Why is Jesus referred to as the only begotten of the Father (John 1:14)?

With reference to Christ, the phrase “the only begotten from the Father,” John 1:14, RV (see also the marg.), indicates that as the Son of God He was the sole representative of the Being and character of the One who sent Him. In the original the definite article is omitted both before “only begotten” and before “Father,” and its absence in each case serves to lay stress upon the characteristics referred to in the terms used. The apostle’s object is to demonstrate what sort of glory it was that he and his fellow apostles had seen. That he is not merely making a comparison with earthly relationships is indicated by para, “from.” The glory was that of a unique relationship and the word “begotten” does not imply a beginning of His Sonship. It suggests relationship indeed, but must be distinguished from generation as applied to man.

We can only rightly understand the term “the only begotten” when used of the Son, in the sense of unoriginated relationship. “The begetting is not an event of time, however remote, but a fact irrespective of time. The Christ did not become , but necessarily and eternally is the Son. He, a Person, possesses every attribute of pure Godhood. This necessitates eternity, absolute being; in this respect He is not ‘after’ the Father” (Moule). The expression also suggests the thought of the deepest affection, as in the case of the OT word yachid, variously rendered, “only one,” Gen. 22:2, 12; “only son,” Jer. 6:26; Amos 8:10; Zech. 12:10; “only beloved,” Prov. 4:3, and “darling,” Ps. 22:20; 35:17.

Suppose we submit then the rendering of the words just as they stand. "We beheld His glory, glory as Only-begotten with Father full of grace and truth." The meaning would then become apparent. There was glory in this unique Person, "Only-begotten with Father" previously existent, that had never been beheld until He became flesh but when beheld by His devoted disciples, that glory was presented to them in the form of the unlimited grace and truth that for ever bound them to Him. Thus the truth, the eternal truth of His Person, is preserved. The Word who became flesh is not only the Word who was with God and was God (verse 1) but was "Only-begotten with Father," and who became Man, bringing His glory to light in terms of grace and truth.

The first passage is alone decisive: "And the Word was made flesh, and tabernacled among us, (and we beheld His glory, glory as of an only begotten with the Father,) full of grace and truth." I give what is more literal than our common version, and preserves the all-important connection with the tabernacle of old. In that, the glory of God had dwelt; in the darkness, not in the light; shut up, and inaccessible to man. Here now was a tabernacle — the flesh of Christ, in which dwelt the fullest glory of Godhead, and most accessible, — divine glory now to be approached and looked upon, because revealed in grace and truth. And what was the glory thus revealed? It was the glory as of an only begotten with the Father: that was its character; the glory of the Only Begotten is the very glory of God. Nothing could surely be plainer than this declaration.

Now the Word is looked at as become flesh. In verse 14 a new part commences. Before, it was what He was; now, what He became (what He began to be). The Word became flesh and dwelt among us; it was a real thing, not like God visiting Abraham; but He dwelt among us, tabernacled there "and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, and of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." His own incarnate character and our connection with it. The part about John the Baptist comes in in the middle. But there is the statement, "the Word was made flesh": and then you get the aspect He had. We beheld His glory, not of the Son as such, but as of an only-begotten with a Father. He had all the title of that excellency and value in everything. All that that was to the Father was with Him. It is His personal glory made visible in flesh. When He was made flesh, we get a witness of John (v. 15), just as before, saying, "This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for he was before me."

Secondly, we assert that when the Scripture speaks of Jesus as the only-begotten Son of God, it speaks of Him as such in His divine nature. Thus, when John says, “And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father” (John 1:14), that glory was the glory of Christ’s divine nature; for how could His human nature, which was marred more than the sons of men, shine forth with the glory of His divine? This “glory of the Only-begotten of the Father” is most evidently the same glory as that of which Jesus speaks in those touching words—”And now, O Father, glorify You Me with Your own Self, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (John 17:5). But this must be the glory of His divine nature, for His human nature He had not then assumed. Then “the glory of the Only-begotten of the Father” must be the same “glory as He had with Him before the world was,” and that could be none other but His divine. Thus we are brought in the clearest and most indubitable manner to this point, that Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God as God. The two passages that we have quoted bring us to this conclusion with all the clearness, force and distinctness of a mathematical problem. Examine one by one the links of this argument, and see if they are not firm and good. Jesus is the only-begotten of the Father; this is the first step. As the only-begotten of the Father He has a peculiar glory; this is the second step. This glory He had with the Father before the world was; this is the third step. As He could only possess this glory in His divine nature, for His human did not then exist, He is the only-begotten Son of God as God; this is the fourth step, and establishes the conclusion that He is the eternal Son of the Father, and that by eternal generation. You may object to the term “eternal generation,” but how else can you explain the words, “the Only-begotten of the Father”? If you say that this refers to the human nature of Jesus, how can you interpret in that sense the passage, “the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father?” (John 1:18) Surely you will not say that the human nature of Jesus was in the bosom of the Father from all eternity. How was He ever in the bosom of the Father but as His only-begotten Son, and if He lay there from all eternity, what is this but eternal generation?

