When God Pitched a Tent Among Us

John 1:14, CEB

The Word became flesh

    and made his home among us.

We have seen his glory,

    glory like that of a father’s only son,

        full of grace and truth.

If the author of John was only allowed four words to convey the message of the gospel, it mostly likely would be four of the words contained in the above verse.

                “The Word became flesh.”

The One who gives life and form to all of creation takes on the life and form of that same creation.  This is not simply an illusion, but a tangible and verifiable reality.  The glory of this event was witnessed by John and his cohorts. 

                Glory.  This is another of the terms that John will define and develop throughout the book.  What we hear and now know at this point in the gospel is that the glory is that of the Father.  The Greek used here refers to the Hebrew term “Shekinah.”  This is the glory of the full presence of God from which Moses hid his face. It is the same glory that filled the tabernacle and later the Temple Solomon built.  It is the glory a few of Jesus’s disciples experienced in the other Gospels’ description of the transfiguration. 

                But for John, this glory has become much more earthly, more enfleshed in the ordinariness of a human being.  However, it is still the full Shekinah of God the Father.  We will talk much more about this as we move through John’s writings, but I invite you to reflect on what we’ve said here now.  God has “made his home among us.” 

Question: How have you experienced grace and truth through your encounter with Jesus thus far in your life?

Prayer:  Lord of All That Is, our words fail us when trying to describe what You have done.  To the extent that we cannot explain it, help us experience your glory in it’s fullness anyway.  Amen.

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people you know had faith in God at one time but have seemed to wander away from it. 

Song:  We Wait for You (Shekinah Glory)