JOHN 1:14 - The Word Became Flesh

Introduction

The older I get the more I pick up random bits of trivia that I have no real use for, but just take up residence in my head—all these little random facts piled in one corner of my mind like a drawer full of single socks you always get from the dryer.

For instance—did you know that our Sun represents 99.86 percent of the total mass of our Solar System?? That’s incredible when you think about it—all of the planets and asteroids and moons and comets in our Solar System account for only .14 percent of its total makeup! Everything revolves around the Sun, and if you were to take the Sun out of the center of the solar system, the rest of it would just fly off into the black darkness of space!

We really have come this morning to the absolute center of the constellation of Christmas—the point around which everything about this season orbits: The incarnation of Jesus Christ. That the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us is the anchor point of this entire season; and just like our illustration of the Solar System and the Sun—take the Incarnation of Christ out of the center of Christmas and everything else just spins off into pointless darkness. None of the good things in this physical world that we celebrate—gifts, lights, candles, trees, feasts, carols, fudge—none of it has any meaning if the Eternal Word never entered this physical world and lived here with us as a man.

These verses are the center not only of Christmas, but of everything in your life as a believer. What I want to show you this morning from God’s Word here before you is that

Everything in the Christian’s WORLD revolves around Christ’s COMING in the FLESH

John has been showing us the theological and philosophical nature of the eternal Word’s coming into the darkness of this world. But starting here in verse 14 he goes from theological explanations to telling us what actually happened:

John 1:14 LSB

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

If you are going to celebrate Christmas like a Christian, then you need to grasp the enormous treasure that you were given when Christ came to earth as a man.

First of all, consider what it means when Verse 14 says

I. The Word TOOK on FLESH (John 1:14a)

This event—the eternal Word stepping into time, the infinite God becoming finite, the invisible God becoming visible, the Supernatural Creator becoming a natural creature—this is what we know as the Incarnation (literally, “enfleshment”)

The 1689 London Baptist Confession states it this way:

The Son of God, the second person in the Holy Trinity, being very and eternal God, the brightness of the Father's glory, of one substance and equal with Him who made the world, who upholds and governs all things He has made, did, when the fullness of time was complete, take upon Him man's nature, with all the essential properties and common infirmities of it, yet without sin; (1689 LBC, 8.2)

Here is the way we can summarize this doctrine:

INCARNATION: Jesus Christ possesses the full NATURE of GOD and full NATURE of MAN in sinless HUMANITY

He is not half God and half man—He is all God and all man. He is not some blending of divine and human attributes that result in some weird mixture of the two. He does a man who appears god-like or a god that appears man-like. He does not alternate between being controlled by His divine side and His human side like some strange multiple personality disorder. His humanity did not cheapen or dilute His divinity, and His divinity did not grant His humanity superpowers.

Jesus Christ is God and Man in one sinless person, that is your true treasure, Christian, because it means that He is able

To SYMPATHIZE with your FRAILTIES (cp. Heb. 4:15)

Hebrews 4:15 tells us that

Hebrews 4:15 LSB

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things like we are, yet without sin.

Because Jesus Christ truly came in the flesh and truly lived as a man, He truly understands you.

He really does. He knows what it is like to feel weak, to be weary, to sweat, to feel disappointment and frustration. He knows what it is like to have the Devil plucking at His elbow telling Him to give in and take a shortcut to the good things His Father promised Him. He knows what it is like to sit at His father’s deathbed, He knows what it’s like to watch one of His closest friends betray Him and the rest abandon Him in His most desperate hour.

Because Jesus came in the flesh, He understands what this life is like; and He knows how to live this life without ever once succumbing to sin. He came to sympathize with your frailties, and He came

To LIVE as your EXAMPLE (cp. 1 Peter 2:21)

Every time I read the story of King David, I want to just stop at 2 Samuel 10, where David has defeated the Ammonites and Aramites and the kingdom is at peace. I don’t want to move on to Chapter 11, where David “bankrupts” his life and his kingdom by his murderous adultery with Bathsheba.

But that’s the entire story of the human race, isn’t it? Trace the storyline of the Old Testament through all of the patriarchs and heroes and kings and generals and priests and prophets, and you will find flaws and failures and sins and iniquities in every single one of them.

“The best of men are men at best...” There is no hero you can look up to that doesn’t have a flaw that will break your heart. There is no leader you can follow that won’t eventually disappoint you. There is no mentor you can trust who will not eventually set a bad example or steer you wrong with their counsel.

