Seeing the Unseen God

The Prologue to the Gospel of John introduces key themes of the Book, including Life, Light, Witness, Truth, Glory, and Grace.  Jesus of Nazareth is the Light of the world, the source of Grace and Truth, the True Tabernacle in whom God dwells, the only born Son of God, and the only one who has seen the Father. The Prologue concludes by declaring that the Son is the only one qualified to interpret God since he alone has seen the Unseen God.

The Prologue concludes with a significant contrast with Moses. Not only is Jesus the one in whom men find “grace and truth, but he alone can disclose and explain the Father. He reveals God and makes Him known to humanity (“He is in the bosom of the Father, he interpreted” - John 1:14-18).

[Photo by Pascal Debrunner on Unsplash]

The Greek term translated as “interpreted” is the verb exégeomai. It means to “lead out, explain, interpret.” Here, it has no direct object in the Greek clause, no “him” after “interpreted.” The verb is used intransitively, and the statement is open-ended.

The One in whom the “Word became flesh” is the final interpreter of all things that relate to God. He is the one in whom the nature of God is manifested for all men to see, and he alone “interprets” information about Him. No one else is qualified to do so.

The clause translated as “only born Son” expands on Verse 14 - “We beheld his glory, a glory as of an only born from a father, full of grace and truth.” He is the one who unveils and provides “grace and truth,” and in the Gospel of John, Jesus reveals the unseen God to his disciples - (“He who has seen me has seen the Father!” - John 6:46, 8:38, 14:7-9, 15:24).

Jesus is not simply another in a long line of prophets but the ultimate living expression of God. The Father can be found and comprehended only through him. John’s Gospel does not present a Messiah identical to the Father, but one who knows and reveals the Living and True God. Therefore, anyone who has “seen” Jesus has “seen” the Father, and from him receives “Grace and Truth.”

This latter phrase contrasts the “only born Son” with the Mosaic legislation. All things were made according to the “Word,” the ‘Logos’ now manifested in Jesus Christ, and not the Torah.

The Mosaic Law certainly had its place and purpose in God’s redemptive plan, and John does not denigrate or minimize it. However, it has been surpassed by the fullness and glory of the “Word made flesh.” Light and Life are found only in Jesus, the one in whom God’s “glory” is revealed.

In the Book of Exodus, Moses was only permitted to see the “backside,” the afterglow of God’s glory while he remained hidden in the hollow of a rock. In contrast, Jesus dwells in God’s very “bosom,” therefore, he is the only one who can “declare” and explain the “unseen God,” and he does so openly - (Exodus 33:17-22).

The “Word made flesh” is the True Tabernacle where the presence of God dwells, not the portable tent carried by Israel in the Wilderness or the Temple “made with hands” in Jerusalem.

John’s Prologue highlights the full and final revelation of God that is seen in Jesus of Nazareth. Only in him has the Word of God “become flesh” – “We beheld his glory, glory as of an only born from a Father.”

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SEE ALSO:

• Knowing God - (Jesus is the interpretive key that unlocks the Hebrew Scriptures, Bible prophecy, and the Mysteries of God)

• The Expression of God - (Jesus is the Logos made flesh, the dwelling place and manifestation of the nature and glory of God – John 1:14)

• "Show us the Father!" - (Since the Word became flesh, the Divine Glory has been manifested in Jesus of Nazareth and all who follow him behold it – John 1:14)