Josh Benner

Author: the Josh Benner Blog

  • The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Studying John 1:14

    The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Studying John 1:14

    And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

    -John 1:14

    In his commentary on John, the late New Testament Grant Osborne says of this verse “In my opinion, this is the single greatest sentence ever written in the history of human language, the deepest theological statement ever written. No finite human being could ever enter the realm of God and join his family. It could only come to pass if God himself were to enter the realm of humanity.”

    The Word is referring to Jesus. And it says that Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us. 

    The God who created the world came into the world to save the world. The eternal God of creation became flesh and blood, skin and bone. 

    Jesus’ divinity matters but so does his humanity. 

    It is because of his divine nature that he has the power to withstand and to bear the weight of sin. Our sin is an affront to God and no mere mortal is capable of redeeming himself before a Holy God, let alone redeeming humanity. 

    But it also matters that Jesus is human because it is humanity that has sinned. And in being fully man, Jesus is like us in our humanity. Jesus entered sinful humanity, though he himself is without sin. 

    His sinlessness matters because it took a sinless, perfect, and righteous sacrifice to pay for sins. His humanity and divinity make Jesus a worthy sacrifice and atonement for sinful people. 

    Our verse says that the Word became flesh. God became man. 

    Colossians 1:19 says: For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell

    The glory of God came to earth through the Lord Jesus. There’s one word in particular in this verse that brings it to a climactic point in this passage. 

    Dwelt. 

    The English doesn’t truly convey the meaning of what’s being said here. Let’s take a step back. 

    In the Old Testament, people originally exist in perfect fellowship with God. That’s what Eden was. It was a holy place. A perfect place. A sinless place. 

    Because of sin, fellowship with God was tarnished. The unencumbered closeness to God was lost due to sin. 

    We were no longer holy. But the story doesn’t end there. Throughout the Old Testament, we see God bringing redemption to his people. 

    God makes a covenant with Abraham. We see God’s continued faithfulness to his covenant. 

    The Tabernacle

    The Israelites were held in captivity in Egypt. After God had miraculously freed them, and while the Israelites were wandering in the desert, God gave them instructions for a structure called the tabernacle. The tabernacle was a tent that the Israelites were to travel with and it was a symbol for God’s presence with his people. 

    Sometimes it’s called the tabernacle. Sometimes it’s called the tent of meeting. 

    Exodus 40:34-35: 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 

    Exodus spells out very specific instructions on how the tabernacle was to be built, what types of items would be placed inside the tabernacle, etc. The instructions are so specific because it is a sacred and holy place. 

    Again, it represented the very presence of God in the world.  But this was pointing forward to something greater. 

    The temple. 

    When the Israelites entered the land, part of their purpose was in constructing the temple. As the tabernacle had been portable, the temple was meant to be permanent.

    The overarching purposes were still the same. Most notably, it was where God met his people in the word. It was his presence in the world. The temple was the place where sacrifices were made. 

    For the priests, there were specific instructions on what they had to do to prepare to enter into the Temple It was a sacred place. 

    As with the tabernacle, not just anyone could go into the temple. 

    The priest couldn’t just go into the temple any arbitrary way they wanted. It was a holy place. The temple was completed during the reign of Solomon 

    1 Kings 8:10-11 says: 

    10 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. 

    In both places, when the presence of the Lord comes into the temple, people can’t even stand in it because the presence is so glorious. 

    The temple is hugely important in the Old Testament. The specific instructions for the temple are important. But this points forward to an even greater temple. To an even greater example of God’s presence with his people. 

    And that is the significance of John 1:14. 

    The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory.

    The word translated as “dwelt” more literally means that Jesus tabernacled among us, that Jesus pitched a tent among us. It’s the same word for tabernacle that was used centuries before Christ when the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew to Greek. 

    The true tabernacle

    Jesus is the tabernacle. He is the greater temple. He is the presence of God with his people because Jesus IS God with his people. 

    So it’s not simply saying that Jesus dwelt among us. But rather: in Jesus, we see God became flesh and tabernacled with his people.  Instead of a tent or a building, we have a person, we have God himself. The greater tabernacle, the greater temple. 

    And he’s greater because he’s everything these places were meant to represent. It was only the priests who could go into the tabernacle and the temple. A priest serves as a mediator between man and God. Jesus is the greater priest. It is he who restores our relationship with God. 

    These man made structures were where sacrifices were offered. Jesus himself is the sacrifice. 

     And as I’ve said, the tabernacle and the temple represent the presence of God with his people. Jesus is God himself who has come to his people. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. 

    The Word made his dwelling among us. He pitched a tent among us. He tabernacled among us. 

    The God who created the world came into the world to save the world. There was no other way for a sinful people to be reconciled to the Lord than through God himself coming into the world. 

    But because of his love for us. Because of his goodness. Because of his grace…

    The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 

    The creator entered creation.

    Righteousness

    How do you make yourself right before a Holy God? How do you earn standing before a perfect God? How do you deserve blessings before an all powerful God? You don’t and you can’t. 

