“Where are you from?”

This is a question that we often ask people when we first meet them. It’s a very normal inclination that we have to want to know where people are from. It provides us with a shorthand that allows us to make assumptions about them.

For instance, if someone says, “I am from Boston,” we are are able to identiyf things we know about Boston and it gives us a frame of reference for this new person. We will likely assume that they like the Red Sox or perhaps clam chowder. Or, if someone tells us they are from Canada we will make assumptions about them and their love of poutine and hockey. Of course, these are surface things. Knowing where someone is from also provides us with a frame of reference for how they might act. Different places have different cultures. Knowing where someone is from helps us have a context about them.

When I read the Gospel narratives it is striking to me the way they open. Each Gospel writer places Jesus to give his readers a context to understand him.

Mark, which is likely the oldest Gospel opens in a hurry. Jesus is placed as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.

Matthew begins with a genealogy. Jesus is placed in the lineage and line of David. Matthew, wants people to know that Jesus is not just “some guy” but that he is “God’s man”, the true and eternal king of Israel.

Luke begins by making a statement that what you are about to read is fact. He is placing Jesus squarely into history. He wants his readers to know that the Jesus story is not some fanciful myth but that Jesus is a historical figure that really lived and acted in time.

The Gospel of John opens up differently than the other Gospels. It begins like this,

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. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. - John 1:1-5

John is telling us where Jesus is from, namely, that he is from God and is not just from God but is God. Jesus is from eternity.

Knowing this provides us a context for who Jesus is. That Jesus is different. That Jesus is what we might call, “holy.”

But, then John says something else in his Gospel opening,

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

Not only does Jesus (the Word) get placed as being from heaven, but John places Jesus in the world. “The Word” makes his dwelling among us. This word, “dwelling,” is the Greek word, σκηνόω which means to take up residence. It is often translated as “tabernacled.” John likely had the idea of the tabernacle from Israel’s wandering in the wilderness, which was where God’s dwelt in their midst. The tabernacle was the predecessor to the Temple.

Eugene Peterson in his translation, The Message, really gets to the heart of the matter when translates this verse,

The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish. John 1:14, The Message

The image of Jesus moving into the neighborhood drives home the metaphor for us, John is placing Jesus in our midst.

For years now this idea of Jesus moving into the neighborhood was the dominant idea for me in John’s opening. However, I am coming to realize that there is an equally important concept, if not more important, that John uses to place Jesus.

John says, “The Word became flesh.”

If Jesus is placed in proximity to humanity by “dwelling among us”, he is placed in an even deeper way with us by taking on flesh itself. He has become one of us.

I currently serve two congregations. One gathers in Ypsilanti, MI and the other in Flint, MI. These cities are about an hour apart. They are very different in so many ways. I live in Ypsilanti. I socialize in Ypsilanti. My address is in Ypsilanti. My children are from Ypsilanti. I dwell in Ypsilanti. I visit Flint. Every week I spend a few hours on Sunday morning with some of the most beautiful people I know. They are kind and generous and loving. On Tuesdays I spend most of the day in Flint. I have a coffee shop that I am a regular at and have people there that would call me their friend. I love Flint. However, there is always going to be a distance, a sense of separation between me and the people in Flint because I do not dwell there.

By taking on flesh Jesus really and truly dwelled among us.

As we consider these conversations that Jesus has we need to remember that he is having them in the flesh. When we see Jesus and his conversation partners engaging with one another, we have to recognize that it was not some sterile environment in a vacuum.

I want us to try and imagine these conversations taking place with people who had body odor, breath odor, there was background noise, various states of energy. In other words, they all happened in a context. I am going to try and uncover the context as best I can for us. But, we will need to engage our holy imaginations.

Jesus being “in the flesh” means that he was fully present and truly dwelt among us. The conversations were with real people. In real places. At real times.