This is the one-hundred-eighty-fifth lesson in author and pastor Mel Lawrenz’ How to Live the Bible series. If you know someone or a group who would like to follow along on this journey through Scripture, they can get more info and sign up to receive these essays via email here.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” John 1:14

Not only did the Son of God become a baby, but he also became flesh. Divinity joined to corporeal muscle, blood, and bones. In this humbling of the eternal Son of God, the Word who was with God from the beginning, and who was God, chose to begin in the way all flesh does—as a newborn.

But what does flesh really mean? Doesn’t it sound a bit crass?

In the Bible, the word flesh points to a number of different realities. Literally, it means “the body,” the tissues and bones and fluids that are common to any human being living anywhere in the world at any time. The body is the jar of clay in which God has placed treasures. Consequently, at another level, flesh can mean “humanity” or “human nature.” To speak of “flesh and blood” refers to the humanness that you share with your family, friends, and people you’ve never met. And at a different level, flesh can mean “fallen, flawed, human.” “The flesh” is shorthand in Paul’s epistles for intrinsic human nature—broken and fallible.

But there is one exception. One human life that was not flawed and full of sin—Jesus’.

“The word became flesh.” It means that the Son of God became human—really, truly human—with the exception that he had no sin. Christmas is a time of awe because it marks the best news the human race ever received: our Creator had so much love for us that he joined the human race in order to save it. He is a Savior who experienced real hunger, real fatigue, real sorrow. He faced temptation when the evil one tempted him in the wilderness with very “fleshy” things like power, wealth, and authority (Luke 4:1-13).

Jesus knows us because he was one of us. Real flesh, but perfect. So on those days when we’re so disappointed with ourselves because we’re having a hard time controlling the flesh, this is the kind of Savior we must turn to.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, help me to hear “the Word” this Christmas. Help me to see you for who you are in all your glory. Thank you for humbling yourself.

[See next – The Peace We Long For]

[See previous – He Is Mighty God]
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Mel Lawrenz (@MelLawrenz) trains an international network of Christian leaders, ministry pioneers, and thought-leaders. He served as senior pastor of Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin, for ten years and now serves as Elmbrook’s teaching pastor. He has a PhD in the history of Christian thought and is on the adjunct faculty of Trinity International University. Mel’s many books include Spiritual Leadership Today: Having Deep Influence in Every Walk of Life (Zondervan, 2016). See more of Mel’s writing at WordWay.