¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
¹⁵ (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.
– John 1:14, The Message
Thoughts
- The Tragedy of Rejection (10-11): The Creator goes unrecognized by His creation as foretold by Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.* Though God nurtured Israel as His own, they rebelled against Him like a willful child Hosea 11:1-2. Acts 7:51,52
- Invitation to Adoption (12-13): Christ brings about a new kind of sonship—a miraculous, spiritual heart transplant: Ezekiel 36: 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Our new identity enables us to taste the true freedom of our “forever family.” Galatians 4:4-7 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God's child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
- Immanuel: God with Us (14): Greek “dwelling” (skeno’o) means pitching a tent. Exodus 40:34,35 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. The shekinah glory of the Lord was tucked away in a tent amidst the 12 tribes, but now His glorious grace and truth is out in the open to His 12 disciples. Colossians 2:9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. This Undercover King serves his people in absolute humility. John experienced His Glory fully unveiled at the Transfiguration. Matthew 17:1-13
- A Gusher of Grace (15-18): Christ reveals the overflowing love that is the heart of the Law. Titus 3:4-7. He doesn’t replace the Law, He fulfills it. Where Moses could only reflect God’s glory, Jesus radiates glory. If we wish to see God, we look to Jesus, who is God. John 14:8-10.*
Reflections
In a town that worships what has been made, the Maker welcomes you to your “forever family,” and the utter relief of total acceptance. Q. Have you rejected, or been rejected by, someone? Receive Christ’s grace and truth into your own heart to bring healing and reconciliation! Remember: you are a son of the King!
