NYUBF | New York UBF

December 13, 2009
Pastor Abraham Lincoln

THE WORD BECAME FLESH! (John 1:14)

John 1:1-18
Key verse 1:14

The writer of the fourth gospel summed up his Christmas story in one sentence: The word became flesh. This is the simple but profound and most comprehensive Christmas message. What is the word? Why was it necessary that the word become flesh? What did it take to become flesh? What was the motive? How do you understand this concept and apply it? We will answer these queries by rendering examples from daily life.

I. A word about the word: The writer of John’s gospel wanted to say that actually, the word existed before creation (1). In 1:1-2, the word; is the subject and God is the object. “And the word was with (God and the word was God” indicates that the word’s relationship with God was this close; yet maintaining a separate entity. “He” in verse 2 introduces the readers to a specific person (but the author is not disclosing the identity of that person yet, until later). “He” was with God in the beginning reinforces the close relationship of the word with God. At the time when this gospel was written, the idea that the world was made by an instrument of divine agency of word ( developed by Philo, the Jewish philosopher, was widely accepted among the intelligentsias. Philo never thought that the word ( was a person. John wanted to deliver his Christmas message to the Greeks and so he found the way by using popular religious belief of his time.

What did the word do? (3) The word gives life to creation. (We see here a parallel with the creation story in Genesis 1 and 2). In the beginning there was no life on earth; it was empty and filled with total darkness. Then, God spoke the word and life came into being. Through him all things were made and nothing has been made without him. In truth, he is the Creator. The word is the source of life (4). In the physical world, life depends on light, and the same idea is transferred to the spiritual world. The illumination of light could be the light of conscience, reason, understanding, or knowledge. Likewise, the word gives us daily wisdom to live by. The word gives us knowledge. We can understand present realities as well as the spiritual world. The environment in verse 5 is described as darkness in contrast with the light. That tells us that we live in the midst of the darkness of this world. Therefore, the enlightenment that humans receive through the word must be personalized. By receiving the word, we are enlightened, and we can see God in the realm of eternity.

II. The pluralistic worldview: The writer could have skipped John 1: 6-13 and went straight to verse 14, “The word became flesh.” But the reason the author is using John the Baptist’s testimony is to tell his readers that after 4000 long years of waiting, all of a sudden, the promised Messiah has become a reality. He has come at last! (6-8) He is right here in our midst! The coming of the Messiah was no more a prophecy; it is happening now! It is the same thing with Matthew’s and Luke’s Christmas messages of “Immanuel” and “Good news of great joy.” When John saw that this was happening before his very eyes, he was blown away; he could not hide his joy!

The main point of John the Baptist’s testimony was that the true light was coming into the world (9). The word is now referred to as true light. The ancient world was marked by religious pluralism. At one point, Greeks had 3000 gods by one count; just like the thousands of gods in Hinduism today. Every once in a while, some person would come claiming to be the true light; but after a while they all disappeared, and the followers of that person were all disappointed. On the last day of Buddha’s life, his devotees gathered around him and asked him in all earnestness where was he going? Buddha turned around to them and said, “I wish I knew where I am going” and breathed his last. The character of true light is that it gives light to every man. He gave light to the ancients, just as he gives light to 21st century women and men. We live in a time and place where everything is possible. Everything looks good; and everything is okay. Nothing seems to be terribly bad so why worry? First, we must know what we really want in life. Second, we must ask the right person what we want. I think Jesus is the right person to ask about what you really want in life because he is the true light.

How did the world respond to the word? The people of the word rejected the word; his own people rejected him (10-11). But, there were some people who accepted him, who believed in his name. To them, he gave the “power” (NKJV) (“right” NIV) to become the children of God (12). He gave power to become the children of God; so as to give them a new birth. (13). Not physical birth (husband’s will); but born of God. What happened to the word?

III. “The word became flesh”: John made “Cosmological God…Eschatological” (14a). In John’s time, the notion of God’s kingdom was cosmological. They knew in their minds, but could not visualize God’s kingdom into something real. But God became flesh makes this mystical concept into reality; no longer floating in the heavens, but part of our present reality. God became flesh in order to give us his life. This is to say that we now have God’s life living in us. This is the reason we sing, “Joy to the world the Lord has come!” But one day, flesh God would become Cosmo God again on the last day (Eschatological). This is a wonderful hope that we have a future; a reality beyond this present world. We can think past the physical to the spiritual and know our place in God’s kingdom. John saw what God was doing and admitted that it was full of grace and truth (14b).

