God's Glory

John 1 (3)

God’s Glory

- Read John 1:1-18

Each of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written by different men, as inspired and directed by the Lord. They were written with different specific audiences in mind, and together, provide 4 accounts of the life of Jesus.

John, the son of Zebedee, is the author of this Gospel. He and his brother James are called the "Sons of Thunder," most likely for their lively, zealous personalities. Of the 12 disciples, John, James, and Peter formed the inner circle, chosen by Jesus to become his closest companions. They had the exclusive privilege of witnessing and testifying about events in the life of Jesus that no others were invited to see. John was present at the resurrection of Jarius' daughter (Luke 8:51), the transfiguration of Jesus (Mark 9:2), and in Gethsemane (Mark 14:33). John is also the only recorded disciple to be present when Jesus was crucified. He is the one Jesus spoke to from the cross about His mother. He is the one Jesus told to take care of His mother after He was gone. They were close.

John tells us a lot about the life and ministry of Jesus the other writers do not tell us. John tells us about the Marriage Feast at Cana of Galilee, of the coming of Nicodemus to Jesus, the woman of Samaria, of the raising of Lazarus, of the way Jesus washed the disciples’ feet and of Jesus’ teaching about the Holy Spirit and the Comforter.

John pays careful attention to everything going on around him, so he gives us little details the other writers leave out. When Jesus feeds the 5,000 with the fish and loaves, only John tells us they were barley loaves. When Jesus walked on water and came to the disciples in the middle of the storm, John is the one how tells us they had rowed between 3 and 4 miles when the storm came. He is the one who tells us there were 6 stone water pots Jesus turned in to wine. Only John tells us about the crown of thorns and how the soldiers gambled for Jesus’ woven robe. He knows the exact weight of the aloes and myrrh, that was used to anoint Jesus’ body to prepare it for burial. John remembers how the perfume of the ointment filled the house when Jesus was anointed.

These are the memories of a man who was there.

In the beginning part of this chapter, John tells about things he did not directly see or know. These are things the Lord showed him that he recorded. IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. . . .

These are the words of a man inspired and directed by God to teach us and to help explain to us Who Jesus is and where He came from, and how God prepared the way for His arrival.

There was a man sent from God who’s name was John, is a God-directed passage telling us about the forerunner of Jesus, explaining how God have paved the way for His arrival.

Ah, but in verse 14, John begins to share some of his God-inspired and God-directed memories.

- Read verse 14

Most of us are familiar with the verse John 3:16, explaining why Jesus came into the world, explaining how the love of God caused Him to send His only begotten Son into the world, to pay the price for our sins, so that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but might have everlasting life.

Some have called verse 14 the 2nd most important verse in the New Testament.

Verse 14 begins, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Can you imagine the love that drove God to have His only begotten Son, the Creator of all things, leave the glories and majesty of heaven to come and live as a man? To know the pains, and hunger, and thirst, and heat and cold, and heart break and temptations that we know?

But He did it, and John was able to spend 3 1/2 years with Him, and took care of His mother after that. Tell us John, what stood out to you about the time you spent with Jesus? When you saw His glory displayed, you who notice all of the details, what stood out to you about Jesus?

Notice His answer. We observed His glory, the glory of the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

What stood out my time with Jesus? I noticed His grace and truth.

Years ago, a large international conference was held of religious leaders from around the world. In the midst of the conference, a debate began about what it was that set Christianity apart from other religions.