Understanding John 1:14

John 1:14 (NASB)
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14 (NLT)
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

Several Greek words are used in this verse with vague or controversial meanings. Among them are "Word," "flesh," "glory," "only or one and only," "from," "grace," and "truth."

The Greek word translated as "Word" is the Greek word "Logos" (G3056) and refers to the Second Person of the Trinity, God the Son. Some claim that "Logos" did not become the Son until the incarnation, but others point to scripture referring to the Son before becoming flesh. The role of Logos within the Trinity is to carry out the purpose of the Father. And this eternal subordinate function can be referred to as "sonship" although the word "son" carries with it the idea of being created by action of the Father, which is heresy.

Our next multiple meaning word is "flesh" (G4561) which is used to refer to humans, or the physical material of our bodies, i.e flesh and blood or flesh and bone, and to refer our sinful fallen nature. Clearly Jesus was a physical human made of the same physical material that other humans. Jesus did not have a "sinful fallen nature" so that definitely was not the intended meaning.

The third word for study is "glory" (G1391 - doxan). What was the glory of Jesus that His Apostles beheld? Certainly Jesus fulfilled God's purpose as (1) the Son of God, (2) the Lamb of God, (3) the Christ or Messiah or Savior, (4) the perfect image of God, and (5) as the Good Shepherd caring for and nurturing His sheep. Through the gospel of Christ, we too have beheld His glory. In our verse (John 1:14) some of Christ's unique manifestations of His glory are called out.

The next phrase (of the only Son from the Father) contains several controversial words which I believe must be dealt with collectively.

"Of the only Son" is the NASB translation of monogenes, (G3439) and could better be translated as uniquely divine Son. The word "son" has been supplied for clarification by the translators. What makes Jesus unique is that He is God in the flesh, God Incarnate. Thus when "monogenes" is used to designate and describe Jesus, "uniquely divine" best captures the message of God.

From (Greek para) might better be translated as "sent from" indicating God incarnate was sent by the Father. Putting the phrase together we get, "the uniquely divine Son sent from the Father.

Grace is not a substance like gravy, to be ladled upon a person, but an attribute of love given to those chosen by the giver not because of any meritorious attribute of the receiver, but according to the gracious choice of the Giver. Often the bestowal of divine favor or blessing is an unmerited gift, certainly the gracious gift of salvation.

Truth refers to what has fidelity to the original, thus because Christ is the perfect image of God, He is the Truth. Thus John 1:14 teaches Christ's mission, as God incarnate,is to bestow God's indescribable gift and provide revelation of that gift.

In summary:
John 1:14 (interpretative translation)
And Logos (the Second Person of the Trinity) became human (God incarnate), and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory (glory as the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the Christ, Messiah and Savior,) as the uniquely divine Son sent from the Father, full of grace (demonstrating God's love while we were yet sinners) and truth (the perfect image of the Father).