We are going to begin a journey through the life of Jesus as presented through the 4 Gospels. It’s going to take a while J. I am going to take the approach of harmonizing the four accounts in what’s called ‘harmonizing’ the accounts into a unified story.[1] You can find a good “harmony of the gospels” version online called the The NET Bible Synthetic Harmony of the Gospels Study Edition.[2]

There is an upside and a downside to this approach. The upside is getting all the details from all the writers into one spot, because they often add unique details that help to provide fascinating insight. [3]

The downside is that each author has a particular audience and a particular focus, and thatinsight from looking at each kind of particular storytelling can be lost in the background. [4]

I will do my best to incorporate the uniqueness of the perspectives as we go through this.

* * * * *

We are going to start with Genesis. Sounds odd, but John’s account – the last on written, the one stressing the deity of Jesus – starts not with a genealogy of Jesus, the Son of Man, but the identity of Jesus, the Son of God. So that's where we will start.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.[5] All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
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 bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”)
For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; however, the only God, who is at the Father's side, has made him known. - (John 1:1-18, ESV)

* * * * *

“When time itself began, the Word (Logos)[6] already was. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”

1. The Word (God the Son) was both with and is God (The Father). Neither of them ever came to be. They just are[7].

2. There must be some sort of plurality in God. This is referencing the notion of the Trinity, of 3 persons with 1 essence. Yes, it’s mystery, but we’ll look at it more in a little bit.[8]

3. The meaning of “ in the beginning with God” in Greek suggests The Word was “front and center” during Creation.[9]

“All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.[10] What was made had life in it, but THIS LIFE was the light of men: the light that shines in the darkness[11], and that the darkness does not understand or comprehend, and has not overcome.[12]

The Word created everything that had a beginning. This is what philosophers call a claim to First Cause. Paul makes this point in Acts 17:24 when he was finding common ground with the Greek philosophers.[13] A basic claim of Christianity is that God made everything and set it in motion. If we stop there, then this is the God of Deists, who winds the clock of the world and just lets in run without really caring or interfering after that. But John doesn’t stop there. God’s personhood makes Him inevitably personal, and as he will show personable persons relate to others.

The ‘light’ reference seems to be a riff off of Genesis 1. “Let there be light” is more than just a command for physical light to dispel darkness; the “light” of Christ dispels spiritual darkness, moral murkiness, truth in all its forms. Jesus’ light would bring clarity, reconciliation, healing, and forgiveness. It would also be this light that his followers would reflect, however dimly, to point a dying world to the source of light.[14]

Adam Clarke suggests a reference here to Genesis 3:20, when Adam called his wife's name Eve, חוהchava, ζωη, LIFE, because she was the mother of all living. Then Jesus was the seed of LIFE (the woman) that was to crush the head of the serpent (the Satan/evil/death) and give true life to the world.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all[15] might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light[16], which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world[17].

John introduces another John, John the Baptist. John the Baptizer had his own disciples – we see later the there were people who were known for receiving “the baptism of John” vs. the baptism of Jesus. But John was not about John; he was about Jesus. It’s a good reminder for all of us who ‘prepare the way of the Lord.” It’s never about us. It’s always about Jesus. In fact, if we become the focus, we have undermined the message.

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know know him (through personal experience). He came to his own, and his own people did not associate with or come along side him. But to all who did receive him – who actively took hold of him[18], who had confidence in his character and reputation (name) - he gave the right to be born/regenerated as children of God, who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of the will of God.

to become the children of God. Same root word for all the things that “came into being” at the beginning of this section. This, too, is a new creation, but a spiritual one.

not of blood…will of the flesh… will of man – John: “For all of you in the back, I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING WE DO!!!”

the will of God - through his own unlimited power and boundless mercy, prescribing salvation by Christ Jesus alone).[19] Salvation is a free gift from God. We have earned nothing. God extends to us his grace. That is our only hope.

Anyone who did receive Jesus (trusted in him, relied upon him, believed in him, took hold of him) – these were His. [20]

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us[21], and we have seen his glory[22], glory as of the only Son begotten from the Father[23], full of grace and truth.[24] (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he existed before[25] me as the first and foremost.[26]’”)

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” – The eternal God stepped into time. The immaterial became material. The limitless took on our limitations. The light that John the Baptizer had spoken of stepped into our darkness. The creator entered his creation without fanfare or ceremony.

“How can the godhead be in the flesh? In the same way as a fire can be in iron: not by moving from place to place, but by the one imparting to the other its own properties but without undergoing itself any change. It causes the iron to share in its own natural attributes. The fire is not diminished, and yet it completely fills whatever shares in its nature. So it is also with God the Word. (Basil the Great)
Literally, he tabernacled among us. The original word signifies building a booth, or setting up a tent or temporary hut. While the disciples had the fullest proof of his Divinity by his miracles, they had the clearest evidence of his humanity by his ‘pitching a tent’ with them, eating, drinking, and conversing with them.[27]

The disciples saw God’s glory revealed in Jesus (see 2 Cor. 3:6–18).

