“The Word Became Flesh” (4)

[John 1:1-4, 9-14]

John 1:14 (first half) says: “The Word became flesh….” I want to meditate on three points centered on this verse and receive the grace it gives:

First, what does “flesh” mean?

The “Word” is “God” (v.1), and “flesh” means human (a person). Here, “flesh” can be divided broadly into two categories: (1) people related to sin — people who have sin or belong to sin; (2) people not related to sin — people without sin or who do not belong to sin. In the phrase “the Word became flesh,” “flesh” refers to Jesus Christ, who is without sin, not related to sin, and not belonging to sin. The word “flesh” can have many meanings, but here I want to focus on one. 2 Corinthians 10:4 says: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.” Here, “our warfare” means the good fight, that is, the spiritual fight (spiritual warfare). And the “weapons” are not carnal (of the flesh), but are the power of God [“weapons powerful through God” (Contemporary Bible)]. Therefore, they can tear down every stronghold. The Bible says, “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,” and here “carnal” means powerless or weak.

The Son of God, the Word, that is, Jesus Christ, becoming flesh can be seen as becoming someone powerless or weak in a certain sense. This means Jesus became tired when He could not sleep, hungry when He did not eat, and thirsty when He did not drink. Matthew 4:2 says: “And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward hungry.” [Contemporary Bible: “Jesus fasted for 40 days and was very hungry.”] When Jesus was hungry, Satan tempted Him three times; the first temptation was, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” (v.3). Jesus responded, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (v.4; quoting Deuteronomy 8:3), and with the Word, He overcame Satan’s temptation. Satan tempts us when we are weak and tries to cause us to sin. We must overcome as Jesus did, with the Word of God.

John 4:6 says: “Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.” When Jesus left Judea and was going back to Galilee (v.3), He had to pass through Samaria (v.4). There He came to a town called Sychar in Samaria (v.5) and, tired, sat by Jacob’s well (v.6). There Jesus met a Samaritan woman, talked with her, preached the gospel, and saved her. We also must, like Jesus, meet people, talk with them, and share the gospel.

John 19:28 says: “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I thirst.’” Jesus was thirsty (He was parched). However, Jesus did not sin or fall into sin because of that thirst.

Matthew 26:41 says, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Jesus went with His disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane. He left nine disciples at the entrance of the garden and took only three—Peter and the two sons of Zebedee—into the garden to pray (verses 36–37). Jesus said to these three disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death; stay here and keep watch with me” (verse 38). But when He returned after praying, He found the three disciples sleeping (verses 39–40). At that time, Jesus said to them, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (verse 41). Although the three disciples wanted to stay awake, their flesh was weak and they fell asleep instead of praying. After Jesus prayed a second time and returned, He found them “sleeping because they were very tired” (verse 43, Contemporary English Version). As a result, Peter denied Jesus three times: (1) he denied Jesus before everyone (verse 70), (2) he denied Him again while swearing (verse 72), and (3) he cursed and swore that he did not know Jesus (verse 74). This was sin. Peter sinned in his weakness. However, Peter repented of his sin (verse 75). Weakness itself is not sin, but Satan and his minions tempt us when we are weak, causing us to fall into temptation and sin.

We have God’s powerful weapon—the Word of God—in this spiritual battle. We must fight and overcome with that Word. 1 John 2:13–14 says, “…I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one… I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” Therefore, like the believers in the Thessalonian church, when we hear God’s Word through the Lord’s servants, we should not receive it as mere human words but as the Word of God, which works powerfully in us who believe (1 Thessalonians 2:13), so that we can be strong spiritually (1 John 2:14). Hymn #11, “To the One True God Alone,” verse 3 says: “Entrust all your life to the Holy Spirit, the Comforter; He helps with the Word and gives the strength to overcome sin.” Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet without sin.” Jesus Christ was tempted in every way like us but was without sin. We too must be victorious in spiritual warfare like Jesus. We all must seek God’s power to overcome the spiritual battle. And we must fight and overcome the temptations of Satan and his minions with the powerful Word of God.

Second, how did God, who is the “Word,” become “flesh” (man)?

Philippians 2:6-8 says:
“Who, being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross.”

Here, “he” refers to Jesus Christ, who is the “Word” and God (John 1:1). Jesus Christ is the very essence of God and equal with God, yet He did not cling to His equality with God but became like men (Philippians 2:6-7). Jesus Christ is fully human, but why did the Apostle Paul say that He “became like men” instead of simply saying He “became a man”? According to one theologian’s interpretation, this is because Jesus is not only human but also God. That is, Jesus is fully God and fully man. Therefore, it says He became like men. It also says that Jesus Christ appeared in the form of a man (verse 8). Jesus incarnated—meaning God came down—and He came as a newborn baby (human). Since Jesus grew up and lived as a common person, everyone thought of Him as an ordinary man. Jesus lived humbly and obediently to God the Father’s will, even to the point of death on the cross. Jesus came into this world through the body of a woman. Matthew 1:18 says:
“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.”

The covenant word of God in Genesis 3:15 says:
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Here, the “offspring of the woman” refers to Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary (Matthew 1:18). How could a virgin Mary, who was not married, give birth to Jesus Christ? It was possible because the Holy Spirit caused her to conceive. Matthew 1:18, 20 says:
“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit... When Joseph was considering this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’”

Galatians 4:4-5 says:
“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”

God the Father allowed His Son Jesus Christ to be born of a woman and under the law so that He might save those under the law and make us children of God (verse 5, Contemporary English Version). Because we are now children of God, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts so that we can call God “Abba, Father” (verse 6). God sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to save us and also sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts so that we can call on God as “Abba, Father” and pray to Him.

Third, what are the results of God, who is the “Word,” becoming “flesh” (man)?

The results are twofold: (1) Jesus became fully God and fully man, and (2) Jesus became an eternal man. Jesus lived on this earth for 33 years, died on the cross, rose from the tomb, and then ascended to heaven where He sits at the right hand of God’s throne. Jesus will return at God’s appointed time. And Jesus lives forever. Revelation 1:18 says:
“I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
(Contemporary English Version: “I am the Living One. I was dead, but now I live forever and have the keys of death and the grave.”)

The statement that the Word became flesh (John 1:14) means that from the time this “Word” began, humanity (“flesh”) also began. The existence of God, who is the “Word” (verse 1), has no beginning and cannot have one. However, when the Son, Jesus Christ, who is the Word, became “flesh” (man), there was a beginning. Luke 2:11 says:
“Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”

Though we do not know the exact day Jesus was born, the beginning of Jesus as a man is certain. Jesus, who is God the Word, the perfect God without beginning, the perfect man, and eternal man, was conceived by the Holy Spirit and became flesh through the descendant of the woman, the virgin Mary. Therefore, on this earth, He had a beginning (birth) and an end (death). The purpose was so that we—who have a beginning and an end on this earth, and who were spiritually dead and eternally condemned—might become eternal beings who live forever in the eternal kingdom without beginning or end.

Therefore, we must have assurance that the Word became flesh. Through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the perfect God, perfect man, and eternal man, we must live victorious lives, fighting the spiritual battle with God’s power. We must awaken and seek God’s power from our “Abba Father,” arm ourselves with God’s powerful Word, and overcome the temptations of Satan and his minions through faith. Since Jesus Christ defeated Satan on the cross, we all should live with the certainty of victory, fighting and overcoming ourselves, the world, sin, and Satan in our warfare of faith.