But we have by no means exhausted our quiver. “Your arrows,” we read, “are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies; whereby the people fall under You” (Psalm 45:5). The Lord fill our quiver full of them; then shall we not be ashamed, but shall speak with His enemies in the gate. Look at the following testimony—”God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Does not Jesus Himself here declare that the Father “gave His only-begotten Son”? Was He not, then, His only-begotten Son before, He gave Him? If language means anything, the words positively declare that God had a Son, an only-begotten Son, and that He so loved poor, fallen man that He freely and voluntarily gave this only-begotten Son for his redemption. But when did God love the world? Before or after Jesus came in the flesh? Of course, before, for love moved Him to give His only-begotten Son. Where, then, was His only-begotten Son when God loved the world? In heaven, with God. And what was He in heaven with God? His only-begotten Son. Then He was His only-begotten Son in His divine nature, for His human nature never was in heaven until after the resurrection. And if His only-begotten Son in His divine nature, and if He existed as such from all eternity, what is this but eternal generation? Surely Jesus knew the mystery of His own generation; and if He call Himself God’s only-begotten Son, is it not our wisdom and mercy to believe what He says, even if our reason cannot penetrate into so high and sublime a mystery?

Passing now to verse 14 we read: "The Word became" (not was made) "flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." We may read in connection with this, "No one hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." (v. 18.) We have thus brought before us the mystery of the incarnation — the Word became flesh. He who was with God, and who was God, became man, and tabernacled amongst men in a human body. But though His essential glory was thus shrouded from the natural eye, there were those who, with their eyes opened by the Holy Spirit, beheld His glory — not simply His moral glory, but His divine glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Thus down here as Man He was the perfect expression of God — the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. Creation was an unfolding, a display or revelation of God (see Romans 1:19-20); but the Word become flesh was the revelation of the Father, as He said to the Jews, "If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also" (John 8:19), and to Philip, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." (John 14:9.) What then do we learn from these statements, but that He whom we know as the Lord Jesus Christ was the eternal and divine Word, that He was God, that He was the Creator of all things, and that He stepped forth into time and became flesh, a Man amongst men, "very God and very Man"? And this, we repeat, is one of the essential truths of Christianity.

The full revelation of God, however, awaited the coming of the Lord Jesus. The utmost that was possible even for so great a man as Moses was to see "the back parts" of Jehovah (Ex. 33:23). Certain of the divine attributes were emphasized such as His mercy and long-suffering; the full-orbed revelation of Himself was only possible in the only-begotten Son who was God and became Man. "No man has seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him" (John 1:18).

This in its effect for us the eighteenth verse expresses: "the Only-begotten Son who is" — literally, "the One being" or "abiding" — "in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him" (told Him out). The unchanging intimacy of the eternal relationship is here that which qualifies Him as the perfect Revealer of God; according to what He was before made known to us to be — "the Word made flesh."

The Lord presses this upon them, that "no man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." It is a wrong thought that He left the Father's bosom. He never did; He left the Father's house. You get in Christ the full revelation of what the Father is. The only begotten Son, all the Father's delight centres in Him, in the bosom of the Father, that is in the full enjoyment of it, He declares the Father. I see He is infinite, and I adore Him, but I see He is the revelation of the Father's love to me, as I go over His life down here.

But, in the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, you get what He was Godward. He speaks of Himself, in one place, as the Son of man which is in heaven; but, of heaven itself, it had been stated, "Behold, the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee." Could that be said of the bosom of the Father? Could creation glorified present anything like that? It is the manner of his being with God, not revealed in the first verse. He was with God, as being in the Father's bosom. In the transfiguration, we see Him in the heavenly glory of the kingdom, His face did shine like the sun, and His garments were white and glistering. In the glory of the earthly kingdom, when God anoints Him with the oil of gladness above His fellows, His garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia. His fitness for that glory had been manifested. Fairer than the children of men, grace was poured into His lips, therefore God blessed Him for ever; He loved righteousness and hated wickedness, therefore His God anointed Him with the oil of gladness above His fellows. When He comes forth on the white horse, making war, His garment is dipped in blood, glorious in character and ways before, as after, the war. In the last position, many crowns were upon His head, and many were the names of greatness which He bore — Faithful and True, Word of God, King of kings, and Lord of lords — all unspeakably interesting to His people. But which of these glories is like that of an only-begotten with a father, the Son in the Father's bosom? When we reach this dwelling-place, the Father's bosom, in thought and quickened affections, the attractions of glory seem to yield to those of love, what He is in His being, but "glory as of an only-begotten with a father," cannot be separated, the glory from the love. Think of the Only-begotten with the Father! there could not be a second. It is love in its deepest, holiest relationship. This is what was seen in Christ, and what John's heart was occupied with. Of His love to usward he is speaking when he says, "Hereby know we love." Well, how do you know it? Because He laid down His life for us. Divine love and eternal life were in Him. And where is the glory of Sonship seen save in Christ? He tells us of what he had seen, but also of what we know, and the how, "Hereby know we." All is learned in Him.