The Gospel of John says, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us" (1:14). Again the word "dwelt" is the verb form of the noun "tabernacle." The meaning of the Lord Jesus being incarnated as a man is that He tabernacled among us. Now we realize how the entire Old Testament is necessary to explain the meaning of this one vital word. If we read John 1:14 according to the Greek text without a knowledge of the Old Testament, we will not understand the full meaning of the word "tabernacle." It is simply the mingling of God with man. Divinity and humanity became a mutual habitation. The tabernacle, the dwelling-place of God, was not the dwelling-place of God alone. From the Psalms we see that the temple or the tabernacle was also the dwelling-place for all who sought God. It was a mutual habitation of God with man.
The Apostle John points out that the Word became flesh. What was the Word? The Word was God (John 1:1), and God came into the flesh, the human nature of man. This simply means that divinity was mingled with humanity-this is the true tabernacle. John 1:14 continues, "He tabernacled among us (and we beheld his glory.)." Even as the people of Israel had seen God's glory fill the old tabernacle, now the Apostles of Christ saw the glory, "glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." Later, at the end of the same chapter, the Lord Jesus told the true Israelite, Nathanael: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man" (v. 51). This chapter is exceedingly meaningful. In the first verse there is the Word, who is God Himself, and in the last verse there is the Son of man. God Himself became the Son of man. The Word speaks of something in eternity past-"In the beginning was the Word." But the Son of man speaks of eternity future. Oh, eternity is required to explain this fact! In eternity past there was only God, but in eternity future divinity will be mingled with humanity in the Son of man. In eternity past there was nothing of humanity in God, but in eternity future there will be God Himself as the Son of man, full of the human nature. Divinity will be wholly mingled with humanity.
The essential point of John 1:51 is the open heaven with the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. Do you remember Jacob's dream? Our Lord was speaking to a group of people who knew the Old Testament quite well. When He addressed Nathanael, both he and the others around him knew what the Lord meant. Jacob's dream had two items, an open heaven and a ladder joining heaven and earth, upon which the angels ascended and descended. This ladder was the Son of man. Notice here the order: first ascending and then descending. That means that something was going to heaven from earth and then returning to earth again. Why did the Lord Jesus refer to these things at the beginning? To point out that He came for the one purpose of having heaven opened to the earth and that on this earth He, the Son of man, will be the very element joining heaven and earth together. This is the ladder of Jacob's dream. With that dream there was Bethel, the house of God, composed of a stone upon which oil had been poured. That stone with oil poured upon it signified the mingling of God with man. Thus, the Son of man is the exact fulfillment of that dream. In Him, heaven is opened to earth, and earth is joined to heaven. In Him is Bethel, God mingled with man.
What is the Son of man? He is the tabernacle. The first chapter of John's Gospel is indeed marvelous. To comprehend it we must understand these items: the Word, God Himself, and this Word who is God Himself becoming flesh, tabernacling, or mingling Himself with man. This is the Son of man, and this is God's building. The building of God is the mingling of God with man and man with God. The building means that God builds Himself into us and builds us into Himself. The Old Testament descriptions of the oil poured upon the stone and the gold overlaying the boards simply signify divinity being mingled with humanity. This is the basic meaning of God's building.
