Tuning up the gospel.

We settle back in our seats as the lights are lowered and the musicians tune their instruments. Our study of the marvelous overture to the Gospel of John resumes as we continue discovering how to analyze a biblical passage and elicit the meaning and intent of the writer.

The first melodious notes drift through the orchestra hall as the thematic motifs are again presented, starting with John 1:14. The major theme here is the Incarnation — the Word became flesh. The conductor’s wand waves and silence descends on the audience.

John has told the audience about the Logos, but the mystery of who or what this Logos is has been withheld. All we know is that the "Word was with God" (forever existent), and "the Word was God." Who or what is the Word (Jn. 1:14; CCC 423)? In verse 14, John picks up from verse 1 and makes a startling announcement: "The Word became flesh." What does the word "incarnation" mean (CCC 461-464)? Is the word "incarnation" found in the Bible? What did the Church use the word "incarnation" to explain (CCC 461)?

Word Study: The Latin word "incarnate" comes from two smaller words: the prefix "in" simply means "in," while the root word, "carne" means "flesh." Compare this with the words "carnivore" (an animal that eats flesh), a "carnival" (removal of meat before Lenten fasting), "carnage" (a pile of flesh and bodies) and "carnal" (fleshly). "Incarnation" simply means "being in flesh."

Why would the Creator of the universe become a dependent infant? Why did He receive His very body from an earthly mother? Imagine the condescension and humiliation of Jesus (Phil. 2:5-11). The One who created Mary’s womb was now formed in Mary’s womb.

Theological Note: "Here we come to the sentence for the sake of which John wrote his gospel. He has thought and talked about the word of God, that powerful, creative, dynamic word which was the agent of creation, that guiding, directing, controlling word which puts order into the universe and mind into man. These were ideas which were known and familiar to both Jew and Greek. Now he says the most startling and incredible thing that he could have said. He says quite simply: ‘This word which created the world, this reason which controls the order of the world, has become a person and with our own eyes we saw him’. . . John declares that the word actually came to earth in the form of a man and was seen by human eyes. He says: ‘If you want to see what this creating word, this controlling reason, is like, look at Jesus of Nazareth.’

"This is where John parted with all thought which had gone before him. This was the entirely new thing which John brought to the Greek world for which he was writing. . . To a Greek this was the impossible thing. The one thing that no Greek would ever have dreamed of was that God could take a body. To the Greek the body was an evil, a prison-house in which the soul was shackled, a tomb in which the spirit was confined . . . Here was the shatteringly new thing — that God could and would become a human person, that God could enter into this life that we live, that eternity could appear in time, that somehow the Creator could appear in creation in such a way that men’s eyes could actually see him" (Barclay, The Gospel of John, vol. 1).

Verse 14 informs us that the Word "dwelt" among us. The Greek word literally means: "to pitch a tent" or to "tabernacle among us." How did the Old Testament describe the pitching of God’s tent (1 Chron. 15:1)? What do you think John means by saying the Word "pitched His tent among us" (Ex. 33:7ff.; Num. 9:15-23; CCC 697)?

God had dwelt with His people in several ways (Ex. 29:42-46). How are they similar and different from the Incarnation (Ex. 25:8; 40:34-35; 2 Chron. 7:1-3; CCC 593, 771, 1183, 1197)?

How is the word "glory" related to the Jewish Tabernacle and Jesus (Ex. 40:34-38)? How was God’s shekinah glory manifested in the Temple (1 Kings 8:10-12)? How was this glory revealed in Christ (Jn. 2:11)? How does this demonstrate that Jesus is the new Tabernacle of God’s presence on earth (Rev. 21:3)? How is Mary related to this glory (CCC 2676)? Where else do we see the "glory cloud" (Mk. 9:7; Lk. 21:27; Acts 1:9; CCC 697)?

