December 17
We See the Glory of the Lord in God the Son
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
The apostle John was not with Bethlehem’s shepherds the night that an angel appeared and “the glory of the Lord shone around them.” But he did see glory of the Lord. He saw it 30-some years later, when he witnessed the bright white light of Jesus’ divine glory, revealed as John stood with Peter and James on a mountain. John saw the Son of God in all his transfigured brilliance talking with Moses and Elijah.
John saw also another side of Jesus’ glory up close, as for three years he followed Jesus as his disciple. John watched him care and cure, tell and teach, and fulfill the promises God had made that a Savior, the Messiah, would come to redeem the world.
And John wrote down what he had seen. Today’s verse comes from the beginning of that record. Near the end John commented that he could have written about many more “signs”—proofs by word and deed—that Jesus is the Savior, but the ones described were “written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).
John saw the Lord’s glory: the creating, promising Word made flesh; God’s Son born our Brother. Grace and truth—the content and the character of God’s pledge to rescue—marked Jesus’ every step, as the Messiah walked among us. John had walked with him.
As those steps ended, John saw that glory at its greatest height. John was there at the foot of Jesus’ cross. John heard him shout—and was the gospel writer who recorded—“It is finished!” as God’s Son was about to die. Three days later John ran to see the Lord’s glory in an empty tomb that proved forever that the Messiah had kept God’s promise to save.
So again this year, let’s go to Bethlehem. Let’s tremble again with awe and joy. Let’s hear the angel melodies thunder. Let’s squint at a night sky gone noon bright. And let’s remember, as it begins, how the story of Bethlehem’s baby ends. Then let’s say with John, “We have seen his glory . . . full of grace and truth.”
Savior Jesus, help me see your glory at your manger, before your cross, beside your empty tomb, and forever in heaven. Amen.
Rev. Daniel Balge serves Martin Luther College as a professor of Greek and German.
