Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s Old Testament interventions to reestablish his dwelling among sinful humanity. The incarnation in the Bible the end to which the tabernacle pointed, the completion of God’s tabernacling program. In fact, Jesus is a more literal tabernacle than the tabernacle and temple ever were-mere shadows of the reality that was to come. But in the incarnation-the act of God becoming man (1:14)-God’s presence took up residence among us, not in the form of a tent (tabernacle) or building (temple) but now as a person: Jesus Christ. Through these institutions and their animal sacrifices, God dealt with the pollution (uncleanness) of sin, carving out a space for him to dwell among sinful people. In the past, God realized his unique presence with his people through the tabernacle, and later the temple-its more permanent replacement. Jesus is where God’s presence is found and where God’s glory is seen. John continues by saying that “we have seen his glory” (1:14) now in Jesus, God’s true tabernacle. Using Logos’ Text Comparison Tool, we can see that most translations render 1:14 as, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The Greek word translated “dwelt” here was once a word picture meaning something like “to pitch one’s tent.” It is quite likely that John is making a play on words and therefore a reference to the tents or dwelling places in which God manifested his Shekinah glory in the Old Testament-that is, the tabernacle (Exod 40:34–38) and temple (1 Kings 8:10–11). Yet at least one more description captures our attention.
This is the underlying identity of that same Jesus we’ll encounter in the remainder of John’s Gospel. He is called the Word (1:1, 14), God’s self-communication, now in human form. He was with God (therefore distinct) yet was God (therefore consubstantial)-the very grammar that eventually gave rise to the doctrine of the Trinity (v. He is eternal, “from the beginning” (1:1), harking back to Genesis 1-the one through whom God created all things (v.
Incarnation in the Bibleīecause of this, it’s no surprise then that John 1:1–18 contains one of the richest, if not the richest, theological descriptions of Christ in all of Scripture. But unlike Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which begin with Jesus’ earthly life, the Gospel of John starts farther back, even beyond history and time itself. The gospel accounts open up by answering similar questions: Who is this Jesus? Where did he come from? What is he here to do? Like a prequel to your favorite superhero movie, the Gospels provide us Jesus’ “origin story” to clue us in to who he is and what his mission is. When we meet someone new, like when folks visit my church, there’s a set of questions we typically ask: What’s your name? Where are you from? What do you do? These help us get acquainted. One of the privileges I have as a pastor is getting to meet new people almost weekly. Miller shares insight about the incarnation in the Bible that he received from his Bible study using Logos. In the below excerpt adapted from Bible Study Magazine, Pastor Kirk E. I heard from pastors and biblical scholars from Zambia to Milwaukee to the Philippines they offered insight from both testaments. So I asked several pastors and teachers to do this: Share with us an insight from your Bible study. And on those days, I often find that I need a model, an inspiration, someone who will again share with me what he got from his personal Bible study. Here was someone who actually did what we all said we were supposed to do, and his faithful study was rewarded with insight.īut some days I’m not. This happened regularly enough that I took note. He would then come to work (we were coworkers) and share his reflections on that Bible reading. One of my most important mentors earned that role in my life in part through faithfully upholding the simplest of evangelical obligations: he read his Bible every day. Facebook Twitter Reddit Pinterest Email LinkedIn
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