An Unexpected Christmas Miracle

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us . . . "

-John 1:14 ESV

Yesterday, I was reading John 1:14 as I reflected on the birth of Jesus during our wonderful Christmas Eve service at church. As I read a very familiar text, something jumped out at me from the text.

In this familiar text, I saw something that I haven't seen before. You could say that what I saw was an unexpected Christmas miracle.

You could say that what I saw in John 1:14 was an unexpected Christmas miracle.

In John 1:14, the author explains that the Word became flesh. The "Word" is a reference to the Son of God (technically he's not referred to as Jesus until he became human) while "became flesh" is a reference to him becoming human. That has always appeared to be a simple, familiar phrase. (Even though that doesn't diminish how profound this reality is in any way!)

"So," I'm sure you're thinking, "what is the unexpected Christmas miracle that you're talking about?" Well, the stunning, unexpected truth that I discovered yesterday is easy to miss. In fact, I'm not sure I had seen it until yesterday. Why? Because it's not visible in our English translations.

(A quick parenthetical comment: I don't mean to undermine our English translations at all. In fact, we live in a time where we have such an abundance of great translations and resources. Our English translations are great, and you can get the basic idea of the text. However, there are certain situations, like this one, where the English translation is like watching black and white TV, while reading the original language is like watching high definition, color TV.)

Back to our text. Notice how this phrase is translated by the most common English translations:

• "became flesh" - translations: ESV, NIV, NKJV, CSB, NASB 95/20, NET

• "became human" - translation: NLT

• "was made flesh" - translation: KJV

Ok, let's examine the original language. I highlighted the unexpected, surprising aspect.

• Greek: "καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο . . . "

• Lit: "And the Word flesh became" (the word order is different than English sometimes)

• Word study: "became"

  • Tense: Aorist - no direct English equivalent but usually translated past tense

  • Voice: Middle - the subject is both an agent and recipient of / concerned with the action

  • Mood: Indicative - statement of fact

  • Person: 3rd Person

  • Number: Singular

By using the middle voice, John is saying that the Son of God did not passively become a baby (as you and I did!). In contrast, he was both the one who acted to make himself a baby, and he was the recipient of that action when he became the baby.[1] The Son of God actively made himself a baby!

The Son of God did not passively become a baby (as you and I did!). Instead, he was both the one who acted to make himself a baby, and he was the recipient of that action when he became the baby.

So, can you see how this could be easy to miss with our English translations? The KJV translates it as if the verb were passive ("was made flesh"). The rest translate it ambiguously ("became flesh").

The translations don't clearly state the message as, "The Word made himself flesh."

I suspect that when we read "became flesh," we assume that it's passive. We assume that God the Father or God the Spirit did this (and I'm sure each member of the Trinity were involved in some way). However, our mind doesn't seem to naturally drift in the direction of the Son of God actively making himself into a baby.

Knowing what John is saying in John 1:14 helps explain how Jesus was active in assuming human form while simultaneously remaining God. Commentator Murray J. Harris explains,

Here this verb does not mean 'became' in the sense 'was changed into,' as when a chrysalis is changed into a butterfly and thereby ceases to be a chrysalis, but has the sense 'took on' or 'assumed,' of the assuming of a new, additional form of existence, as when a woman becomes the mother of her firstborn.[2]

The Son of God becoming a baby is the familiar Christmas miracle that we celebrate. So, what is the unexpected Christmas miracle?

The Son of God did not just passively become a baby. He made himself into a baby.

And the implications of that are huge. Here are just a couple:

• He is undoubtedly God and worthy of our worship! No one else has existed prior to their human birth and has been able to actively make themselves into a baby. Only the Son of God can do that, and only the Son of God has done that.

• Moreover, he isn't merely passively being sent by God the Father and God the Spirit. Instead, he actively chose to come for us!

Christ is God.

Christ actively chose to come for you.

Christ made himself a baby.

Christ became human.

Christ came on a mission to save.

Do you know him?

End Notes:

[1] Some scholars argue that the Aorist Middle Indicative can indicate an active voice in the original language, but even if that is the case, the result is the same! The Son of God actively made himself a baby!

[2] Murray J. Harris, Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament: John, gen. eds. Andreas J. Kostenberger and Robert W. Yarbrough (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2015), 35.