A LIVING, BREATHING TABERNACLE

The Gospel writer John opens his account by tying the person of Jesus to the ancient revelation of Yahweh. “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 English “made his dwelling” is from the Greek skenoo, which literally translates “to set up a tabernacle.” The most direct translation is, “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.”

As we saw in yesterday’s reading, the Old Testament pattern was to build a tabernacle and God would fill it with his glory (his presence). John opened his gospel by describing Jesus as a tabernacle filled with God’s glory (his presence). The glory of God that filled the tabernacle has now filled the body of Jesus. He is the living, breathing, walking, talking tabernacle.

And Jesus went around acting like he was the tabernacle. For instance, he told repentant people, “You’re forgiven.” The priests balked at that notion. If someone needed grace, they went through cleansing rituals, offered the required sacrifice for the offense, and were granted forgiveness by the qualified priest at the temple.

That’s more than just legalistic ritual. They got it from Moses, the founder of the tabernacle. But here’s Jesus saying, “Do you want to repent? Okay. You’re forgiven. Free.” Then he made an even more provocative claim. Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2:19).

Jesus said this while standing in the temple built by Herod, one of the architectural wonders of the ancient world. The Jews were offended and dismissive, mistaking the reference for the building itself. But Jesus was talking about his human body, which was filled with the gift of God’s life breath, harkening all the way back to Genesis.

When Jesus referred to the presence and glory of God, he was talking about the Holy Spirit. His sentiment is, “You may be building a container for God’s presence, but so am I. I am making you the container for God’s presence just as I originally intended at creation.”

How does it influence your view of the Holy Spirit to realize he was part of the plan for our redemption through Jesus all along?