John 1:14

‘And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.'

Now John declares openly the startling and unique nature of the Christian message. It is that ‘The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.' The greatness that was the God of creation, the eternal Reason, became truly human. He was made genuine flesh. The gods were often thought of as taking on human bodies, of dwelling for a time among men, but never as being ‘made flesh'. Always they retained their essential natures. But here was the unique miracle. The ‘only begotten (monogenes) of the Father', the only One Who was of the same nature as the Father, fully took on human nature and became man in the fullest sense of the word. The idea behind monogenes is that He was uniquely ‘God's only Son', of one essence with the Father, partaking of the divine nature. Being eternal He could not be ‘born' but He could be of the same essential nature as the Father, just as a human son has the same essential nature as his father. This destroys for ever any suggestion that He was a created being.

Thus men could see Him, watch Him, touch Him, talk with Him, from babyhood to the grave (1 John 1:1). And those who went around with Him saw Him under every circumstance. As John could say elsewhere, ‘That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have gazed upon, and touched with our hands - of the Word of life' (1 John 1:1). It was to be no fleeting glimpse. It was a day by day contact with, and awareness of, the One Who was the Word. They had walked with Him and lived with Him among the everyday problems and trials of life, and what they had seen had only convinced them the more that they had seen ‘the glory as of the only begotten of the Father'. Indeed Jesus will later explain to them that in Him they have seen the Father Himself (John 14:7).

‘The only begotten of the Father.' As noted it is important to note that the emphasis and emphatic idea behind the term ‘begotten', as with the use of the term ‘the Son' in parallel with ‘the Father', was that He was of the same nature as the Father. It is stressing that He was not created, but was truly God. But as with all human pictures it must not be overpressed. As John has already indicated it does not indicate that He came into existence after the Father, for He always ‘was' (John 1:1).

‘And tabernacled among us'. The Greek word is eskenosen. The glory of God had come down on the Tabernacle of old, but it was a glory which had only partly been revealed, for when He was there the cloud hid him from men's sight. Now His glory had again descended, again shielded in a Tabernacle, but this time the tabernacle was a human body. In this case God only begotten had been ‘made flesh'.

‘We beheld His glory.' Many men have lived glorious lives, some more than others, but always those who knew them best have known of weaknesses that have marred the image. But in this case it was different. Having known Him so intimately that no fault could have been hidden John could only say of this One, ‘we beheld His glory'. There was no weakness, there was nothing that could detract from the image. His glory was as the only begotten of the Father, perfect in all His ways.

These words must not be limited to the glorious revelation of Jesus at the Transfiguration when they saw His glory in a physical sense and He was revealed before them in dazzling light (Matthew 17:2; Mark 9:2; Luke 9:29), although that is included. It refers to the totality of the glory of His life in every situation, a glory revealed in the Gospel that is to follow (see John 2:11; John 11:4; John 12:41). And he is asking his readers to consider this glory for themselves as revealed in what follows.

‘As of the only begotten of the Father.' Some ancient manuscripts have ‘as of the only Son of the Father'. But that is clearly the easier reading, easily read in from the first, while the change the other way round is inexplicable in the early days. Thus John declares Him to be the ‘only-begotten' in the true sense of the word, in contrast with those who will be begotten of God by new birth (John 1:12), His begetting was in a unique sense and from all eternity. He was the only begotten Son of the Father (John 1:18) in a sense in which no other was.

John continually stresses this uniqueness of Jesus. Israel had been God's ‘firstborn son' (Exodus 4:22; Jeremiah 31:9), because He had adopted them as His own. The Davidic king was to be made His ‘firstborn', higher than the kings of the earth (Psalms 89:27). But again the idea was of adoption. Here, however, Jesus is ‘monogenes', the only one of its kind, something unique in kind, an only Son. He was ‘the Son' rather than one of many sons. The contrast is brought out powerfully in Mark 12:6. He alone was of the same nature as the Father.

We must indeed recognise that here ‘begotten' is being used in a unique sense. It is not indicating a ‘begetting' in time, but indicating a situation that always was, that the ‘the Son' was of the same nature with ‘the Father'.

‘Full of grace and truth.' He revealed what He was (God only begotten) by what He was (full of grace and truth). This is what lies at the root of the nature of God. Graciousness, love undeserved, abounding mercy is the essence of what God is and yet always in the context of what is true and right. Grace has to go along with truth, for God cannot deny Himself and His own essential nature. If His grace is to be known it is by response to truth, for the One Who is Love is also Light (1 John 1:5; 1 John 4:8). In the same way the One Who is God's Word to man came with all compassion to sinful men, but He would only prove of benefit to those who responded to the truth. Men could not enjoy His gracious working in their hearts unless they responded to that truth. All men want to experiene His love and compassion. Few want to face up to the truth that He brought.

So the great uncreated Word, the source and upholder of all things, the light of men, became Himself a man, not just in human guise, but in human flesh. That is why John, along with others, was able to behold His glory, a glory revealed in His life and teaching, in the wonder and purity of His life, and in the graciousness with which He lived. And having beheld that life he had to acknowledge that it revealed Jesus' unique relationship with the Father as His only Son. To both Greek and Jew this would be a wonder to be gaped at. The eternal Reason, or the creative, revelatory, saving Word, had become man.

We might here note the progression of thought through the passage. ‘In the beginning was the Word (John 1:1) -- in Him was life and the life was the light of men (John 1:4) -- the light was coming into the world (John 1:9) -- the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory -- (John 1:14)'. Having commenced with the creative Word John has moved on inexorably stage by stage to the glory of the incarnate Word.