The Word became flesh — God moved into the neighborhood.
The most concise statement of Christmas in the Bible. Why incarnation is more than a holiday word.
The episode in a glance.
- 01'The Word' (Logos) is Jesus, the eternal mind of God.
- 02'Became flesh' — fully God did not stop being God to become fully human.
- 03'Dwelt among us' literally means 'tabernacled' — pitched a tent with us.
- 04Glory, grace, and truth all show up in a person.
Read along.
'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.' This is John's version of the Christmas story, told as theology.
'The Word' — in Greek, Logos — has been the subject of the whole first chapter. The eternal Word who was with God and was God, the one through whom everything was made. Now John says: that Word became flesh.
Not 'appeared as flesh.' Not 'put on flesh like a costume.' Became flesh. Real skin, real muscle, real hunger, real tears. Fully God did not stop being God to become fully human.
'Dwelt among us' is a tame translation. The Greek word literally means 'pitched a tent' or 'tabernacled.' Eugene Peterson translated it: 'moved into the neighborhood.' That's the energy.
And the result: glory, grace, and truth — all the abstract things people chase — show up in a person. From now on, if you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.