The Word Made Flesh

Jesus is the ‘Logos’ made flesh, the Greater Tabernacle where the Glory of God is revealed for all men to behold – John 1:14.

The Prologue of John’s Gospel presents key themes of the Book: The declaration that Jesus is the Word made flesh.” Life and Light are revealed in him. Christ is the true “Tabernacle” where God’s “Glory” resides, not the Tent in the Wilderness. What was anticipated in the History of Israel has become reality in the “only born Son” of God.

[Photo by Valery Sysoev on Unsplash]

Since his Death and Resurrection, Jesus is the place where the presence of God meets His People and God manifests His Glory to His children. Christ is the substance foreshadowed by the ancient “Tent of Meeting”:

• “It will be a continual burnt-offering throughout your generations at the door of the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh, where I will meet with you, to speak to you. And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the Tent will be sanctified by my glory” – (Exodus 29:42-43).

• “The Word became flesh and tented among us. And we beheld his glory, glory as of the only born from the Father), full of grace and truth” – (John 1:14).

The man from Nazareth is the “Word made flesh,” the full expression of the Living God unveiled in his words, deeds, Death, and Resurrection. He is the only means for accessing and knowing the Father. In the truest sense, the ‘Logos’ (λογος) has been “incarnated,” in-fleshed in Christ.

This Divine Glory is no longer confined to the physical walls of the Tabernacle or Temple “made with hands” or mediated by the Aaronic Priesthood. Every member of God’s people sees His Glory displayed in Jesus - (John 1:14, 1:47-51, 2:13-22, 4:20-24, 14:6-9).

The description of the “Word tabernacling among us” echoes the incident at Mount Sinai when God inscribed His Ten “words” on stone tablets. The Word of God is now written in “flesh” in Jesus of Nazareth, God’s “grace and truth.”

The Greek verb translated as “tabernacled” in John 1:14 is ‘skénoō’, meaning “to tabernacle, pitch a tent.” It is related to the noun ‘skéné’ or “tent,” the same term used in the Greek Septuagint translation of the Book of Exodus for the “Tabernacle” carried by the Levites in the Wilderness, as well as for the “Tent of Meeting.”

God commanded Moses to “construct a Sanctuary for me that I may dwell among you,” a portable structure fashioned “according to all that I am going to show you, the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings.”

• In obedience, the Great Lawgiver “proceeded to take a tent and pitch it by itself outside the camp <…> and he called it, the Tent of Meeting <…> It came to pass, that when Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud came down and stood at the opening of the tent” - (Exodus 25:8-9, 33:7-11).

What the Tabernacle and the later Jerusalem Temple foreshadowed finds its substance and fulfillment as God reveals His Nature and Glory in Jesus Christ.

GRACE AND TRUTH

In the Septuagint version of Exodus, several times the “Tent” is called the ‘skéné martyriou’ or “Tent of Witness.” It was the place where the presence of Yahweh was seen in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Now, the God of Israel dwells among His People in His Son, who bears witness of all that he has seen and heard from his Father - (Exodus 40:34-35, Numbers 9:15-23):

• “He that has seen me has seen the Father <…> The words that I say to you I speak not from myself, but the Father who abides in me does his works” – (John 14:9-10).

John declared: “We beheld his glory <…> full of grace and truth.” This clause uses further imagery from the story in Exodus. Moses asked to see God’s “glory,” but no man could “see my face and live.” Therefore, He placed Moses in the “cleft of a rock” as He passed by, permitting him only to see His “backside,” all while proclaiming, “Yahweh, Yahweh, a God of compassion and grace, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness and faithfulness” - (Exodus 33:17-23, 34:1-6).

The glory of God is revealed in Jesus Christ. However, unlike Moses, his disciples see the true glory of God in His Son, not just His “backside,” a glory comparable to that of “an only born from a father.” The splendor glimpsed momentarily by Moses is disclosed fully and manifested permanently in Jesus the Nazarene.

As the Apostle Paul explained to the Church of Corinth: “Seeing it is God, that said, Light will shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” – (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Jesus declared that he who has seen the Son “has seen the Father.” Moreover, the Son of God is the only way for any man or woman to enter the presence of God. Even the angels of Heaven are now seen “ascending and descending on the Son of Man” - (John 1:51, 14:6-7, 17:24).

The old Tabernacle was glorious and revealed much about the nature of God. Nevertheless, its glory and access to it were limited and faded over time. In contrast, the glory found in Jesus is full, visible, permanent, and available for anyone to behold, believe, and embrace.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the ‘Logos’ or “Word made flesh,” is the “way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him.” He is the Living Word of God manifested in a flesh-and-blood human being.

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SEE ALSO:

• The Salvation of Yahweh - (‘Jesus’ means ‘Yahweh saves.’ In the man from Nazareth, the salvation promised by the God of Israel arrived in all its glory)

• The Son of Abraham - (Jesus is the true Son of Abraham, the heir of the promises, the Anointed One who fulfills and implements the inheritance for his people)

• David's Son - (Jesus is the son of David and heir to the Messianic Throne, the beloved Son of God, and the Suffering Servant of Yahweh)

• Grace and Truth - (The Gospel of John begins by introducing key themes that are expanded in the body of the book - Life, Light, Witness, Truth, and Grace)