The Word Became Flesh

MEMORY VERSE: “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.” —John 1:14

JOHN 1:1-14

THE King James translation of the first verse of our lesson has led to a gross misunderstanding of the nature of Jesus and his relationship with the Heavenly Father. The word-for-word translation in the Emphatic Diaglott, based upon the Greek text, reads as follows: “In a beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the God, and a god was the Word.” It will be noticed that this exact translation of the Greek text reveals that while the “Word” was “a” god, he was not “the” God.

This harmonizes the entire account and is in keeping with the statement in our memory verse that the Word—Greek, Logos—was “the only begotten of the Father.” The King James translation, on the other hand, implies that the Heavenly Father and his Son are one and the same person, that the Son is not the only begotten of the Father, which would mean that Jesus was his own Father, and that the Heavenly Father was his own Son.

Not only in this lesson, but elsewhere, the Scriptures reveal that Jesus—or the Logos, as he was styled in his prehuman existence—was the first and only direct creation of God, and that he was God’s active agent in all other works of creation. The Apostle Paul wrote concerning Jesus that he “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”—Col. 1:15-17

This revelation concerning Jesus’ part in the creative work throws light on the statement in Genesis 1:16—“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” The pronouns “us” and “our” indicate that God was addressing One who was co-operating with him in the work of creation; and, as we have seen from the New Testament Scriptures, this One was the Logos, the Word, who later was “made flesh, and dwelt among us.”

Why was Jesus “made flesh”? Being “made flesh” denotes that he became a human, and this was “for the suffering of death, … that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” (Heb. 2:9) By sacrificing his flesh, his humanity, in death, Jesus redeemed the sin-cursed and dying world from death. This was necessity in order for mankind to be restored to life. Paul refers to this as “a ransom” in I Timothy 2:3-6.

The lesson states that Jesus “came unto his own, and his own received him not.” Jesus’ “own” were the Israelites. They were his brethren according to the flesh, and to them all the messianic promises had been given. At that time they were exclusively God’s chosen people and were given the first opportunity to become partners with Jesus in his long-promised kingdom. But only a few accepted him. To these as individuals he gave the “power [or privilege] to become the sons of God.”

These “sons” of God, together with Gentile believers, on the basis of faithfulness in suffering and dying with Jesus, will live and reign with him in his thousand-year kingdom, being brought forth from death in the first resurrection for this purpose.—Rev. 20:4,6

JOHN 20:30, 31

The “signs” referred to in this passage are those which Jesus employed to demonstrate that he had been raised from the dead. He had appeared in different bodies—as a gardener, to Mary; as a stranger, to the two disciples en route to Emmaus; and to Thomas, with nail prints in his hands, etc. None of these appearances displayed his new, divine body, for this was invisible. His appearances were, as John explains, “signs,” to demonstrate the fact of his resurrection, and thus to establish that he was truly the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. It was necessary for the disciples to be convinced of this point in order later to be witnesses and ambassadors of Christ.

QUESTIONS

In what way does the King James translation of John 1:1 misrepresent the truth concerning the prehuman existence of Jesus?

How does the expression, “Let us make man in our image,” harmonize with our lesson?

Why was Jesus “made flesh”?

What are the “signs” referred to in John 20:30,31?

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