John 1:14

καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο. This is the gulf which separates S. John from Philo. Philo would have assented to what precedes; but from this he would have shrunk. From John 1:9-13 we have the subjective side; the inward result of the Word’s coming to those who receive Him. Here we have the objective; the coming of the Word as a historical fact. The Logos, existing from all eternity with the Father (John 1:1-2), not only manifested His power in Creation (John 1:3), and in influence on the minds of men (John 1:9; John 1:12-13), but manifested Himself in the form of a man of flesh.—The καί is resumptive, taking us back to the opening verses.

σάρξ. Not σῶμα, nor ἄνθρωπος. There might have been a σῶμα without σάρξ (1 Corinthians 15:40; 1 Corinthians 15:44), and there might have been the form of a man, and yet no σάρξ (Matthew 14:26; Luke 24:37-39). Docetism is by implication excluded: John 6:21; John 7:10; John 19:35. The important point is that the Logos became terrestrial and material; the creative Word Himself became a creature. The inferior part of man is mentioned, to mark His humiliation: He took the whole nature of man, including its frailty; all that nature in which He could grow, learn, struggle, be tempted, suffer, and die.

ἐσκήνωσεν. Tabernacled among us. The σκηνή, or Tabernacle, had been the seat of the Divine Presence in the wilderness. When God became incarnate, to dwell among the Chosen People, σκηνοῦν ‘to tabernacle’ was a natural word to use. We have here another link (see above on ἀληθινός John 1:9) between this Gospel and the Apocalypse. Σκηνοῦν occurs here, four times in the Apocalypse, and nowhere else. Revelation 7:15; Revelation 12:12; Revelation 13:6; Revelation 21:3. There is perhaps an association of ideas, suggested by similarity of sound, between σκηνή and the Shechinah or δόξα mentioned in the next clause. “The idea that the Shechinah, the σκηνή, the glory which betokened the Divine Presence in the Holy of Holies, and which was wanting in the second temple, would be restored once more in Messiah’s days, was a cherished hope of the Jewish doctors during and after the Apostolic ages.… S. John more than once avails himself of imagery derived from this expectation.… The two writings (this Gospel and the Apocalypse) which attribute the name of the Word of God to the Incarnate Son, are the same also which especially connect Messiah’s Advent with the restitution of the Shechinah, the light or glory which is the visible token of God’s presence among men.” Lightfoot, On Revision, pp. 56, 57. See on John 11:44; John 15:20; John 19:37; John 20:16.

ἐθεασάμεθα. Contemplated or beheld: cf. 1 John 1:1. It is a stronger word than ὁρᾷν, implying enjoyment in beholding.

τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ. Cf. John 2:11; John 11:40; John 12:41; John 17:5; John 17:24; 2 Corinthians 3:7-18; Revelation 21:10. Although the Word in becoming incarnate laid aside His Divine prerogatives, and not merely assumed but ‘became flesh,’ yet the moral and spiritual grandeur of His unique relationship to the Father remained and was manifest to His disciples. There is probably a special reference to the Transfiguration (Luke 9:32; 2 Peter 1:17); and possibly to the vision at the beginning of the Apocalypse.

ὡς. This particle does not necessarily signify mere likeness. Here and Matthew 7:29 it indicates exact likeness: the glory is altogether such as that of the only-begotten Son of God; He taught exactly as one having full authority.

μονογενοῦς. Only-begotten, ‘unigenitus.’ The word is used of the widow’s son (Luke 7:12), Jairus’ daughter (John 8:42), the demoniac boy (John 9:38), Isaac (Hebrews 11:17). As applied to our Lord it occurs only in S. John’s writings; here, John 1:18; John 3:16; John 3:18; 1 John 4:9. It marks off His unique Sonship from that of the τέκνα θεοῦ (John 1:12). It refers to His eternal generation from the Father, whereas πρωτότοκος refers to His incarnation as the Messiah and His relation to creatures. See Lightfoot on Colossians 1:15.

παρὰ πατρός. (See on παρὰ θεοῦ, John 1:6.) From a father: S. John never uses πατήρ for the Father without the article: see on John 4:21. The meaning is, ‘as of an only son sent on a mission from a father.’

πλήρης. There is no need to make the preceding clause a parenthesis: πλήρης, in spite of the case, may go with αὐτοῦ. In Luke 20:27; Luke 24:47, we have equally irregular constructions.—Πλήρης looks forward to πλήρωμα in John 1:16. Winer, p. 705.

χάριτος. Χάρις from χαίρω means originally ‘that which causes pleasure.’ Hence (1) comeliness, winsomeness; from Homer downwards. In Luke 4:22 λόγοι τῆς χ. are ‘winning words.’ (2) Kindliness, good will; both in classical Greek and N.T. Luke 2:52; Acts 2:47. (3) The favour of God towards sinners. This distinctly theological sense has for its central point the freeness of God’s gifts: they are not earned, He gives them spontaneously through Christ. This notion of spontaneousness is not prominent in classical Greek: it is the main idea in N.T. Χάρις is neither earned by works nor prevented by sin; it is thus opposed to ἔργα, νόμος, ὀφείλημα, ἁμαρτία, and branches out into various meanings too wide for discussion here. ‘Grace’ covers all meanings. The third meaning, at its deepest and fullest, is the one in this verse.

ἀληθείας. It is as τὸ Φῶς that the Logos is ‘full of truth,’ as ἡ Ζωή that He is ‘full of grace,’ for it is ‘by grace’ that we come to eternal life. Ephesians 2:5. Moreover the ἀληθεία assures us that the χάρις is real and steadfast: comp. the combination of ἔλεος and ἀληθεία in the LXX. of Psalms 89:1-2.