John 1:14-18

content/bible_journal/john/1:14-18.md

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+title = "John 1:14–18"
+date = "2025-11-09"
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+### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/John1.14-18)
+
+With the identity of the Word well-established, John drops a bomb.
+"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…"
+It was a common belief in the first century that spirit and flesh were diametrically opposed, representing good and evil, respectively.
+The Greek myths are rife with incidents of the gods disguising themselves as mortals and affecting people's lives with their interactions, but for one of them to become a human, permanently, and still remain divine would have been a radical concept.
+For the Jewish mindset, accepting this idea would be even harder because God is shown to be so holy and transcendant in the Old Testament.
+And yet the Creator of the universe, the Almighty, laid aside His divine prerogatives and became one of His own creatures.
+Not only became one, but lived among them.
+"Dwelt" has the connotation of "pitched his tent", which points to the temporary nature of the Word's earthly location.
+It also recalls the tabernacle that God used when He dwelt with Israel as they wandered in the wilderness and established themselves in the Promised Land.
+God's glory was visible to the people on the mountain, in the tabernacle, and in the temple.
+It was also visible when Jesus was transfigured and talked with Moses and Elijah, but it may be that John is talking about Jesus's ministry or resurrection here.
+
+John connects the glory of God to the grace believers receive from Jesus.
+The Son (i.e., the Word) has the same glory as the Father, being full of grace and truth, and from that fullness we receive grace upon grace.
+Like Paul in his letter to the Romans, John contrasts grace with the law given to Moses, though he only discusses grace in this passage.
+What grace does he refer to?
+The gift of seeing and knowing God through Jesus Christ.
+The Word who is God has been made visible, present, and relatable to the finite creatures He loves.
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+* * *
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+You reached down to us because we could never reach You in any manner or capacity.