READ : John 1:1-18
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. (v. 14)
It was raining, cold and hard, as we finally canoed into our camp for the night. It may have been spring back home, with blooming tulips, but May in the Adirondacks is often still late winter. My students and I needed some shelter from the weather, so we pitched our four-person tents, and after a hot meal of delicious food and some conversation about the day, we dove into our warm, dry shelters. You get to know someone well, sleeping in a small tent night after night. You know who snores and who rolls about, who likes to sleep in and who is up with the birds. With tenting comes a newfound level of intimacy.
In this famous passage, verse 14 in Greek literally says that “the Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us.” As Eugene Peterson puts it: “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood” (The Message). God tented with the Israelites in the wilderness and in Christ God pitches his tent with us. God is with us, up close, in person. How amazing that God pitches his tent among the likes of us! Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
PRAYER
God who tents among us, help us to know you, that we may rest in the assurance that you are always with us.
About the Author
Steve Bouma-Prediger is the Leonard and Marjorie Mass Professor of Reformed Theology at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. A graduate of Hope College, his Ph.D. is in religious studies from The University of Chicago. His most recent book is Earthkeeping and Character: Exploring a Christian Ecological Virtue Ethic.
When not teaching or writing, he spends as much time as possible canoeing or backpacking in his favorite places in North America or simply hiking among the magnificent trees in southwest Michigan parks.