1. First, there was His moral glory, a perfect life and character manifested in His life in exquisite balance.

2. Second, there was miraculous glory revealed was through his signs (e.g., John 2:11)

3. Third, there was the visible glory which took place on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1, 2).[28]

4. Fourth, there was his covenantal glory revealed on the cross, his ultimate act of love and the ultimate expression of God’s heart for people (12:23–33). The Law was full of truth, but it didn’t “lean toward us” like Jesus did. The law was intended to make clear the tragedy of sin and convict us of our trafficking in it (Romans 4:15; 2 Corinthians 3). Christ brought grace to absorb and cover the condemnation hanging over our heads (Romans 5:15-21; Galatians 3:10).

“The word was made flesh. That physician made a salve for you. And because he came in such a way that by his flesh he might extinguish the faults of the flesh and by his death he might kill death, it was therefore affected in you that, because the word was made flesh, you could say, ‘And we saw his glory’.” (Augustine)

For from his fullness and abundance we have all received (laid hold of) grace upon grace as He leans toward us, freely extending to give himself to us.[29]For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

When God revealed his glory to Moses in Exodus 33–34, he revealed that He was “abounding in [covenant] love and [covenant] faithfulness” (Ex. 34:6). The Law unpacked reality, and surely there was a form of grace in that (even just a revelation of truth about God and the world is a good thing). But the NT is clear that the Law was incomplete and lacking; God’s people had been waiting for the fullness of grace and truth embodied in Jesus.

“The law threatened but did not bring aid; commanded but did not heal; made no but did not take away our feebleness. Instead, it prepared the way for that physician who was to come with Grace and Truth. He is the kind of physician who… might first send his servant so that he might find a sick person bound [aware of his sickness]. [The sick person] was not healthy; he did not wish to be made healthy and just in case he should be made healthy, he posted that he was so. The law was sent; it bound him.” (Augustine)
“The word of God became flesh so that we might see that once the wound and the medicine; what had fallen into death and him who raised it to life; what was overcome by corruption and him who chased away the corruption; what was trapped in death and him who is superior to death; what was bereft of life and The Giver of Life.” (Cyril of Alexandria)

No one has ever seen God (the essence of deity; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known (explained and interpreted him). - (John 1:1-18)

Throughout history, God has revealed aspects of his character and nature so that people could understand in some small degree. Not until Christ did this revelation have any fullness. All of God’s attributes, the fullness of his character, the depth of his true nature – all in Christ.

* * * * *

Let’s wrap this up with some implications of the Incarnation:

Value/Worth of Humanity

“Do not be amazed then that you are made a son or daughter by grace; do not be amazed that you are born of God according to his word. The Word himself first chose to be born of man so that you might be born of God unto salvation.. God had a reason for wanting to be born of man, because he considered [you] as someone important.” (Augustine)
“It is similar to when a great King has entered into some large city and taken up residence at one of the houses there. Because of his dwelling in that single house, that city is deemed worthy of high honor. No enemy or bandit any longer descends on it and subdues it. On the contrary, it finds itself entitled to total protection because the King has taken up his residence at a single house of there. So too, has it been with the monarch of all. For now that he has come to our realm and taken up residence in one body among his peers, from this time forward the whole conspiracy of the enemy against humankind is checked, and the corruption of death, which before had prevailed against them, is done away with. For the human race would have gone to ruin if the Lord and savior of all, the Son of God, had not come among us to meet the end of death.” (Athanasius)

The Great King took up residence in the world because He so loved the word, and would not leave it to ruin. The whole conspiracy of the enemy against humankind is checked, and the corruption of death, which before had prevailed against them, is done away with. The Great King so loves you that He offers to take up residence in you would not leave it to ruin. He intends for the whole conspiracy of the enemy against you to be checked, and the corruption of your soul unto death, which without Him will prevail against you, can be done away with.

Hope

“The word was made flesh in order that the flesh might begin to be what the Word is.”(Hilary of Poitiers)

We are not God; we will not become God. But the Bible insists that we can increasingly be shaped into an image that reflects or reveals Him with increasing glory not just in eternity, but beginning now. Every Christmas, we sing, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.” Is there any greater compliment that can be given to us, than when we here, “You’re beginning to look a lot like Jesus.” In is there any greater hope than that is available to us?

Mission

“The Christmas spirit is the spirit of those, who like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor—spending and being spent- to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care, and concern, to do good to others—not just their own friends—in whatever way there seems need.” (J.I. Packer, Knowing God)

On this night of the Humble One, Let us be neither proud nor haughty.
On this day of forgiveness, let us not avenge offenses.
On this day on which God came into the presence of sinners,
Let not the just man exalt himself in his mind over the sinner.
On this day on which the Lord of all came among servants,
Let the lords also bow down to their servants lovingly.
On this day when the Rich One was made poor for our sake,
Let the rich man also make the poor man a sharer at his table.
On this day a gift came out to us without our asking for it;
Let us then give alms to those who cry out and beg from us.
This is the day when the high gate opened to our prayers;
Let us also open the gates to [those who] have sought forgiveness.
Today the deity imprinted itself on humanity, so that humanity might also be cut into the seal of deity.” (Ephrem the Syrian)

In other words, as we become like him, we….become like him. His Incarnation is a model for our incarnational living. We must go and ‘pitch a tent’ among those who need to see Jesus.

