Based on a Sermon Preached by Adrian Warnock on 6th October 2002 at Jubilee Church
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
Ice breaker
What is your name and what person in history other than Jesus do you most admire?
Questions?
IS Jesus really the most influential man in history?
What kind of person do you imagine him to be?
Do you think of him more as man or God?
Why do you think the darkness hates him?
How has Jesus changed your life?
What do you understand by the fact that although we receive him, we are ‘born’ not by our own decision?
Detailed Notes
Jesus- so what?
One of the shocking things about the bible is it is still the most sold unread book in existence. UBS estimate they have distributed 9 billion Bibles since 1947! The Bible is the number one shoplifted book in America.
Guiness book of records states it is the best selling book of all time with the exception of uncopyrighted books like the bible. It is a book about the best- Amazons weekly sales were topped this week by a book on leadership. We look for the best, and we want to be led. We have a deep seated sense of longing for the meaning that being a follower gives. Where did we come from and where are we going to.
Jesus has in fact been the most influential figure amongst all mankind. There is no doubt about this. Every historian agrees. But how much attention do we give Jesus today? How often is he spoken about except as a curse? How often do we Christians even really consider him.
On my theology course we do practice sermons, I will never forget one of the students challenging a couple of others- why did you not even mention Jesus in your sermon.
This evening series is our chance to redress this balance.
Christianinty is not a philosophy of living
It is not a religion- I hate religion
It is not a moral code
It is not a set of doctrines
It is a relationship with a person.
One man more than any other it would seem in the New Testament understood Jesus the man, and wanted us to get to know him up close and personal. People often ask of a book, why did they write it? Johns answer is simple-
Now Jesus did many other signs………..but these are written so that you may x believe that Jesus is the Christ, y the Son of God, and that by believing z you may have life a in his name.[1] (Jn 20:30-31 ).
Belief is actually trust. You cannot trust a vague concept. You cannot even trust an image in a stained glass window. Dare I say it you cant even really trust the public image of Jesus as seen in the other gospels- not that he is another man, but to really trust someone you have to KNOW him. No, here we have Jesus introduced by the man who rested his head on Jesus chest. This is the man, encounter him, meet him!! In John we get Jesus introduced ‘up close and personal’ He REVEALS the person and identity of Jesus in a way that DEMANDS a response.
What will you say to this man, how will you respond to him? Will you hate him or love him? Jesus, lived his life ultimately for an audience of one, but in so doing he demands a response from us.
You either decide to use his name as a swear word and kill him or whisper his name in devotion and lay down your life for him. Which will YOU choose?
As we go through this book we will feel Jesus leap of the page at us and demand our attention. We will experience his presence in this room I am sure and there will be times when we have to stop and worship. Many of us, even I trust myself will find our image of Jesus changes. Is he really who you think he is?
So lets begin, where John does with the BEGINNING
He does not start with Jesus beginning, for he has no beginning. Rather he asks the questions that burn on our hearts- Where do we come from? Where does our story start?
In the beginning….. Anyone who has ever picked up a bible and tried to read it through from the beginning will have recognized these words. Gen 1:1 ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth’. Beginings are crucial aren’t they. From the age old riddle ‘Which came first the Chicken or the egg’ there has resonated a deep question for us. Where do we come from? Where does this world come from? If you are not a thoroughbred atheist then you may have no problem with the concept of God being in the beginning, nor I guess with God being there BEFORE the beginning of the universe.
But here in John, we have a brilliant illustration of why we shouldn’t simply begin at the beginning of the bible. Unlike many other books, really here the bible takes stock and says look, about all this stuff I’ve been telling you, I just have a slight adjustment to make- you see its not just in the beginning God. No its in the beginning was the word. Rather like some of us grew up watching an Australian artist, Rolf Harris, who when he wasn’t singing ‘Tie Me kangeroo down’ was splattering paint at a wall, which suddenly took shape as a beautiful painting. No, if you want to understand the rest of the bible start here.