But because the Word took on flesh, we have an example of a truly good man! A god can tell us from on high how we ought to live, but God in human flesh living among us shows us how to live! Here is the Hero we can look up to; here is the pattern we can trust; here is the One Who will never disappoint us or let us down or be caught in a scandal; Christ’s coming in the flesh is our assurance that in Him the flesh will overcome sin! In this howling wilderness of fallen humanity, we have One True Example!

1 Peter 2:21 LSB

For to this you have been called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps,

But if all He did was show us His perfect example, we would still be hopelessly lost. He did not only come as your example, Christ came in the flesh

To DIE in your PLACE (cp. Rom. 5:8)

A god cannot sympathize with your frailties; a god cannot be your example—and a god cannot die. But the miracle of Christmas is that He Who could not die contrived to do it by taking humanity up into deity so that He could bleed for the atonement of our sins.

Romans 5:8 LSB

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The only way God could show His love for you, Christian is through the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. And the only way that Jesus Christ could die on that Cross—the only way the eternal Second Person of the Trinity, the eternal Word Himself could die—is if He became capable of death by becoming a man.

And He did this when we weren’t even worth saving! We didn’t ask Him to die for us; He did it out of His sheer, undeserved love for us! When God the Son, the Eternal Word spoken by God, was born in flesh in Bethlehem, that word was love. God’s love for hopelessly lost sinners come to die to rescue them from eternal death.

Everything about Christmas—in fact, everything about your life, Christian—revolves around Christ’s coming in the flesh. The Word took on flesh, John says in Verse 14, and

II. The Word TABERNACLED among us (John 1:14b)

The Greek word for “dwelt” among us there in Verse 14 is taken from the Greek word for “tabernacle”—what John is getting at is that Christ came to live in our midst. Once again, the Old Testament echoes through John’s writing here—we are called back to the Exodus, when God dwelt among the Israelites in the Tabernacle.

We read from Exodus that the tabernacle was a canvas structure about forty five feet long and fifteen feet wide with an outer courtyard where the priests made sacrifices at the altar and washed themselves in the laver, the inner court where the candlestick and table of showbread and incense altar represented God’s provision and light amdist the prayers of His people, and the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant resided, where YHWH Himself dwelt there on the Mercy Seat. Everything in and about the tabernacle was a picture of man’s relationship to God—and ultimately it was a shadow and type of Christ Who was to come.

Consider some elements of the Old Testament tabernacle and how it points ahead to Christ. First of all, the tabernacle was

A TENT in the WILDERNESS (cp. Matt. 8:20)

It was meant to be torn down and reassembled easily; Numbers 3 lays out an immensely intricate plan for who carried what items and coordination for how everything was to be moved from one place to another. In other words, it was a structure built for a wandering people; it was a sanctuary for travelers who hadn’t gotten to their home.

When Jesus came to dwell among us, Matthew 8 tells us

Matthew 8:20 LSB

And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

In the same way, Christian, you are a wanderer through this world; you are not home yet. But while you journey through this dark howling wilderness of a world broken by sin, your Savior is dwelling with you!

The tabernacle was a tent in the wilderness, and it was

A HUMBLE place to DWELL (cp. Isa. 53:2)

When you compare the tabernacle of the Israelites in the wilderness with the magnificent temples and monuments of the gods of Egypt that they had left, it would have seemed very insignificant. But the animal skins and canvas and ropes of the tabernacle were the dwelling place of a glory and power that none of the false gods of Egypt or Canaan or Babylon or Persia could ever come close to comparing.

In the same way, when the Word became flesh, “...He [had] no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should desire Him.” (Isa. 53:2) Even today, Christian, the world around you may scoff at your Savior. The grand imposing temples of secularism that our modern society has built to Science our Savior and Politics our Deliverer and Wealth our Protector make your humble trust in Jesus Christ seem pitifully ignorant and simplistic. That you would put all your hope in this life and the next onto a First Century Jewish peasant is looked on as a joke to this world.

But it is that very same First Century Jewish peasant Who today has ascended on high and been given a Name which is above every Name,

Philippians 2:10–11 LSB

so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The Word has been made flesh, and He dwells with you, Christian—He is a tent for your wilderness wandering, He is a humble dwelling. And consider one more element of that tabernacle in the wilderness wanderings of God’s people: It was always

The CENTER of the CAMP (cp. Col. 3:17)

In Numbers 2, God instructs the Israelites to set all of their tents by tribe to the north, south, east and west of the tabernacle. And remember from Numbers 9, we are told that the pillar of cloud that represented the presence of YHWH leading them through the wilderness would come and rest on the tabernacle; a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

Do you understand what this means? Think of it—there was no place you could go in the camp of Israel where that cloud was not visible. And moreover, there was no place you could go in the camp where you were not visible from that cloud! That cloud was the first thing you saw when you stepped out of your tent in the morning; that fire was the last thing you saw when you went to sleep at night.