COMMUNITY

And in the Incarnation the whole human race recovers the dignity of the image of God. Henceforth, any attack even on the least of men is an attack on Christ, who took the form of man, and in his own Person restored the image of God in all that bears a human form. Through fellowship and communion with the incarnate Lord, we recover our true humanity, and at the same time we are delivered from that individualism which is the consequence of sin, and retrieve our solidarity with the whole human race. By being partakers of Christ incarnate, we are partakers in the whole humanity which he bore. We now know that we have been taken up and borne in the humanity of Jesus, and therefore that new nature we now enjoy means that we too must bear the sins and sorrows of others. The incarnate Lord makes his followers the brothers of all mankind. ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

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[1] Chart courtesy of https://slidesharetips.blogspot.com/2020/06/what-are-gospels-about.html.

[2] https://bible.org/assets/pdf/Peyton_GospelHarmonyV.2.pdf

[3] https://www.stevethomason.net/2021/03/24/where-did-the-palms-and-hosanna-go-in-luke/

[4] https://slidesharetips.blogspot.com/2020/06/what-are-gospels-about.html

[5] “His Word exists and is forever with the Father, as radiance accompanies light.” – Athanasius

[6] “In several passages in the writings of John ὁ λόγος denotes the essential Word of God, i. e. the personal (hypostatic) wisdom and power in union with God, his minister in the creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the world's life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of man's salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah and shone forth conspicuously from his words and deeds.” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)

[7] Hint: This is why God called himself “I Am” in the Old Testament, and it is also why Jesus called himself “I Am” in the New Testament.

[8] “All three Persons of the Godhead were involved in the work of creation: “God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). “The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2). “All things were created through Him (Christ) and for Him” (Col. 1:16b).” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

[9] “arxḗ – properly, from the beginning (temporal sense), i.e. "the initial(starting) point"; (figuratively) what comes first and therefore is chief (foremost), i.e. has the priority because ahead of the rest ("preeminent").” (HELPS Word Studies)

[10] Origen wrote of evil as “the things are not” or as “nothing”, since evil is the negation or the corruption of the good; thus, evil is not included in “all things.”

[11] “Metaphorically, used of ignorance of divine things, and its associated wickedness, and the resultant misery.” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)

[12] Adam Clarke’s preferable translation of this phrase, emphasizing two kinds of life: common, animating physical life vs. spiritual life.

[13] “The God who made the world and everything that is in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth…” Adam Clarke notes, “The Platonists make mention of the Logos in this way: - καθ' ὁν, αει οντα, τα γενομενα εγενετο - by whom, eternally existing, all things were made.”

[14] “In the NT, the manifestation of God's self-existent life; divine illumination to reveal and impart life, through Christ.” (HELPS Word Studies)

[15] Literally, every single part which makes up the whole, in this case - humanity.

[16] “Alēthinós) sometimes carries something of the Greek meaning of 'real,' but it is the real because it is the full revelation of God's faithfulness." (HELPS Word Studies)

[17] The ordered ensemble of the cosmos in its entirety. This is about creation, not worldview systems.

[18] “…emphasizes the volition (assertiveness) of the receiver.” (HELPS Word Studies)

[19] HT Adam Clarke

[20] “This provides the initial definition of "believe" by equating it with "receive." When we receive a gift, we demonstrate our confidence in its reality and trustworthiness. We make it part of our own possessions. By being so received, Jesus gives to those who receive him a right to membership in the family of God.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

[21] “This separates Christianity from Islam and Judaism. The Jerusalem Talmud says, “If man claims to be God, he is a liar” (Ta’anit 2:1), while the Qur’an says, “Allah begets not and was not begotten” (Sura al-Ikhlas 112).” https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-shocking-implications-of-incarnation/

[22] Literally means "what evokes good opinion, i.e. that something has inherent, intrinsic worth." (HELPS Word Studies)

[23] The only incarnation, the only human born by a woman through the power of the Holy Spirit. One of a kind.

[24] Reality; the opposite of illusion.

[25] “Before” is “first (foremost) meaning "what comes first" (is "number one").” (HELPS Word Studies)

[26] Literally, he “I AM” before John, who was born first into the world. It’s a reference to Jesus’ eternal existence.

[27] Adam Clarke. Also, “Here is also here an allusion to the manifestations of God above the ark in the tabernacle: see Exodus 25:22; Numbers 7:89; and this connects itself with the first clause, he tabernacled, or fixed his tent among us. While God dwelt in the tabernacle, among the Jews, the priests saw his glory; and while Jesus dwelt among men his glory was manifested in his gracious words and miraculous acts.”

[28] HT Believer’s Bible Commentary.

[29] Explanation in HELPS Word Studies: Grace is “leaning towards to share benefit."