Special Christmas Service 2020 | John 1:14 “Who is Jesus?”

I. Intro.

II. Vs. 14 God made visible in the flesh

I. Intro.

Just who is Jesus? Christmas is always an interesting time for Christians as we are “allowed” to share the truth concerning Jesus with family and friends who normally don’t give Him another thought for the rest of the 364.24 days in the year. A few years back they discovered the Talpiot Tomb with names on 10 bone boxes or ossuaries and spoke of extracting the “DNA of God”. Only one name, “James” was a name that was familiar to Bible readers as relating to Jesus but that didn’t stop the Discovery Channel in March 2007 from airing a documentary called the “Lost Tomb of Jesus.” Later, after the documentary aired, they retracted their assertions due to so many who were misquoted to support the documentaries lies in the documentary. A leading Hebrew University archeologist Leah DiSegni a Jewish Israeli went on recorded saying, “It’s a pity people are so easily fooled and more ready to believe in fables than in reality”. She further said that she didn’t think that the film makers believed the theory themselves but were just out to make money. The tomb was actually discovered in 1980, 27 years ago, by archeologist professor Amos Kloner. His comments about the film were published in the Jerusalem Post where he stated, “It makes a great story for a TV film but it’s completely impossible. It’s nonsense.” When it comes to Jesus people would always rather believe the ridiculous than the miraculous. But this morning we will go to the Apostle John who was an eyewitness as he tells us in these verses just who Jesus really is.  

II. Vs. 14-15 God made visible in the flesh

Vs. 14 Paul spoke to Timothy in 1 Tim 3:16 “great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.” The author of Hebrews opens his letter by saying “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”, that is what we are looking at in John’s words.  

These words of John would have blown the minds of both Greeks and Jewish readers hearing that the Word became flesh. You see the Greeks viewed their gods such as Zeus and Hermes as mere super-men and in no way equal to the Logos or thought of God so to the Greeks John says, “The Logos the expression of the very thought of God who made everything seen and unseen, became flesh.” Now the Jews had such a high view of God He was out of reach. In Exodus 20 after the giving of the commandments and the thundering and lighting they said to Moses “You talk to Him!” God was the One who had parted the sea, feed them with manna from heaven and water from a rock that He would become flesh and make His home among them relationally blew their minds. John in the 14^th verse gives us five remarkable truths concerning the incarnation: 

1. Fully Man “The Word became flesh ”. John is NOT saying that the eternal, equal and essential “Logos” came and:
2. Entered a man
3. Dwelt in a man
4. Filled a man

But rather that Jesus literally “became flesh”, He did not merely possess a man He became a man, that which is divine in nature became fully human. That is Paul’s testimony as well in Philip. 2:5-8 where he proclaims “Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”  Here in 1:14 John gives us his version of the nativity as the word “Became” is in the tense that means “of His own will” so we have the virgin birth form the perspective of Jesus.

2. God with us: Next John says that He “dwelt among us” the word here is “tabernacled among us” today we would say He pitched His tent next to us. In Ex 26:14 we are told that Moses was instructed to take a “covering of ram skins dyed red for the tent” then in chapter 40:34 “the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle” Jesus was the fulfillment of this as He was the “Lamb of God” and His blood-stained skin was illuminated as the glory of the Lord filling His earthly tent. The tent of the tabernacle was plain on the outside but on the interior was lined with precious silver, gold, jewels and fine linens as the glory of God would be inside the tent that was a pattern of what Jesus was while on earth. Of further interest to me is that Jesus was most likely born during the fall as Shepherds were out with their flocks which would have been during the time of the “Feast of Tabernacles” where the Jews would camp out as pilgrims as did their ancestors on their way to the promised land from Egypt it was the most joyous of the feasts of Israel. Think of the symbolism of this as Jesus came and Tabernacled among us leading us out of the world through the wilderness of life with great joy as we are heading for the promised land. Now we are told in Matt. 17:2 that on the Mount of transfiguration some of that glory leaked out so people saw Him as he truly is God the Son. 
3. Light of the world: Then John speaks as an eyewitness saying, “we beheld His glory” which gives us this great picture of what James would speak of in 2:1 saying that Jesus Christ is “the Lord of glory”. If you have ever gone out camping and placed a flashlight or a lantern in your tent at night and then walked outside your tent then you have a picture of what Jesus was as He “pitched His tent among us” as the “light of men” (verse 4) when His glory illuminated the darkness of fallen humanity.
4. Lord of glory: “The glory as of the only begotten of the Father”: The phrase in the Greek is “only born of the Father” which refers to the eternal relationship that existed prior to the incarnation. John’s context is that of beholding the “Glory of the Lord” and here he is declaring is that such glory is a shared glory with the Father. That is what Jesus will say to Philip after he said, “Show us the Father” in John 14:8-11 “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” and “I am in the Father and the Father in Me”. 
5. Portrait of perfection:  “Full of grace and truth”: This two-word description is how John describes the glory of God. Grace is best defined by the acrostic poem:  God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense “G-R-A-C-E” or if you will grace is love giving itself. Truth is the manifestation of all that is real and so we see Jesus was full of both grace and truth. He was the ultimate revelation of what is real in life; and he is the fullest expression of love giving itself, pouring out, reaching out to others. It is what John revealed in verse 4 concerning life and light, what is life if not love giving of itself? What is light if not truth manifesting all that is real? Have you ever said, “I wish I had more light on this situation”? You are asking for more truth and we are told that in Jesus is ALL love giving itself, ALL truth showing what is real, and that tells me that you won’t find Him lacking in either of these categories. Some folks are very truthful but show very little grace and being around them, you feel as though you never measure up to their standards. Others are very gracious but not very truthful and they make you feel good, but they tend to be on the flakey side. Ah but Jesus John say’s was neither “hard” nor “flakey” He spoke the truth in Love so that we “may grow up in all things into Him” (Eph. 4:15).

This Jesus is not WHAT  Christmas is about but WHO Christmas is about! So many tonight and tomorrow will be engaged in opening the presents under the tree and fail to open the present ON THE TREE! The unanswered question is: Why was it necessary for Jesus to be born and come into the world? The answer is that He came to for you and me! Paul wrote it this way in 2 Corinth 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” To open the greatest gift ever given all a person has to do is admit that they are a sinner and then open the gift of Jesus!