    God became one of us so we could be with him. He is a personal God. It doesn’t get more personal than Jesus entering his creation. Sometimes it can be tempting to doubt if God really knows what we’re going through when we’re struggling. It can be tempting to wonder if God really cares.  

    He knows. He knows what it’s like to live in a sinful world. He knows what it’s like to have people oppose him and not like him. He knows what it’s like to be hated for no reason. He knows what it’s like to be slandered. He knows what it’s like to cry. He knows what it’s like to be let down. He knows what it’s like to be betrayed. He knows what it’s like to suffer and feel pain. He knows what it’s like to face injustice. 

    He knows. 

    It can be be easy to focus on Christ’s glory and divinity to the point where we forget his humanity. But we see his humanity in this passage. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 

    It’s often said of people in politics who have opinions on public policies. We feel like they can’t relate to the average person. There’s the old saying not to judge a person until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. 

    Jesus lived a lifetime in our shoes. 

    Sometimes God can seem distant. He’s a personal God who invites us to know him. 

    He joined us in our humanity. He came to earth so that we could have heaven. He died so that we could have life. He was forsaken so we could be children of God. 

    The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 

    Thanks for reading! If you liked this post, please share and subscribe! This article is part of a series on the Gospel of John. 

  • The world did not know him. Studying John 1:10-11

    The world did not know him. Studying John 1:10-11

    He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
    -John 1:10-11

    The God who created the world was not recognized by his world. 

    The only appropriate response to the Lord entering into creation would be to bow down and worship him, to behold his glory, to listen to his teaching, to bask in the glow of his light. 

    But the world was so sinful that that was not what happened. 

    He was despised and rejected. His teachings led many to hate him. And his teachings still do that. The world is often offended by the very words of God on earth. 

    The world hates the gospel. 1 Corinthians 1:18 says: For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God

    People dislike the exclusivity of Jesus. They dislike that they have to turn to him for salvation. People dislike his moral teachings which expose our sin. The world loves its darkness, and when the light of Christ shines on our darkness, many reject the light. 

    everyone who does wicked things hates the light

    John 1 says that the world did not know him. 

    The world did not know what they had. 

    Undercover Boss 

    I used to enjoy a show called Undercover Boss. 

    It was a reality show that would feature leaders within companies, such as founders, CEO’s, vice presidents, or other executives going undercover within their own companies. 

    The show featured leaders for companies like Subway, True Value, Build-a-Bear, and even the Chicago Cubs. 

    Throughout a week, they would spend a day in various entry level positions within the company. They would work alongside typical employees. They would get a sense of the work they were doing.

    But for the employees, they would be working with the most powerful person in the company and they had no idea. It’s not that the undercover boss was their boss, he was everyone’s boss. He was their boss’s boss’ boss’s boss. 

    And they had no idea. 

    Sometimes they’d complain about corporate policies or explain ways to work around the rules, not knowing who they were talking to. They were with the head of the company and didn’t even know it. 

    I think of Jesus coming into the world and I’m reminded of a similar irony in that people were interacting with the God of the universe and were mostly oblivious to that fact. 

    He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

    Jesus came to his world. It was his creation. And the world did not know him, the world did not respond to him as it should have, the world did not worship him. 

    And it’s doubly ironic by the fact that Jesus came to the world that he made in order to die to save a world that was sinful. 

    How sinful? 

    So sinful that the world didn’t even accept our own creator when he came into the world. Many did not recognize Jesus for who he was. 

    Thanks for reading! If you liked this, please share and subscribe. This post is part of a series on the Gospel of John.

  • Sermon: Estate planning. John 16:1-4

    Sermon: Estate planning. John 16:1-4

    Transcript

    Summary: Jesus gives a couple of warnings in this passage. The disciples will face persecution and hatred for following Jesus. Some will fall away, which is why Jesus gives this warning. He doesn’t want us to be oblivious to the cost of following him. Today and throughout history, Christians have faced opposition from the world.

  • Can a loving God allow hell to exist?

    Can a loving God allow hell to exist?

    Hell is a tough doctrine.

    In his book the Problem of Pain, CS Lewis sums up what I think many would agree with: “There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, specially, of our Lord’s own words; it has always been held by Christendom; and it has the support of reason.”

    We’re fine with the idea of a loving God, but we’re less accepting of a God who judges.

    With the idea of hell, It can seem unfair. We can feel tempted to justify why hell doesn’t exist. Or maybe we think that hell is really just for people who are really, really bad.

    Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” It’s noteworthy that in the Bible, the person who has the most to say about hell is…Jesus. To reject Jesus is to reject his gospel. It’s to reject his grace.

    And ultimately there is no excuse in the Bible for this rejection. God displays his glory and grandeur in nature as Romans 1:18-20 says:

    18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

    People who want to reject hell or who question how a holy God can judge are showing the sinfulness of their hearts.

    I was watching a video recently. It was a back and forth between an atheist college student and Christian apologist Frank Turek. In the video, the student said she didn’t believe in God, or in the resurrection of Christ, but she believed that if there were a heaven, she should be able to go there.

    But why? Why would you get to be with God when you don’t believe in him?

    Why would God MAKE YOU be with him when you lived your entire life without any desire to know him? God extends grace freely. He extends the offer of salvation to all who will accept it.

