“’Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,’ declares the LORD. ‘Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you.’” (Zechariah 2:10-11)

There are many prophecies of the coming of the Messiah found in the Old Testament. Zechariah would tell of God Himself coming to live among the people. John would build upon this prophecy and the coming of Jesus. In order for God to live among His people, He would come as a man. John takes us to creation and then tells us about the Word of God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” (John 1:1-4) In this dynamic picture of God, He is both the Word and God, unique in each other but still the same God.

John now tells us the uniqueness of the Word, He would because flesh. “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) This is the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy. “Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,’ declares the LORD.” (Zechariah 2:10) The Word which would be made flesh is Jesus Christ. His Father is God. And, His mother is Mary, who will be a virgin and still give birth to a son. The Angel Gabriel would tell her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)

Jesus, who is both the Son of God and the Son of man, who will dwell on earth as one of us and will grow as one of us. “And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him. . .. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” (Luke 2:40,52)

Jesus came with a purpose. A purpose to bridge the gap between God and man. He would make a way through the cross and the resurrection to bring man into a new relationship with God. In this relationship, man will be able to dwell with God forever all because God came to dwell with us. “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” (Revelation 21:3) When we walk with the Word of God here, we will dwell with Him in His Kingdom.

In the Love of Jesus,

Michael Block