What is the context?
This verse concludes John 1:14–18, where the Word becomes flesh and His glory is seen. It first says that no one has ever seen God, then identifies the Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, as the One who makes Him known. (Read the surrounding passage)
The verb behind made Him known is ἐξηγέομαι, exēgeomai (ex-ay-GEH-oh-my). Thayer gives the sense of unfolding or declaring and specifically lists this verse. The Son makes God known through the unique relationship described here. (Thayer, Greek 1834)
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christian readers commonly understand the verse as the Son uniquely making the unseen God known. Wesley connects the Son’s place beside the Father with their closest unity and the Son’s intimate knowledge of Him. (Wesley on John 1:18)
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Jesus later tells Philip that seeing Him is seeing the Father and explains that His words and works express the Father’s presence in Him. Hebrews similarly identifies the Son as the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of His nature. These passages develop the larger purpose stated here: God makes Himself known through His Son, whose work also brings cleansing from sins. (John 14:8–11; Hebrews 1:1–4)
What is our position?
Our study Who is The Angel of the Lord? reads John 1:18 as an anchor for understanding God’s visible appearances in the Old Testament. It concludes that the eternal Son made the unseen Father known in those encounters before becoming human. That is the study’s developed conclusion from this verse.