The motive was love. Love motivates and compels a person to do crazy things for the benefit of others. The purpose of the compelling motive was to save the world from the darkness of sin and death and bring us into his wonderful light. What does it mean that the word became flesh? It means that the word took on an entire new body, without losing the essence. In terms of its influence, it is like a small amount of yeast that transformed the whole dough. The yeast is dissolved, but the element remains in the bread permanently. It is active, efficient and powerful. The NLT says, “The word became human.” Paul says he took the very nature of a servant. Paul meant, he took human form in order that he might be in the service of humans (Phil 2:7-8) When the word decided to become flesh, it was not his divinity, but his divine right and prerogative he had to give up.

The word became flesh means that he came to live with us. It was for our benefit that the word became flesh. It means he understands our sorrows, pains, and agonies. This past Thanksgiving one young man went to visit his estranged father in Detroit, Michigan. But this father’s attitude was indifferent, resentful; he would not accept his son from his heart. When I asked him how his visit was he said it was okay. I could feel the pain and sorrow in his soul. In this case to live without a father is better than to be rejected by his father. He has nowhere to go in this world. To him, there is no love in this world! When he cries, tears don’t come from his eyes, perhaps, he cried too much for the last 7 years while he was separated from his father. Who can understand this young man’s sorrow? Another resident doctor from Columbia University Medical Center wanted to go to church every Sunday. She longs for Christian fellowship, but, as a resident doctor, she has to work most of the time and she feels bad. The reason I mention these stories is to remind us of our own stories. In fact, we all have our own story to tell, one way or the other. My children are growing well by God’s grace. As they grow older and older every year, our parental responsibility also grows. My biggest struggle is that I do not always understand them. Sometimes, I feel sorry for my kids that they should endure me.

Let’s set aside our sorrows and pain, and turn our attention to the word. At times, nobody seems to understand; nobody even cares! He understands our sorrows and our pains. More than that, he cares for you. 2 Corinthians 4:7 reads: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” What does Paul mean by “treasure in jars of clay?” By “treasure” he meant his faith in the gospel of Jesus or exegetically, the word (John 1:1). Paul likened his faith in the gospel to a “treasure.” “Jar” is a metaphor of his person. The earthen jar is made up of a lump of clay; fragile, and often referred to as something ordinary or cheap. Paul admitted that he was just a weak ordinary human being. But when the word came to dwell or when he accepted the word, something happened. Firstly, Paul became a saint. Secondly, he became very active and vibrant and transparent. The word created a dynamic change in him and he became a very influential person for the gospel; his influence extended to the entire known world of his time. 2 Cor. 4:7 is Paul’s personal testimony. (If you read verses 8-12, Paul spoke about many scary things, but his main point was that the power of the gospel kept him going.)

What did it take to become flesh? Firstly, it was a deliberate decision to become human (flesh). It was his choice. Secondly, he gave up personal rights. If he held onto his own divine rights and privileges as God, he could not have become human. Here we have something to think for ourselves. Perhaps giving up our rights and privileges is a challenging task for modern people. Two weeks ago, one couple was getting married. Just before their ring exchange, the groom asked the priest to wait for a second, and he began to update facebook. It was so important to him that he stop his wedding ceremony in order to update his facebook. The power of technology engrosses modern people in such a way that to give up conveniences and amenities seems like an impossible task for them. In the long run, it is feared that modern amenities are going to eat up our mind and soul. The truth of the matter is we cannot always have the word, and at the same time enjoy these conveniences. You have got to let go of certain personal rights and privileges.

Why and how should we apply this concept? What is your idea of becoming flesh? We cannot become flesh in the sense that God became flesh; but we can find our own metaphor of flesh, because what God did was meant to be contextualized to our own situation. God became flesh to identify with people’s real needs.

For us, the word became flesh means, to become like them. Like my mother used to say, “When you are sick, I am sick too.” My mother literally felt the pains when I was sick. All night long she would sit beside me and put her warm hand on me. I felt like I was not sick; my sickness went away for a while. If we look around where we live or work, we can find someone in need of your help. It doesn’t have to be something really big. It can be something tinny binny, but makes a world of difference in someone’s life. This Christmas message should be real not ideal.

Let me summarize what I have been saying in a few sentences and suggest two or three things. The word became flesh is the expression of God’s love for humans. The word gives us power or right to make us a person we always wanted to be; a person we ought to be. We can be incarnated and go in the flesh to a needy friend in our neighborhood or workplace. 1. Invite a Muslim friend brother to your home this Christmas; make a small gift; express genuine interest to study Quran and learn about Islam. There is a time to pray for Muslims and there is a time to go to them in flesh. 2. Hold on to one word of God. In this crazy world, there are always more to do than we can afford. Even to attend worship service is a struggle at times. But even a small amount of time we bring, God will multiply to bless us. My wife always finds to read her Bible in the bathroom. In our bathroom floor always there is a Bible and one book lying down. I dare not remove them for her sake. 3. Practice the word (live the word). The promised joy and contentment you sought for so long is in the word. No amount of Bible knowledge will be sufficient enough to give you joy unless you accept it. May God richly bless you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!