The Axis Mundi (or Christmas, Easter & Beyond!

John wants his readers to see the significance and meaning of these facts (not that he doesn’t CARE about the facts – HE DOES! – He’s an eyewitness and he wants the reader to know that!) but what do the events MEAN?…why did they happen? What do they mean for the human race and HOW DO THEY FURTHER GOD’S PURPOSES for planet earth?

And John saw that, in the Baby of Bethlehem, God came into the world … that God came among us in a unique way… God came (so to speak) where we could get our hands on Him (1 John 1.1-3). The infinite, eternal, unchangeable Spirit became…localized.

And to help us get a grip on that (or that IT would get a grip on US!) John uses a phase in the development of the Hebrew Church. When the Israelites we’re set free from generations of slavery in Egypt and they were journeying toward the Promised Land…and THEY were commanded to construct a dwelling for God, a portable sanctuary where they could relate to God… the Tabernacle …

John saw that the ancient Tabernacle from 1500BC was telling a story that Jesus Christ, the final and PERFECT Tabernacle would fulfill. The furnishings of the Tabernacle said something about Jesus Christ…and as theologian Warren Gage helped us see…John sort of walks us through that ancient worship space…and beginning with the words, “The word became flesh and ‘tabernacled’ among us…” And from that intro… we imagine the furnishings of the Mosaic Sanctuary…the features and furnishings are pointing to Jesus Christ. We’ve been moving back and forth between the Exodus Tabernacle and the Gospel According to John.