Truth in the Flesh

The sound of crunching gravel alerted us to her arrival.

After five months of working with our team remotely, our beloved teammate, Alexa, was here, in the flesh. Everyone gathered around, offering warm greetings.

“You’re a lot taller than I thought,” Alexa remarked, as she stepped back from our hug.

I laughed. “I can see how you might have thought that from knowing me only through Zoom and Instagram!” My small upper body frame and photos with my six-foot-three husband had unknowingly created the optical illusion.

But Alexa wasn’t the only one who packed preconceived ideas of what the other would be like. I, too, had felt like I really knew Alexa— I followed her Instagram account; we chatted on video calls; we swapped work messages.

Turns out, I mostly knew a lot of information. But there, in the flesh— eating, praying, talking, dancing, laughing, dreaming together—I experienced my friend in her fullness. And she was different than I imagined.

​From their inception, most Jewish people had only known God through what was passed on to them through the words and experiences of a few select individuals. Priests, prophets, kings, and other religious leaders seemingly had front-row seats to God’s words and works while everyone else was in the nose-bleeds.

By the time Jesus arrived on the scene, the cocky Pharisees were certain they had a clear picture of what the Messiah would be like. They were so confident in their assumptions, that they couldn’t recognize Him before their very eyes.

In John 8, we read about one of their (many) tense encounters. Jesus has just made the bold and beautiful declaration that He is the Light of the World (John 8:12), and the Pharisees take offense, stating that anyone can’t just go around making those kinds of claims about himself to which Jesus basically replies, “I’m not just anyone.”

The Pharisees don’t like this answer so they interrogate, asking, “Who is your Father?”
Jesus breaks out a “mad burn” (as the kids would say) and tells them, “If you knew me, you would know my Father also” (John 8:19b).

Wow. These were the leaders everyone looked to for spiritual guidance, yet Jesus reveals that while they thought they knew God, they really didn’t.

The truth was they had a poor connection to God; they had a filtered picture; they had their own misinterpreted ideas of the meaning of scripture. Now, God stood right in front of them, and in His flesh-and-blood fullness, you could say God was a lot “taller” than they thought He was.

Friends, here’s what I believe we can learn from their experience…

When we go into our times of Bible study, we must leave one thing behind: our preconceived notions about who God is and what He is like.

If we miss knowing God in truth, we flat-out miss knowing Him.

Living in this fallen world in fallen bodies, our picture of God is often shaped and skewed by the poor connections of earthly relationships, the grungy filter of our feelings, and the hearsay of not-so-sound teaching. It is good for us to be aware of and guarded against this as we study God’s Word and let the truth be the truth— even when it is hard to swallow or different from what we thought!

In reading the Gospels, we can be assured that Jesus’ life gives us the clearest “image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15). And the truth of who He is has the power to set us free if we will abide in it (John 8:31).

Lord, help us to know you in spirit and in truth always! Amen.

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” Colossians 1:15 (NIV)

About the Author

​Hi, I’m Katie! I live with my husband, Craig, in North Georgia with our three children and family golden retriever. When I’m not working or playing taxi driver, I enjoy reading, hiking, traveling, cheering on the Atlanta Braves, and savoring exquisite coffees (black, please). Most of all, I love spending time in God’s Word and sharing it with others in a practical and encouraging way that helps them experience the abundant life Jesus promised. Happy to have you along for the journey, friend!