And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

The Greek word for manifest is phaneroo and it appears 14 times in John’s Gospel. Synonyms for the word include reveal, show, and appear. Manifest means to make visible or known what has been hidden or unknown, to manifest, whether by words, or deeds, or in any other way. It can also be defined as to become known, to be plainly recognized, thoroughly understood; in other words, to show who and what one is.

When John writes about the Word, as in “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (v1) and “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (v14), he is writing about Jesus. The 21 chapters of John’s gospel are dedicated to revealing that Jesus was more than just a man, He is God himself. And a pretty amazing God at that.

Jesus stepped out of heaven and into the messiness of mankind to make Himself known. He lived among us so that we could plainly recognize Him and fully understand Him.

As we read quietly through this Gospel, I pray that we begin to see more clearly who Jesus is and how He loves us. May our time in God’s Word be more than time spent just reading. Instead, let it be a time used to draw near our God, who left His thrown to draw near to us.

Only by grace,

Kelli