Christian, this is what it means that Christ dwells at the center of everything in your life. Because the Word took on flesh, there is nowhere that you can go, nowhere that the events of your life can lead you, no storms that can beat down on you, no gloom of sorrow or anxiety that can overtake you that His shining presence is not with you.

Because the eternal Word was made flesh, you are never alone. He said as much to you in His Word:

Matthew 28:20 LSB

...and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Hebrews 13:5 LSB

...for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”

The One Who understands your weakness, Who knows what you are going through because He had days like that. The One Who will never abandon you or betray you—the only Man that you will NEVER regret trusting. The One Who was beyond death or suffering or pain, Who dwelt in unapproachable light from all eternity Who left all of it to come and identify with your suffering and pain and darkness. When you cry out to Him in the middle of your fear or sigh to Him in the middle of your weariness or run to Him in the middle of your anxiety, you know that He understands—because He had days like that too!

He is the One Who understands you, and He is the One Who gives you the strength to obey Him as you wander through this weary world. It is not as though you look to His example in the Gospels—His compassion, His mercy, His patience, His diligence, His holiness—and say, “Well, of course Jesus could live that way; He is God, after all!!” But understand something—Christ’s example was not just an unattainable perfection that will always be out of the reach of mortals like you and me. His example is what He makes possible in your life when you come to Him by faith!

The perfections of Christ during His earthly ministry are not meant to discourage us, as if we are helpless to follow His example: They are meant to give you hope for your own victories over sin in the flesh! Jesus’s example is your promise that a man can be holy! Human flesh can be sanctified! When Christ "tabernacles” in you by faith, it means that His life is living through you! It means you have access to His grace, His mercy, His love and patience and wisdom day by day and hour by hour—all you have to do is ask!

John 15:16 LSB

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would abide, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.

That tabernacle that was pitched at the center of the camp of Israel where YHWH dwelt was a place of glory because of His presence, but it was also a place of death. Animals led to that tent never came out again; the altar that sat in the outer court was covered in blood; the smoke that went up from that altar was the smell of burning flesh, day after day after day. The holiness of YHWH was constantly surrounded by the sins of the people in the camp, and so that altar constantly smoked and the blood constantly flowed.

But when the Word became flesh and established His tabernacle among us, He did so in order to make One Last Sacrifice—the Sacrifice that ended the need for further sacrifices! The one final lamb, the one final spotless and innocent offering of blood before the holiness of YHWH. And when that sacrifice was carried out on the Cross, no more sacrifices ever needed to be made!

This is the question God’s Word puts before you this morning—does the sacrifice of the Word made flesh sit at the center of your life today? Are you resting in the finished work of Christ, Who became a man so that He could die as a man for the sins of all men? Are you constantly looking to His sacrifice—no matter where you are in your life, does His death tower over everything you do and are and will be? Do you measure your worth before God by what Christ did when He became flesh, or are you trusting in the work of your own flesh to make yourself right before God?

Does the holiness that Christ revealed in His humanity beckon you to imitate Him, or are you repulsed by His call to holiness? Do you desire the righteousness that He offers you, or are you convinced that you can be good enough on your own without submitting yourself to Him? Are you telling yourself that you can get yourself out of your own mess without any help from Him? Do you think that He will not understand, or that He will look down on you?

See here the wonderful promise in these verses—Jesus understands your trouble. He can completely sympathize with your weakness, because He lived in this same darkened, painful world as you do. He knows what it is like to be so tired at the end of the day that you can’t think straight; He knows what it feels like to be overwhelmed with weariness and weighed down by sorrow—He is “a man of sorrows, well acquainted with grief (Isa 53:3). And He stands ready to rescue you out of all of your sorrows!

Put down that load of shame and frustration. Give up the pointless struggle to fix yourself. Stop pretending that you are able to satisfy God’s righteous standard of perfection with your own sacrifices. Christ has descended into this world in the flesh in order that you may see His glory, full of grace to forgive you and truth to set you free. So come—and welcome!—to Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION

Hebrews 13:20–21 LSB

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, equip you in every good thing to do His will, by doing in us what is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

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