Much ink has been spilled on the incarnation. Entire books have been written about it. Theological arguments have been had about it. But there is something to be said for the effect of the incarnation. There is the “believability” factor that leads to doubt among Christians, that’s certain. But there is also the believability factor that leads to life.   

When the Prologue (verses 1-18) in John’s Gospel ends, John hits the ground running, showing us stories of belief and how Jesus is the Christ. At the beginning, the incarnation drives these stories. If you see him as the Word made flesh and believe, you receive the right to be his child (verse 12). This is the burning question for the witnesses in John. When the God who made everything, and upholds it all right now with his power, walks among you—do you believe? He doesn’t walk among us today, but the question burns as hot as ever. In the Word, we see him. Do we believe?    

The rest of John 1 introduces us to many key players in the life of Christ. They explain the Prologue and set the stage for the rest of the book. They come to us in varied stages of belief and from different circumstances. But all are confronted with the Jesus who draws near, who shows what God is like. We meet John the Baptist, who is confronted by priests, leaders, and fellow Jews about this man he baptized in the Jordan. “Are you the Messiah?” they ask. John had a following in his own right, but he knew his place. He kept pointing to the one who came after him—the one who fulfilled all that had been promised before them.  

It sounded crazy that the Messiah walked among them as God incarnate. But how can he be “the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” (verse 29) if he isn’t God in the flesh? The blood of bulls and goats wasn’t taking care of it for them. The long and painful history of Israel proved they needed something more potent.

But he doesn’t just come as a sacrifice, he comes as a relational person. He comes to “dwell” among his people. He comes to call disciples to himself and walk among them as friends. He comes to call people out of darkness and into light.   

When he meets his first disciples at the end of John 1, some follow because of John the Baptist’s repeated cry: “Look, the Lamb of God!” (verse 36). They see who he is, but it’s a veiled sight. There is an immediacy to their belief, they follow him at once. But throughout John, it’s a process. As the chapter progresses, more disciples join them, but this time they weren’t looking for Jesus. Instead, Jesus finds Philip and says, “Follow me.” Like any good disciple, he passes it on and finds Nathanael, but is met with skepticism. They’ve never seen anything good come from Nazareth, surely it can’t be where the long-awaited Messiah is from? But Jesus is undeterred by the doubts, which only reinforce both his deity and his believability. He had every right to demand belief from Nathanael, but he didn’t coerce him. He speaks to him in the ways Nathanael needs. He needed to see that someone believable could come out of Nazareth, so Jesus reveals his knowledge. He knew Nathanael before Nathanael knew him. And that was enough for Nathanael to hear and believe. He’s given the “right” to become a child of God. Nathanael received him.

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