But why does he use the word ‘word’ it can seem strange to the modern reader- is it some sort of code- without parallel in the languages of modern culture.[2] It had Jewish and Greek connotations that we can go into some detail about but in many ways if we are coming to this passage for the first time it is easier to simply state ‘In the beginning Jesus…..’
Can you imagine anything more scandalous or blasphemous to the early Jews than these words. Here John is clearly putting something in place of God. He will go on to make this even clearer if this is not clear enough!!!
In the beginning was b the Word, and c the Word was with God, and d the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. [3]
You see the bible is actually about the Word. The expression of God. His self revelation. When God speaks in Genesis, the world is made. Here we see that Gods word is in fact God himself. What does this mean? Well when we speak we represent ourselves. If we are honest we represent ourselves fairly, if we lie, then we represent ourselves falsely. If I was to play a sample of speech from someone you knew well you would instantly know who it was. If I was to read out exactly word for word what someone you knew had said, you would also quickly recognize them.
With God, the reflection of himself, or the expression of himself is so 100% genuine that it actually IS him, and as such ‘The Word’, the eternally spoken one, who proceeds from God and is God’s agent in one sense has an existence that is in parallel with God. ‘Was God’- WBC- ‘as truly God as he with whom he was’. Gods word is so real that it is in fact a person. And that person existed for ever ‘WITH’ God in relationship with God.
In fact, where most translations state ‘was b the Word’ one, the ISV has the word ‘EXISTED’. There is an eternal existence spoken about in these few words that has great significance.
What does it mean for God and Jesus to exist, and to have existed for eternity?
Surely, one thing it means is that God was eternally self sufficient and certainly not alone!
The translation ‘The word existed’ brings to mind Heb 11:6 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God mmust believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. [4]
(Indeed the greek word used for ‘is’ in John 1 is simply a different form of the word ‘exists’ in Heb 11:6)
Belief in a God who ultimately exists both now, and in the past and in the future is absolutely crucial to anything vaguely resembling Christian faith. God is described in the Old Testament as I am who I am – Ex 3:14.
Note that there is therefore community in God from before the world was made. When did community start? When was there a time with no love? NEVER is the answer. So God did not make the world out of some sense of divine loneliness!!! Note that also there is a hint of the eternal submission of Jesus to the purposes of God here. It is Jesus that is God’s agent and not the other way round in creation, revelation and salvation. Elsewhere for sure God is spoken of as doing these things and the fact that Jesus does them is good proof of his divinity but it is Gods work. When then did submission start? Was it with the fall? With Creation? No, NEVER. There has always been submission in the very heart of the trinity.
So what does an eternally self sufficient God living with his eternal word do with his time? Well he CREATES a universe that’s what!
All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 f In him was life, 1 and g the life was the light of men. 5 h The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.[5]
If you believe in the Big Bang theory who made the stuff that exploded? The Christian view is actually that everything we see God made OUT OF NOTHING.
Whether he did it in an instant as he is well capable of or whether he did it in millions of years is almost irrelevant. Either we have a very lucky random universe or we have a personal creator!
Notice though John almost put the breaks on himself suddenly, you see the last thing he wants us to say is ‘SO WHAT’ This is not abstract theology he is teaching here. Suddenly he makes the point look people, if you are a person out there then this Word, this Jesus is actually the light that gives you life. Yes, if Jesus threw the large lights into the sky then he put the little sparkle into your eyes also!!
HE also begins to point out that somehow not everything is quite how things should be and that there is a darkness which has not either destroyed the light or grasped ahold of it for itself, depending on how you translate a difficult Greek word here.
It could be translated ‘Overcome’ or ‘comprehend’ or ‘apprehend’ or perhaps ‘GRASP’ which is a particularly good word here as it perhaps shows both senses of this word which has been explained as "to lay hold of so as to possess as one’s own, to appropriate.”"[6]
V12 Will YOU receive or reject Jesus????
V 13
Note that the NIV rather naughtily inserts a husbands decision here, with what seems like no backing from the Greek- the assumption here is that John is contrasting the first birth with the second, however that makes little sense and cant be justified from the Greek.
