See the Godhead veiled in flesh! See Jesus, our Immanuel, our “God-with-us.” Don’t let these lofty thoughts and considerations of God’s Word be solely an academic exercise that stimulates your intellect. The inseparable connection between God’s dwelling place and His glory is screaming at us that the point of the incarnation—the point of the birth of Jesus—the point of Christmas itself—is that we might behold His glory!

“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of theonly begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
– John 1:14 –

Over the past two weeks, I’ve been considering Christmas according to John, as John gives us a fresh, theological look into the significance of Christmas in the opening of his Gospel. My goal has been to fight against the familiarity of Christmas and cause us to be properly affected by the glory of the incarnation as John presents it, particularly in John 1:14.

Two weeks ago, we looked at how Yahweh dwelt among His people in His tabernacle. Then, last Friday, we considered how the dwelling place of Yahweh is inseparable from His glory. We saw that first in the tabernacle, then in the temple, and finally in Jesus. And so John is proclaiming to his audience that in the same way that the glory which filled the tabernacle and temple were Yahweh’s own self-expression and the manifestation of His presence, so this Jesus is Yahweh’s own self-expression and the manifestation of His presence.

But then John goes beyond even that. “And we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father.” “Only begotten” (Gk. monogenēs) is better translated “unique,” or “One and Only.” And so when John says that this Eternal Word dwelt among us, the glory we saw wasn’t a cloud. It wasn’t a pillar of fire. It was the unique, one-and-only glory of the Father Himself. John presents Jesus, this Word-become-flesh, as the ultimate divine self-expression and the fulfillment of all the tabernacle and temple were. Now, it cannot be mistaken: the glory of thetabernacle and the temple was amazing. But in Jesus, something greater than the temple is here.

John 1:18 says that no one has seen God at any time. Paul tells us He “dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see” (1 Tim 6:16). But Jesus, who is Himself God, has explained the unseen Father (John 1:18). Literally, “He has exegeted” Him. John is announcing that Jesus Christ is the exposition of God the Father. Even Jesus Himself said it to Philip: “If you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father” (John 14:9). Do you want to know what God is like? Look at Jesus! He is the image—the visible exhibition—of the invisible God (Col 1:15). He is the radiance of the Father’s glory and the exact representation of His nature (Heb 1:3). And in 2 Corinthians 4:6, we are told that the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God shines in the face of Christ!

This, dear friends, is what John wants us to see when we read verse 14.

• Just as the glory of God appeared in the tabernacle (Ex 40:34–38), so now the fullest expression of God’s glory is in Jesus.
• Just as everyone who sought God went to the tabernacle (Ex 33:7), so now everyone who seeks God must go to Jesus.
• Just as the tabernacle was the place of condescension, where God met man (Ex 33:9), so now Jesus is where God condescends and meets man.
• Just as the tabernacle was the place where God’s people are consecrated for service (Ex 29:43), so now Jesus is where God’s people are consecrated and sanctified.
• Just as the tabernacle was the place where God spoke to His people (Ex 29:42, 33:9), so now in these last days God has spoken to us in His Son, Jesus.
• Just as the tabernacle was the place where atonement for sin was made and God’s wrath was propitiated (Ex 29:42, 44), so now Jesus is where atonement is made and is where God’s anger is satisfied.
• Just as the tabernacle was the place where Israel worshiped God (Ex 33:10), so now the “hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:23–24) for they will worship Him in Jesus, and in Jesus alone.

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