The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

God’s love for us is profoundly demonstrated in that moment in time known as the incarnation. What do we mean by this term? Simply, we mean that God the Son did not consider equality with God as something to be tightly gripped but rather, he emptied himself, and was made in human likeness. This of course is impossible for us to comprehend or understand and yet it indeed is the miracle at the heart of Christmas. John said the Word (God the Son) become flesh and made his dwelling among us. Literally apparently the word used here is “tabernacled.” God the Son tabernacled with us. This of course, is not a term we throw around much, but it has a rich biblical history that illuminates what is being said here. The allusion is to a time in Israel’s history were God’s presence was localised in the tabernacle as the people wondered through the wilderness during the time of the exodus. When the cloud was present over that place Moses was not allowed to enter because of the glory of the Lord (Exodus 40). So John is saying in a similar way to how God made his presence felt in the tabernacle of old- so too in Jesus- all the glory of the Lord was present in his Son. Elsewhere Jesus is called the Emmanuel- God with us, so that in the Word made flesh- God has gloriously made himself present with us. Jesus of course is God’s king, our Messiah and at Christmas time we celebrate this unique identification with us his people and look forward to the day when his reign and rule will be more fully present in his second coming.

I pray that this Christmas you might know that God has come near in the person of his Son. I pray that you might truly set apart Christ as Lord and worship him as God- in that there is life.

Grace and peace from Marcus