Rather, surely he is speaking here about the lack of human decision in the salvation process. OF course we mustn’t think that this is in anyway contradicting the previous verse which speaks of us ‘receiving’ Jesus. The bible teaches both these truths and we must cling onto them.
Word Commentary here points out that BOTH sexual desire and human initiative or decision making are in mind here.
Notice how in this passage the word ‘World’ is used of people in much the same way as we still do today ‘the world waits with bated breath whilst the UN meet to discuss the Iraqi crisis’
V16 This is a difficult verse ‘grace upon grace.’ ESV or grace for grace or one after the other. NAB translation states grace instead of grace. "From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." [7] NAB The implication here is that we are still talking about redemption history rather than the piling up of graces in the believers life- not to say that singing that we have all received ‘Grace upon Grace’ is wrong of course.
IE the Law was a grace!!!
V15
What does it mean to trust through him???? Ie John was to engender trust in others of God
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son [8] THE MESSAGE
V18 =explained him
NOTE that NOONE really does mean no one. What do we make of all the appearances of God in the Old Testament then? Well for John the answer is easy- we have to conclude they were Jesus. John answers his own question in Jn 12:41-42 ‘Isaiah said these things because t he saw his glory and u spoke of him. 42’[9] the context of this quote is quite clear that the his and him can only be Jesus. NOTE the link to v14 ‘we have seen his glory’. Isaiah sees him in the temple with full glory and his robe filling the temple. John sees him clothed in humanity and his robe healing the outcast woman.!
If you want to know what God is like look at Jesus- he is the perfect expression of God the perfect demonstration of him. We can relate to him better than to a spiritual being, and God intended it that way. Jesus as the word of God is his perfect word and perfectly reveals him. What we say ALWAYS reveals who we are, with God his word is not only always 100 per cent true it also 100 per cent reveals him. This revelation brings to mind the sense theologians speak of how Jesus in some way eternally preeceeds from God- he is the expression or revelation of God. Jesus preached the best sermon ever on God just by his lifestyle.
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x See ch. 11:27
y See Matt. 14:33
z ch. 3:15 , 16 ; 5:40 ; 6:53 ; 10:10
a [ Acts 10:43 ; 1 Cor. 6:11 ]; See Acts 3:6
[1]The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (electronic ed.) Wheaton: Good News Publishers.
a Gen. 1:1 ; [ Col. 1:17 ; 1 John 1:1 ; Rev. 1:4 , 8 , 17 ; 3:14 ; 21:6 ; 22:13 ]
[2]Beasley-Murray, G. R. (1998). Vol. 36: Word Biblical Commentary : John (electronic ed.). Logos Library System;Word Biblical Commentary (Jn 1:1). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.
b Rev. 19:13 ; [ Heb. 4:12 ; 1 John 1:1 ]
c 1 John 1:2 ; [ch. 17:5 ]
d Phil. 2:6
[3]The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (electronic ed.) (Jn 1:1-2). Wheaton: Good News Publishers.
b Rev. 19:13 ; [ Heb. 4:12 ; 1 John 1:1 ]
m 1 Chr. 28:9; Jer. 29:12-14; [John 4:24]
[4]The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (electronic ed.) (Heb 11:6). Wheaton: Good News Publishers.
f ch. 5:26 ; 11:25 ; 1 John 1:2 ; 5:11
1 Or was not any thing made. That which has been made was life in him
g ch. 8:12 ; 9:5 ; 12:46
h [ch. 3:19 ]
[5]The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (electronic ed.) (Jn 1:3-5). Wheaton: Good News Publishers.
[6] Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words(electronic ed.).
[7] The New American Bible(electronic ed.).
[8]Peterson, E. H. (1995). The message : New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs (Jn 1:1). Colorado Springs, Colo.: NavPress.
t Isai. 6:1
u [ch. 5:46 ]
[9]The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (electronic ed.) (Jn 12:41-42). Wheaton: Good News Publishers.
