Then you shall erect the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you were shown on the mountain. And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen...And you shall hang it...and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy. You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place. You shall make a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework.

Thus, God's tent was pitched among His people. As He led them out of slavery in Egypt to the land He promised them, He was with them in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night, guiding them, leading them to the place He wanted them to go...where they needed to go. And, as the tabernacle was set up, He had a place to dwell among them, too.

And God was verily present in the tabernacle, too. His throne was the cover of the ark of the testimony...the Ark of the Covenant. As much as the tabernacle marked the present of God, the Ark of the Covenant was also a sign of the true presence of God. It would be carried before them as they moved through the wilderness, just as the cloud and fire moved before them. It would be carried before them as they conquered the land God was giving to them, for there with the Ark was God giving them the land. And when the Ark was placed in the tabernacle, God would dwell among His people. Moses records, "Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle."

And God continued to be present with His people. The tabernacle was set up in the city of Shiloh once the Children of Israel had conquered the land. During the reign of King Solomon, a magnificent temple was built in Jerusalem to replace the tent used in Shiloh; and the Ark found its home—God's dwelling place on earth—moved.

But God had always promised another dwelling among His people. There would be a new Ark of the Covenant to mark the place were God was truly present with His people. It was a promise made early on in the existence of man, promised to our first parents as a means of redemption with Him. It was a plan He had from the very beginning of time (and even before that), for "in the beginning was the Word." Now, He has kept that promised, for "the Word became flesh" and pitched his tent among us (for that is what the Greek for our text is saying). This tabernacle walks and breathes and eats and drinks on its own, not by the will of man or human intervention. In fact, this man who is God walks and breathes and eats and drinks on its own by the will of God and divine intervention.

Just as the glory of God filled the Tent of Meeting, now, the glory of God walks among His people in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He came as the promise of redemption made to Adam and Eve, to fulfill the covenant God had made with His people. He is the light, and He came to shine in the darkness that is our lives, to show us the way to the Father (in fact, He is the very Way), and give His life as an atonement for us. "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him."

There before His own stood the new Ark of the Covenant, for in Him was being fulfilled every law, commandment, and decree issued by God. He came into our flesh holy as God is holy...as He is holy for He is God. He was sinless; He knew no sin. He kept the Law of God perfectly for His own!

Yet, His own rejected Him. They don't need someone to keep the Law of God for them. God told THEM to keep the Law; that way they would save themselves. Jesus isn't needed.

His own commit sins. They deny God and His mercy. In their sin, they keep on sinning. They cannot keep the Law, no matter how much they believe they can. And when they claim they can or must, they do not confess what God says of them...they do not same-say God. And when you don't say the same thing as God, you make Him out to be a liar. Recall something else John once wrote: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us...If we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and his word is not in us."

But don't think that only His own that rejected Him are only the Children of Israel to whom He was born. Oh no, you too have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, as St. Paul recognizes. There is always that hint of rebelliousness in each of you that says you can keep the Law on your own. When confronted with your sin, you turn to the good you have done. For instance, "I may have lied about something, but I didn't kill anyone." Trust me, folks, it doesn't stop there! How about, "Well, I'll do better next time." Hogwash, "for whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it," as St. James penned. It is our struggle as sinner-saints.

And in our struggle, where there is sin, there is repentance. Even in the midst of our rejection of God and His Christ, He offers forgiveness. The good news for all mankind is that "to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." For all our offenses, which run the entire gamut of the Law, Christ Jesus was sent to die. And die and shed His blood is exactly what He did. It was in the waters of Holy Baptism that we received Him. When we were washed in the floodwaters of Holy Baptism, our old selves were drowned and a new life of faith born in us. That is where we gazed up and saw upon the cross the bloody, painful sacrifice made by Christ wherein He handed over His life to us. That is how we finally see our Jesus, and see "his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

And God continues to show us His glory. The Word is still flesh, and He still makes His dwelling among us. For in this, His holy house, He pitches His fleshy tent often for our forgiveness. Yes, even here, the new Ark of the Covenant makes His presence known. This covenant is the new covenant of forgiveness, for as our Lord says, "This cup is the new testament," or covenant, "in my blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins." Wherever there is Jesus' blood, there is forgiveness of sins, and wherever there is God's forgiveness, there is eternal life. When the Word becomes body and blood among us, He pitches His tent among us, makes His dwelling, and lives within us for our forgiveness, life, and strengthening of faith; this is the right of the children of God and a foretaste of the feast that is to come.

From tent to stone to flesh and blood, the One and Only has dwelt among His people. Even "we have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth"—Jesus Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit, may we not reject Him and the forgiveness He offers us in His precious body and blood.