of weeping, especially from their families. Was their extreme sacrifice wise? Was it necessary? As the ship slipped away with the tide and the gap widened, the young men linked arms, raised their hands and shouted across the spreading gap, ‘May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering.’”
So, think about that. These two young men were so burdened for the plight of the slaves on that island, they gained access to them in the only way they were able to. They became slaves themselves. Up to that point, they enjoyed freedom. But they became slaves in order to share the gospel with the slaves and give them hope for eternity.
And in doing so, these two men were following Jesus’s example. Just as Jesus left behind the glories of heaven to come to this world and rescue us, they left behind their freedom so that people they’d never even met before could have hope for eternity.
And maybe God’s calling you to do something similar to that. Obviously, the story of those two Moravians is pretty exceptional. But maybe God’s nevertheless calling you to leave behind certain comforts that you currently enjoy in order to become a cross-cultural missionary and take the gospel to those in another part of this world who have little or no access to it.
As we saw a few months ago, God called a couple from our church—Tommy and Beth—to leave six-figure salaries here in the United States and do that very thing in the Middle East. And maybe God’s putting something like that in your heart as well. Maybe you simply can’t bear the thought of people living and dying without hearing the gospel even one time—and you feel compelled to do something about it and not only give financially to support cross-cultural missionaries but even become a cross-cultural missionary yourself.
And at the very least, if you’re a Christian, I hope you feel compelled to imitate Jesus by reaching out to people who are currently in your spheres of influence. Just as Jesus entered this world in the pursuit of God’s redemptive mission, we’re called to enter relationships in the pursuit of God’s redemptive mission as well. This may involve getting out of our comfort zone in various ways such as by building relationships with people who don’t necessarily fit into our social demographic and who aren’t like us in many ways.
And it may also involve putting ourselves “out there” a bit and taking a bit of a risk in having gospel conversations with people. Even if we try to be thoughtful in the way we share the gospel with people, the fact is that there are always a least a few moments at the beginning of a gospel conversation when our heart is racing, and it feels like we’re taking a big risk and really putting ourselves “out there.” But Jesus is our ultimate inspiration for doing that. The fact that he left the comforts of heaven and entered this world as a man should inspire us to get out of our comfort zones and share with the people around us the gospel message they so desperately need to hear.
So, this Christmas season, as we celebrate what Jesus has done for us in being born into this world in that Bethlehem manger all those years ago, our first response to that should be awe and amazement and worship. But we can’t just stop there. Ultimately, what Jesus has done in coming to us should inspire us to go out to others.
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