Christmas Eve (John 1:14)

In Gospel of John, there is a classic verse on Incarnation. Perhaps the best verse about Christmas in all the Bible. John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."

The Word became flesh: The Word, that's what John calls Jesus because God speaks to us in Jesus. Became flesh, God became a baby, a human baby. The soverign holy God became a baby, it's the most amazing thing the world has ever seen. Like you becoming an earthworm.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us: He saw, knew, talked, walked, ate, and lived among us for thirty years.

And we beheld his glory: Glory! Right word for God! His power, majesty, love, tenderness, forgiveness, greatness, and truth. His glory!

Glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth: That's Jesus, a perfect blend of grace and truth. Love and Justice. Compassion and Holiness. Grace and truth.

John could remember that night; they were on a boat in the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had stayed back on land, the sea was rough and windy that night. Around 3am a figure appears out above the water. We were terrified, then we heard a voice; "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid." It was Jesus. Peter gets all fired up and decides to take a leap of faith and go out to Jesus. He steps out of the boat and for a while he was walking on water, but then he was the wind and started to sink. Jesus grabbed his hand and pulled him up, the wind dies. Who does this? Who walks on water? Who stops the wind? We saw it with our own eyes, we beheld his glory. Glory as of the only begotten from the Father.

One time we were headed into a village and there was a funeral procession. We found out it was a young man, an only son, the mother was a widow and now she was all alone and broken hearted. We watched Jesus go right up to her, the look on his face was full of compassion and tenderness for this woman; and he said "Don't weep." Then Jesus walked over to the coffin and the men carrying it stopped. That's when Jesus said, "Young man, get up!", and he does! The man gets up and starts talking. You should have seen his mother. Everyone else around was like "Whoa! Who is this?" We saw it with our own eyes, we beheld his glory. Glory as of the only begotten from the Father.

There was an early morning teaching, so we were all hangin out in the temple courts. People were hanging on every word that Jesus spoke. Then, a pack of religious types come barging in. They were dragging a poor woman, embarrassed and in tears, filled with shame. They said, "this woman was caught in the act of adultery, what should we do with her?" They were so self-righteous and condescending, they were trying to trap Jesus. But Jesus saw through the whole thing, then he kneels down and begins writing with his finger in the dirt. We never knew what it was, some thought it was the sins of those religious leaders or the ten commandments. Finally he stands up and says "He who is without sin, let him throw the first stone." It was brillant, what could they say, it silenced them. All of them left. Jesus looked at the woman and said "Has no one condemned you?" She said "No one, Lord". Then he says the most amazing thing, "Then neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more." Life giving words, full of grace and truth. We saw it with our own eyes.

There are so many examples of his glory in the Bible. So many! But the best example of all is when Jesus died on the cross. Think about it: Here's the God of the universe. Perfect, infinite, holy, soverign God; hanging on a cross. Dying for our sin. You should have seen him: so full of grace and truth, compassion yet authority, forgiving yet just. Dying on a cross, and sin was paid in full once and for all. The cross, that was glory. The glory of God, full of grace and truth. We saw it with our own eyes.

That's what John saw with his own eyes.