| 1 | Became flesh: Or, made flesh. Jesus became a perfect human, a true anthropoid. (Romans 5:14, 18, 19) Compare Philippians 2:6, 7 and Hebrews 5:7. He was not a spirit inhabiting a fleshly body as an illusion. (1 John 1:1-3) Nor, is he ever called a god-man though THEOS-ANTHROPOS is an easy construction to create. It is clear from John’s Gospel that the phrase “the Word became flesh” did not mean that Jesus first came into existence at his human birth [conception] for the beloved apostle surely teaches his pre-existence. See notes beginning at John 1:15. See Biblical Articles under the subject of pre-existence. |
| 2 | Tented: Or, resided, dwelt, pitched his tent, lived among. |
| 3 | Glory: This “glory” (DOXA) was not that of God (Isaiah 42:8; 48:11) but of the only son of a father. (John 17:5) |
| 4 | Only-begotten: The Greek is MONOGENOUS, that is the only one genetically related to, monogenetic. Compare Luke 8:42; John 1:18; 3:16, 18; Hebrews 11:17; 1 John 4:9. |
| 5 | Unmerited favor: The Greek is CHARITOS [charity] is rooted in “favor” and here means a kindness [charity] which is not deserved. The Latin is GRATIA and so a Spanish translation is gracias. The occurrences of the word in John are all in this immediate context. |
| 6 | Truth: The Greek is ALETHEIA [the name Aletheia]. It occurs 247 times in the Bible and 25 times in John more often than any other book in the Christian Bible. |
Today we begin to examine the Gospel of John the beloved apostle. We choose John 1:14 as the theme verse of chapter one – The Father’s Spokesman. John introduces Christ, describing him as the divine word and creative agent. [1-3] This “word” was both light and life. [3-5] John the Baptist was a witness regarding this Light. [6-8] His own people reacted in two ways to this True Light. [9-13] As the Word he was the only-begotten god who explains the Father. [14-18]
A voice came out of the desert making “the Way of Jehovah straight.” [19-28] John the Baptist testified regarding the Lamb as to what he saw and Christ’s baptism. [29-34] The very first disciples are described as they begin to accept Jesus. [35-51] They call him Lamb, Rabbi, Messiah, and the King of Israel.
Abba our Father bless those who receive Christ as God’s Spokesman.
