John does not start with a manger but with the beginning of all things: the Word who was with God and was God. That eternal Word “became flesh and lived among us,” so the child in the manger is the Creator Himself, entering His own world to make the invisible God known. Christmas is not the beginning of the Son; it is the beginning of His life among us.
Not a summary of these passages: the passages themselves. Read them, then come back to the study below.
The study
What the Scripture says
1
Before there was a world
John's first words are a deliberate echo of Genesis: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” becomes “In the beginning was the Word.” But John is not describing the creation of the Word; he is describing the Word already there, with God and God Himself, the one through whom “all things were made.” Before Bethlehem, before Abraham, before the first light, the Son was.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made.In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
The astonishing verb is became: “The Word became flesh, and lived among us.” Paul says the same in different words: the one who existed “in the form of God … emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men,” and “humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.” The eternal Son did not stop being God; He took a human nature and pitched His tent among us.
The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
John tells the sad truth plainly: the world made through Him “didn't recognize him,” and when He came to His own, “those who were his own didn't receive him.” Yet to all who did receive Him, “he gave the right to become God's children.” The incarnation divides humanity not by ancestry but by reception: “born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John says “the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” That phrase is loaded: at Sinai God proclaimed Himself “a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth.” What Israel heard from the mountain, we now see in a face. “From his fullness we all received grace upon grace.”
From his fullness we all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, “Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth,And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
No one has seen God, John says, but “The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.” Colossians calls Him “the image of the invisible God,” the one in whom “all the fullness was pleased to dwell.” Hebrews says He is “the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance.” If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.
No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him; and through him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on the earth, or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.