What does it mean that the Word became flesh?

John 1:14.

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14 is one of the most important verses in the Bible. It reads: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

The Word did not just appear to be human; the Word became flesh.

This assertion stunned the Greek mind for whom the separation of the divine spirit and the mundane world (flesh, sarx) was an axiom of belief.

But the second phrase is equally stunning for the Jew. This Word dwelt (skenoo) among us and revealed his glory (doxa). This verb for dwelling is employed in the Greek Old Testament for the tabernacle of God.

Christ reveals God’s glory.

Christ is the locus of God’s dwelling with Israel as he had dwelt with them in the tabernacle in the desert (Ex. 25:8–9; Zech. 2:10). Hence the glory of God, once restricted to the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34), is now visible in Christ (John 1:14b).

What Does John Mean by the 'Word Became Flesh’?

John, the son of Zebedee wrote the gospel according to John. He was one of the original twelve disciples, and his audience originally consisted of both Jews and Gentiles in and around Ephesus. In John's Gospel, he describes who Jesus is and what He has done.

“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.”

When John says the “Word became flesh,” he is referring to God taking on humanity through Jesus. This means that Jesus is eternally one with God (John 1:1-2) and reveals the Father to us as the only begotten Son (John 3:16). The event John is describing in John 1:14 is the most spectacular event in history. God—being completely just, holy, sovereign, infinite, loving, and omnipresent—clothed Himself in humanity and lived among us in Jesus, as one who is both God and man (John 1:18). The “Word became flesh” not only means that Jesus is fully God and fully man but implies that Jesus has fulfilled all Old Testament prophecies.

The ‘Word Became Flesh’ Means That Jesus Fulfills All Old Testament Prophecies.

If we believe that the Bible is one unified story about Jesus, then Jesus being born into the world—becoming flesh—does not just mean He was a baby born in a stable, but rather the fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecies (2 Corinthians 1:20). Starting in Genesis 3:15 Jesus is said to be coming as the rescuer of all humanity from sin and Satan. Jeremiah 23:5 proclaims that Jesus will be from the tribe of Jesse—a king that deals just and wisely with all. Finally, we see in Isaiah 7:14 that Jesus is prophesied to be born of a virgin, having God alone as His Father, and being called Immanuel—God with us. Each of these prophecies is fulfilled as Jesus is conceived by the virgin Mary (Luke 1:28-38), from the line of Jesse (Matthew 1:5-6), and has ultimately defeated sin, Satan, and death as He bore the weight of the world on the cross and rose from the grave. God becoming flesh means the rescuer we needed in Genesis 3:15 has finally come, and He has come to stay and dwell among us.

The ‘Word Became Flesh’ Means That Jesus Dwells Among Us.

Believing that Jesus is the fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecies, ultimately leads us to believe the truth of what comes after the “Word became flesh”. Jesus came down as a human, but Jesus also dwelt among us and became the greater Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-19). Where Moses provided the first tabernacle and place that God dwelled among His people, Jesus literally dwelt, or ‘tabernacled’ among us—as the ultimate picture of God’s glory and grace (John 1:17).

Jesus dwelled among His creation during His lifetime and sent the Holy Spirit to be with us when He resurrected. In Isaiah 11:2 and 5, Isaiah prophesied that the Spirit would rest upon Jesus, and his prophecy came to fruition in John 1:29-32. As Jesus is being baptized by John the Baptist, we see the Spirit descend and remain on Jesus throughout His ministry. Later, when He rose from the grave, defeating all sin and death, He made way for the Spirit to reside in us also (John 14:15-31).

He not only fulfills God being with His people in the tabernacle and physical temple but through the Holy Spirit makes way for the individual and church to become a temple (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19). Jesus becoming flesh means that God dwells with His people permanently, never leaving us alone.

“All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” - Colossians 1:16-20.

The Word Became Flesh Means We Can Experience the Glory, Grace, and Truth of God.

Because Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us, we can experience His glory, grace, and truth through belief in the gospel. Jesus is ultimately glorious, as fully God, fully man, and the ultimate redeemer of all of humanity. Jesus didn’t just come to be clothed in humanity, but He came to live, die, and rise again for our sakes. His sacrifice on the cross reconciled us back to the Father, fully pardoning our sin and providing abundant, joyful life now and into eternity through belief in Him.

If we believe in the resurrection, then Jesus dwelling within us through the Holy Spirit makes it so that we are fully seen and fully known. This means we no longer have to hide in the shame of our past or present, but we can rejoice in the fact that the full wrath of God has been placed upon Jesus in our place. We may seek to cover ourselves, our sin, and our shame, but in Jesus, we are fully seen, fully known, and fully loved. This acceptance is not of our own doing, but of the grace of God. Through belief in the gospel, we become the children of God (John 1:12) and are given the righteousness of Christ in place of our sin and shame. This glory, grace, and truth lead us to exalt God with all that we have and all that we are. We rejoice in His work, trust in His truth, live by His grace, and praise His name alone.