Scripture

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt {tabernacled} among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

~John 1:14, LSB

Quote

Everything can be divided between God and not God; Supernatural and Natural; Uncreated and created; infinite and finite.

~Ya’akov

I realize that it is not Christmas but as I was cleaning out my desk I found these notes that were written when Payton Manning played for the Colts. June has always loved Payton and she talked me into taking her to see him play when the Colts came to Nashville. I did not record the date but I think it was December of 2011. I remember paying over $200 for each ticket and we were in the corner of the in zone which is not a good place to sit. The game was sold out and we sat in the midst of a bunch of drunks. They drank the entire time. If they were not asking you to let them by to get another beer, it was to go to the rest room. We thought we would be relaxing in box seats but in reality, we had to stand most of the time, either to see or let the drunks pass. It was a cold Monday night. I don’t think the temp got below 40 degrees but we were right beside the river and the wind was blowing. We had on layers of clothes and foot and hand warmers but we were still miserably cold. The drunks all around us seems warm: I think they were beyond feeling. Way across the stadium and up high was a row of sky boxes. Behind these glass windows sat the rich and famous. They were in a different world. They were not cold, they didn’t have drunks annoying them, they had room service, private rest rooms, etc.

There is an infinite gulf between God and man; between the created and uncreated; between the natural and the super natural. In the incarnation, Jesus crossed this infinite gulf. He came to us when we could not possibly go to Him. This is the essence of the incarnation–God with us. We could see Him, touch Him, hear Him and behold His glory. He literally pitched His tent among us. In other words, Jesus left the sky box and came down to where we were sitting: amongst the drunks, vulgar language, disrespect, ingratitude, the bitter cold, and the hard seats. He left the riches of glory to come to the poor and lost. He came to seek us and save us.

The word ‘dwelt’ in John 1:14 could be translated ‘tabernacled’. In other words, Jesus pitched His tent among us. This is why the Old Testament Tabernacle was always located in the middle of the camp. But there is more to the story: the tabernacle was very plain on the outside. The outside was made of badger skins and goat skins but on the inside, there was pure gold. The glory of the Tabernacle was on the inside. According to Isaiah’s prophecy, “There was nothing beautiful or majestic about Jesus appearance, nothing to attract us to Him.” He was plain on the outside but full of glory on the inside. Jesus did not come to drag His deity in the dirt; He came to elevate us. To make it possible for us to be seated in the sky box. O what a Savior!

Extra

I knew both of these things last Friday but forgot to share them. LORD willing, I will be going with Joe David to Israel next year as the Bible teacher and I will be in REVIVAL at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church May 21-24. Chris Martin is pastor. Prayer partners: you have a new assignment.