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Chapter 3: BEcame

I've never been to Israel, although I've always wanted to go. Louie talks about a church called the Church of the Annunciation at the beginning of this chapter. It is located in Nazareth, where Jesus grew up. It gets its name because it was in that little village that the angel appeared to Mary to give her the news of Jesus' birth. Inscribed above the entrance to the church is a Latin phrase which means, 'And the Word became flesh and dwelled among us,' which we read in John chapter 1. He says that he dwelled on those words for the next several days, one word per day. The first day was simply the word 'and.' I don't know about you, but I don't know how much time I could spend just thinking about the word and. Louie however pointed out that when you put this word in its context, it summarizes the entire Old Testament! It is as if God is saying, you remember all that stuff that happened back there? The flood, the parting of the Red Sea, Goliath, all of it...you haven't seen anything yet! The next day he got to the word 'the.' Well, the only thing more exciting than 'and' is 'the' right? But think about this, the whole verse hinges on this word. "God did one thing. He sent one Son to be the way. John doesn't right that a Word became flesh. Or that some Word became flesh. Or that the flavor-of-the-day Word became flesh. And certainly not that one of many Words became flesh. John carefully wrote the Word. He was saying that Jesus is the Christ, the only Word there has ever been or ever will be.

Next he comes to 'Word' with a capital w. He is talking about Jesus. Next is the word 'became.' It is a great word! 'Do you see it? Became is a compound word, meaning it is comprised of two words-the word be and the word came. Wow, now do you see it? This verse is about Jesus, the one who bears the same name as the God who appeared to Moses at the burning bush. That day God revealed Himself to Moses as I AM-I AM THAT I AM-the present tense, active form of the verb, to be. Or, simply, BE. God told Moses His name is BE, the very name Jesus used when He claimed, 'Before Abraham was, I AM.' In an instant, became became BE came, and I wanted to shout for joy. Wake the world. Jesus came! BE came! I AM came! But in a most surprising form."

Flesh is the next word in the verse. "BE came flesh. God arrived with skin, the Divine in the form of a sweaty, laughing boy playing with other kids in a narrow street on a summer afternoon. Why does it matter? Because you can touch flesh. You can identify with flesh. You can wrap your arms around flesh and feel its heartbeat. You can hear the voice of flesh and look into its eyes. And if you're searching for a sacrifice for the sins of all mankind, you can pierce flesh and it will bleed. You can nail flesh to a cross."

We'll move quickly through the rest. Next is 'and.' Jesus didn't just come in skin and move into Nazareth, there's more. Next is 'dwelled.' He didn't come to sit in a palace, he came to be one of us, to live like us. To feel all the joy and the hurt and the pain that everyone else feels. Next is 'among.' Not only did He come and live here, but He did it with people! He didn't just live out in the desert or on some island, His passion was for people. So he lived with them. And finally 'us.' Jesus didn't just come for certain people. He didn't just come for a chosen few. He came for us, for all, for everyone. The great I AM came to earth for all the little i am nots. Wow. 'The Word became flesh and dwelled among us.'

Enjoy the Journey