The Word Became Flesh

My mind can quickly become overwhelmed by big ideas! I love looking at a clear, dark night sky and soaking in the beauty of God’s creation. But if I were obligated to try to understand the universe, the physics of light, space, and distances beyond my comprehension, I might soon find myself retreating indoors to the limited realm of walls, ceilings, and structures I could more readily grasp. I’m afraid something similar happens at times when I begin to consider some of the unfathomable realities of God and his work.

I see this happening during this time of year. It’s more comfortable for me to be caught up in the excitement of preparation for the coming holidays than to pause to ponder what it means when John writes concerning Jesus, “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” (John 1:14).

I’m more inclined to lose myself in the urgent, but relatively comprehensible, demands of a Christmas shopping list than to lose myself in meditation on the incomprehensible truth that “the Word” ––the One who is God––would become a man to bring the grace and truth of God to humanity. Unfortunately, in the same way, when I choose not to dwell on the magnificent realities of a limitless universe, I may miss out on experiencing the awe that the beauty of the stars would cause. By not taking time to ponder God becoming man―the Incarnation, I may miss out on experiencing the wonder and awe this incredible event would inspire. To help us not miss out in this way, can we take a moment to ponder the incomprehensible truth that “the Word became flesh”?

There is much to dwell on in this short phrase. What is this Word? Or, better asked, who is this Word? John’s Gospel account begins by telling us that this Word was God (John 1:1). This Word now “became flesh.” This One, while being God, is the embodiment of God’s Word to us. This communication of God to us is none other than the person of Jesus Christ. The writer of Hebrews explains it this way, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Heb 1:1-2a). When God had something to say to us, he sent us Jesus! This begs the question, what has God said to us through Jesus? What is he saying through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven? It is all part of God’s Word to us! Consider how God has spoken through this Word concerning our need, our sin, and our Savior.

This Word came “in the flesh.” Again, we find a wealth of truth given to us in a simple statement. We can think at length about what it means that God would take on the form of his own creation. That the Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth would become that which he had created from the dust of the earth. That the King of Kings and Lord of Lords would “empty himself” (Phil 2:7) to enter our world through the womb of a young woman and in the humble form of an infant. And if this is not enough to produce wonder and awe, we must consider that as a man, he would suffer horrible humiliation when the Creator was stripped, beaten, and crucified. All of this is brought into view through the simple statement, “The Word became flesh.”

There is another piece of this phrase that has recently grown more meaningful to me: “the Word became flesh.” Consider this linking verb, “became.” There was a moment in time when God––the Word–– took on this unique condition of being.
 
I tend to hear the word “became” as something taking place without intention but rather by chance or as part of a due process. I look in the mirror and see that at some point my hair became gray and the person in the mirror became older. It just happened! I didn’t set out to accomplish it, but nonetheless it happened. However, in the context of John 1:14, the meaning of this word is just the opposite. The event of the Word becoming flesh was absolutely intentional! The Apostle Paul speaks of this moment as having happened, “when the fullness of time had come” (Gal 4:4).

God had planned this moment with complete intent and purpose. Scripture is full of the reflection of this intentionality. The words that God spoke to Satan immediately after his great act of deception, and the resulting sin of Adam and Eve, reveal God’s intention that he would take on flesh. He told Satan of a coming descendent of Eve who would “crush your head” (Gen 3:15). This plan to crush Satan in defeat was worked out through thousands of years as God chose people, shaped nations, orchestrated events, and ultimately brought through Eve’s descendants a son to a woman named Mary, a son who would “save his people from their sins” (Matt 1:21). This child was the Son of God, the Word made flesh, Jesus!

John 1:14 concludes with the statement that the Word who became flesh was “full of grace and truth.” Three verses later John states that “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” The grace and truth was that Almighty God would—with full purpose—intentionally become a man to bring salvation to his sinful, doomed creation… us! Can we begin to catch the wonder and awe of this simple, yet incomprehensible, statement? “The Word became flesh!”