    But what’s not an option is saying no. What’s not an option is trying to earn our way to God. The vanity of thinking that we can make ourselves worthy. The vanity of opposing God, of rejecting him and thinking that you should still get to be with him.

    We think we’re good people. But the greatest sin we commit is rejecting the God who made us.

    God honors the choice a person makes to reject him and to reject heaven. But what he will not allow is for us to approach him on our terms.

    Hell is the logical conclusion of wanting to live this life without God. If a person doesn’t want God now, then why would they want him in eternity? D.A. Carson says, “Hell is not filled with people who are now holy. It’s filled with people who still love their sin and will not bend the knee. And receive the punishment for that sin, in an ongoing cycle, world without end. And that’s what the gospel saves us from.”

    I think that’s important to understand. God isn’t rejecting people who have a desire to know him. People who come to him, knowing their unworthiness, knowing their sinfulness.

    God is just. His judgments are just.

    People aren’t condemned because they didn’t have enough time. They aren’t cast away from God because they didn’t have an opportunity.

    God isn’t vindictive. He’s not losing his temper. But he is righteous. He’s perfect. And heaven is a perfect place. God is overwhelmingly glorious.

    The gospel isn’t: well no one is perfect so just try to be decent.

    It’s that all sin and all fall short of the glory of God. And we are totally separated from the Holy and eternal God because of our sin.

    Some liberal churches undermine the necessity of believing in Jesus. Or reduce him to someone to a good teacher. And the best possible roe model for how you could live your life, but not really as being THE way, THE truth, and the life.

    But that cheapens the work of Christ. Because he didn’t come just to give some good moral lessons.

    Undermining the doctrine of hell might seem like a convenient solution to something you don’t want to think about, but it introduces the infinitely greater problem of making Jesus a liar.

    The point of the gospel isn’t saying that you want God because you’re afraid of hell. It’s about wanting to be WITH God.

    Originally published: November 14, 2016

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  • All things were made through him. Studying John 1:3

    All things were made through him. Studying John 1:3

     All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
    -John 1:3

    John 1:3 is speaking to the divinity of Jesus. All things were made through him. All means all. 

    The ground, the trees, the sand of the beaches, the stars in the sky, the air we breathe, the materials we use to build things, all of it was made by Jesus. 

    He made every person. Each of us has billions of cells in our bodies. Incredible complexity and structure just within our own bodies. 

    The universe is incredibly big. 

    Size of the universe

    So the distance between the earth and the sun is 93 million miles. 

    If that distance was represented by the width of one sheet of paper, the distance of our entire galaxy would be a stack of papers 453 miles high. 

    One stack of papers a mile high is about 15 million sheets of paper. 

    Times 453 miles. 

    With each sheet of paper representing 93 million miles. 

    And that’s just our galaxy. 

    There are one hundred billion galaxies. 

    If you could have an atlas of every galaxy in the entire universe and each page represented an entire galaxy, and if you spent just one second on every page and continually turned pages in the atlas, it would take you more than 31,000 years to flip all the way through the atlas. 

    The universe is incredibly, unfathomably big. There are more stars in the sky than there are grains of sand in all the beaches of the world. Yet there are more trees on earth than there are stars in our one galaxy. 

    And that’s just looking at the amazing size of of our universe. 

    There is amazing creation within our world. 

    New species of animals are still being discovered. 

    Did you know that? And they’re not all insects or really small animals. Since 2000, there have been new species of primates discovered. We don’t even yet know everything on our own planet. 

    Jesus the creator

    Yet Jesus made it all. 

    There are other passages in the New Testament which speak to this fact. 

    Colossians 1:16: For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

    We see this language as well in the opening chapter of the Book of Hebrews. Hebrews 1:10 referring to Jesus says: You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;

     Jesus is the creator. He made everything. And John states it both ways. He made everything.

    And also there’s nothing that he didn’t make. 

    All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

    He’s a mighty God. It’s a lofty passage. It’s a confrontational passage. You affirm these truths or you don’t. 

    Our society often likes to treat Jesus as something you can take or leave. Gravity isn’t something that you can take or leave. Arithmetic isn’t something that you can take or leave. Breathing isn’t something that you can take or leave. 

    Jesus isn’t something you can just take or leave. Jesus isn’t just a nice person or a nice idea. He’s the Lord of creation. Many cherry pick certain teachings. Others treat him as a great teacher or a great religious leader. 

    Jesus isn’t one good teacher among other great teachers. He’s God. 

    The sages of other major religious traditions were born. Buddha wasn’t there in the beginning. Mohammad wasn’t there in the beginning. 

    But in the beginning was the Word. 

    There have been great leaders in the world who have influenced nations and movements. Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Gandhi. Some like to just act like Jesus was a wise peace maker who came with a good message. 

    Jesus isn’t simply a great man. Jesus gave life to all of these people. And that’s not true the other way around. Any person, any thing who has ever lived or existed, lived and existed because Jesus created it or gave them life. 

    Thanks for reading! If you liked, please share and subscribe. This article is part of a series studying the Gospel of John.