40 Days of Praise - Day 16
Day Sixteen
“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 1:14
When we read the word "glory," because of the influence of European religious paintings, we think of some halo of light or some luminescence that would have radiated from Jesus wherever He went. But that is not what John is describing when he says "we have seen his glory".
The glory of the Word who became flesh was the kind of glory that a father gives his-one-of-a-kind son. That phrase takes my mind back to the coat that Jacob made for his favorite son Joseph, sometimes called "the coat of many colors." It set Joseph apart from his brothers as his father‘s favorite.
So what was the glory that the Father gave the Word, His one-of-a-kind son? The Son was "full of grace and truth."
When Moses asked to see the LORD‘s glory in Exodus 34, the LORD responded that He would make all His goodness pass in front of Moses. Glory is a broad concept in the Old Testament, but the LORD’s response here is worth taking note of because, as part of His covenant with them, He displays His goodness, His steadfast love, His faithfulness and mercy to Israel. That goodness is what made the covenant possible.
As the Father‘s one-of-a-kind Son, the glory of Jesus was displayed in this: Jesus was "full of grace and truth". His glory is seen in the "signs" in the Gospel of John: acts of kindness and mercy, ranging from saving a wedding reception in Cana of Galilee to restoring sight to a man born blind to the raising of Lazarus from the dead.
But the supreme display of glory was when Jesus gave Himself to be crucified for us. Truth assessed our sinfulness for what it was and grace paid the price for us. In John 13:31-32, after Judas had left to betray Jesus to the chief priests and the mechanism for His crucifixion had been set in motion, Jesus declared that God was glorified in Him. The ultimate expression of the goodness of God is the crucifixion of Jesus for our sin. More than the creation of all things, more than the Word becoming flesh, the substitutionary sacrifice of the Father’s one-of-a-kind Son and the Son's willingness to die for us expresses His goodness. Nothing else even approaches the lavishness of this gift.
As we reflect on the virgin birth and the babe in a manger, let’s call to our minds that the Word became flesh because that is what it took to address OUR sin. His glory is the grace that saves us.
Praise Him with great praise!
Pastor Charles M. Butler
“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 1:14
When we read the word "glory," because of the influence of European religious paintings, we think of some halo of light or some luminescence that would have radiated from Jesus wherever He went. But that is not what John is describing when he says "we have seen his glory".
The glory of the Word who became flesh was the kind of glory that a father gives his-one-of-a-kind son. That phrase takes my mind back to the coat that Jacob made for his favorite son Joseph, sometimes called "the coat of many colors." It set Joseph apart from his brothers as his father‘s favorite.
So what was the glory that the Father gave the Word, His one-of-a-kind son? The Son was "full of grace and truth."
When Moses asked to see the LORD‘s glory in Exodus 34, the LORD responded that He would make all His goodness pass in front of Moses. Glory is a broad concept in the Old Testament, but the LORD’s response here is worth taking note of because, as part of His covenant with them, He displays His goodness, His steadfast love, His faithfulness and mercy to Israel. That goodness is what made the covenant possible.
As the Father‘s one-of-a-kind Son, the glory of Jesus was displayed in this: Jesus was "full of grace and truth". His glory is seen in the "signs" in the Gospel of John: acts of kindness and mercy, ranging from saving a wedding reception in Cana of Galilee to restoring sight to a man born blind to the raising of Lazarus from the dead.
But the supreme display of glory was when Jesus gave Himself to be crucified for us. Truth assessed our sinfulness for what it was and grace paid the price for us. In John 13:31-32, after Judas had left to betray Jesus to the chief priests and the mechanism for His crucifixion had been set in motion, Jesus declared that God was glorified in Him. The ultimate expression of the goodness of God is the crucifixion of Jesus for our sin. More than the creation of all things, more than the Word becoming flesh, the substitutionary sacrifice of the Father’s one-of-a-kind Son and the Son's willingness to die for us expresses His goodness. Nothing else even approaches the lavishness of this gift.
As we reflect on the virgin birth and the babe in a manger, let’s call to our minds that the Word became flesh because that is what it took to address OUR sin. His glory is the grace that saves us.
Praise Him with great praise!
Pastor Charles M. Butler
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