Theological Note: "When the Prologue proclaims that the Word made his dwelling among men, we are being told that the flesh of Jesus Christ is the new localization of God’s presence on earth, and that Jesus is the replacement of the ancient Tabernacle. . . The great exhibition of the enduring covenant love of God in the Old Testament took place at Sinai, the same setting where the Tabernacle became the dwelling for God’s glory. So now the supreme exhibition of God’s love is the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, the new Tabernacle of divine glory" (Brown, The Gospel According to John 1-12, 33-35).

In verse 14, what does it mean that Jesus is the "only Begotten from the Father" (CCC 465, 242)? Read the Nicene Creed and notice the first lines about the "one Lord, Jesus Christ." How does this explain the eternal existence of Jesus?

What does John the Baptist witness concerning Jesus (Jn. 1:15, 27-30)? Was Jesus born before or after the Baptist (Lk. 1:26-31, 36, 56-60)? What is John telling us about Jesus — that he existed or was "before" him?

What makes up the fullness of Christ (Col. 1:19; 2:9; CCC 504)? What does John mean by "grace upon grace" in verse 16? Most Evangelical Protestants deny that grace is an actual substance, but is simply His attitude of unmerited favor. What is "grace" — merely God’s attitude of favor or an actual imparted or infused gift of God’s very life (1 Cor. 1:4; 2 Cor. 5:17; 8:1; Eph. 4:7; CCC 2787; 1996-1997, 2023-2024)?

Has Jesus been identified by name before John 1:17? With whom is Jesus contrasted in verse 17? Where else are they compared to each other (Heb. 3:1-6)? How do their "glories" compare (Ex. 34:29-35; 2 Cor. 3:7; 4:6; CCC 2583c)? What caused Moses’ glory (Ex. 34:29)? Was the Law devoid of grace or was it a gift of God’s grace? What was the source of Christ’s glory (Jn. 7:16-19; 17:24)? What happened to Isaiah when he saw God’s glory (Jn. 12:41; Isa. 6:1-6)? How do law and grace relate to each other (Rom. 3:28-31; CCC 1992)? Are Christians freed from the law(s) of God (CCC 1963-1968; Mt. 5:17-20; 7:12; James 2:24)?

Verse 18 is deep with spiritual mystery and Old Testament allusions. Some ancient manuscripts refer to Jesus as "the only begotten God." What is a basic attribute of God (Sirach 43:31; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16; Col. 1:15; CCC 32; 241)? Was Moses able to see the face of God (Ex. 33:11, 18-23; Deut. 4:12)? Was Elijah able to see God (1 Kings 19:11-13)? When did Moses and Elijah finally see the glory and face of God (Mark 9:2-8)? Has anyone seen the invisible God or had a vision of Him (Gen. 32:30; Ex. 24:9-11; Num. 12:8; Is. 6:5; Ezek. 1:26-28; 1 Jn. 4:12)? What do we see in the "face of Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6; CCC 2583)? How does Jesus make God known or visible (Jn. 10:30-33; 12:44-50; 14:7-10; Col. 1:15; 2:9; Heb. 1:1-3; CCC 477, 1159)?

The Invisible God: "To the bodily eye, even in its glorified state, God is absolutely invisible. . . To enable us to see God, either God would have to appear in a material vesture, or our own [eyes] would have to be capable of attaining by supernatural means to a bodily vision of purely spiritual substances. Both these suppositions are inadmissible. God, being pure spirit, has no material body, and therefore cannot be visible to the human eye" (Pohle-Preuss, God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes, 82).

Theological Note: "The most intimate truth which this revelation gives us about God and the salvation of man shines forth in Christ, who is himself both the mediator and the sum total of Revelation" (Vatican II, Dei Verbum, 2). Also, "In giving to us, as he has done, his Son, who is his only Word, he has spoken to us once and for all by his own and only Word, and has nothing further to reveal" (St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel, Book II, chap. 22).

With such wondrous themes pouring down from heavenly glory, we remain in our seats as the lights are raised. No one moves. The presence of holiness prevails and the audience scarcely breaths the celestial air. God has spoken — piercing time and eternity — and we wait to hear more. And more there is, for we’ve only listened to the overture, the first eighteen verses of an opus containing 861 more. Prepare yourself for a lifetime of listening and studying pleasure.

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