Thoughts On: John 1:14-18

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. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'") For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

John 1:14-18, ESV

God is distant.

I believed this for a long time. Sometimes I still do. It is hard to let go of something you always thought was true.

John does not mention Jesus by name until verse 17. I think he wants to create a swell - an overwhelming feeling of passion that culminates in naming the Man he speaks about. I love how the narrative begins with mystical, spiritual matters, because other worlds intrigue me. I love to think about where God is and how He lives eternally and whether or not heaven is in this Universe or another. None of these thoughts are helpful, though, when my mind is on fire and I need grace and truth to put it out. 

“For the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

He lived here. This Son of God who created the entire world, who was with God and who was God, stepped into a human body and lived in our world. We could touch him. We could see him. We could eat dinner with him. All of this is overwhelming to me. 

I began my journey on the Thought Plan with the book of John because it is all about Jesus. I wanted to study his ways and his teachings, but mostly, I wanted to remember that he lived here. That he knows. That he cares. I wanted to dig into the Gospel. And I think that this final paragraph in the introduction to John sums up why I’m here - why I’m writing this blog and why I’m eating up Scripture. I’m doing it because the truth is that God is with us.

Nothing else will ever satisfy me - I have only ever wanted a God who is close. I wanted to be wrapped up. I wanted to be held tight. I wanted to be touched by heaven. It is the deepest desire of my heart, and I went through the first quarter of my life believing it couldn’t possibly be true. 

It is true, though. God is near. He came down to meet us, and in the end, this entire story is about him.