The Word...did not cease to be the Word that was from the beginning, and "became" does not mean "changed into." It denotes an identification...an identification that, though it is not further defined here or linked with the virgin birth, does mean that all the redemptive categories (the "life" and "the light of humanity") thus far attributed in the prologue to the Word now apply with the same absoluteness and exclusiveness to the man Jesus of Nazareth and, in his person as the possessor of that which belongs to God alone, completely transcend and exceed the possibilities of a mere man. One cannot (in 'docetic' fashion) hide or even dissolve the reality of the flesh, the true humanity of Jesus, in the revelation of the glory of God any more than one can (in 'kenotic' fashion) detach the glory of God from the humanity of the earthly Jesus. The Word did not become flesh by just assuming the form of the man Jesus as a garment in which God walked on earth or as an instrument that God used from time to time. Nor does "became flesh" only indicate the 'place' or 'sphere' where the revelation took place. At stake here is the Word's act of being united with the man Jesus such that in his self-revelation in words and deeds the glory of the Word of the beginning manifested itself, visibly and audibly, and is interpreted by him as such with a recurrent appeal to his Sonship and his having been sent by the Father. Thus "became" refers to a mode of existence in which the deity of Christ can no more be abstracted from his humanity than the reverse.
The Gospel Of John, Eerdmans, pp.49.50
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