The Word Has Dwelt Among Us

A devotion written for my church for this past Sunday.

The Word Made Flesh
John 1:1-14

“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” (John 1:14, CEB). There is some wonderful Old Testament background to this passage.

The tabernacle of ancient Israel was a tent, a portable sanctuary that could be disassembled and carried then reassembled as the Israelites moved through the Wilderness. When set up, the tabernacle’s inner place was where the Ark of the Covenant was placed. The box (which is what the old word “ark” means) was gold-covered acacia wood and contained the tablets of the law. The “mercy seat” was the cover of the ark, where sacrificial blood was sprinkled to “cover” the people’s sins (Lev. 16:14-15).

God’s special presence filled that inner room, concealed by a curtain (Ex. 26:31-35). God’s presence was dangerous to approach and had to be entered properly; the two sons of Aaron entered into the presence improperly and died (Lev. 10:1-3). As Pastor Linda reminded us in her Sunday sermon, Moses could only see the back of God because no human could survive a full view of God’s glory (Exodus 33:19-23)

When the first Temple was constructed in Jerusalem, the inner room that contained the ark was the Holy of Holies. As with the tabernacle, God’s presence had a “dwelling place” within the Temple. It was not that God’s presence was found only in that place—that would be to localize God, which is idolatry—but God dwelled specially among his people.

Eventually, God became displeased with his people. God’s special presence---God’s glory---left the Temple (Ezekiel 10). Not long afterward, the Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, who presumably destroyed or stole the ark, which is never again mentioned as such in scripture.

Now, back to John’s gospel. There is so much in John chapter 1 on which to meditate! John thinks about the Word of God in the beginning, drawing theology of God’s creative word in Genesis 1 and the Greek understanding of the eternal truth that underlies all reality. John thinks about God’s light, which shines in the darkness, revealing and illuminating the truth. (The Greek word for truth also means to reveal or disclose and comes from the Greek word for light.)

John also affirms that the Word became flesh, or mortal existence. Thus, John says that Jesus was a full human being. He was an everyday person, born in humble circumstance, who made a living with Joseph, preached and taught around the countryside, and died a shameful, scorned death.

Within that mortal nature, God’s glory dwells, as God’s glory once dwelled in the inner rooms of the ancient sanctuaries. So, to say that Jesus “made his home among us” or “dwelled among us,” it doesn’t just mean that he lived in certain locations around Galilee. It means that the glory of God is present in Jesus. And the glory will not leave, as it did in the time of Ezekiel. Furthermore, the glory of God is safe to view when we view Jesus!  

In a sense, this is the way God has always worked, for God lives among the people (Ex. 25:8, 29:45). But Jesus’ followers understand him to be the special presence of God. “We have seen his glory.”