John 1 - Intro 2/18/04
This morning we start on a new adventure. We are going to begin a journey through the gospel of John. We are going to look at the life of Jesus, and begin an exploration to find out just what kind of man this Jesus was. And for our guide on this journey, we have the Apostle John.
When we think of the Apostle John, we remember that this was a man that Jesus loved, a man who spent much time with Jesus, a man who was an eyewitness. In 1 John 1, John begins his epistle by declaring that he was an eyewitness: “The one who was from the beginning is the one we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is Jesus Christ, the word of life. . . We have seen him . . . We are telling you about what we ourselves have actually seen and heard.”
John is an “eyewitness” to the life of Jesus, and he tells us what he knows firsthand: the power of Jesus Christ to change lives. After all, what kind of man was John? Remember that John is the son of Zebedee and Salome, and he had a brother James. Together they were called “the sons of Thunder.” You can almost imagine him walking around with a leather motorcycle jacket on. He’d have his wallet fastened to a big chain on his belt loop. He was a powerful man. This John was the disciple who tried to stop all competitors from driving out demons [Luke 9:49]. It was John who wanted Jesus to call down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans because they did not receive Jesus and the disciples. It is John who self-centeredly wanted himself and his brother to sit on either side of Jesus in glory. A rough and ready, no holds barred sort of guy.
But, after being with Jesus and learning from Jesus, we see John changed into a humble loving disciple. He is so humble that when he refers to himself in this gospel, he doesn’t mention himself by name, rather he just uses the phrase, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” [John 21:7]. He has become a disciple whose main focus in on loving one another. He commands the early church to do this several times in his epistles [1 John 4:7].
John’s gospel shows Jesus’ power to transform lives, and John’s life is a key example. As we go through this study, I’d ask you to look at your life and ask the question, “How does Jesus Christ want my life to change?” None of us like change, but if we never change, we never grow.
John is writing this when he must have been at least in his 80’s. At this time he is probably the last of the original disciples left alive. There were probably very few key eyewitnesses left alive who had seen Jesus. And John writes us this gospel with a key purpose. We see it recorded for us in John 20:30-31 - “Jesus’ disciples saw him do many other miraculous signs besides the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah [the Christ], the Son of God, and that believing in him you will have life.”
Many other miracles are recorded in the other gospels, and many were done that are not recorded, but John records 8 miracles, plus the resurrection, as signs that show that Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah sent from God, and that by believing in him we might have life. Today we start our journey in learning from the witness of John about the power of Jesus to change our lives. Shall we pray together. . . . .
We live in a constantly-changing society. A generation ago people were questioning the existence of God - is there a God? Does he exist? But the times have changed. There are still some people who question the existence of God, but for the most part, we believe in God. Recent Gallup polls say that 96-98% of us in America believe that God exists. The question we are asking today is “Can God relate to me?” Is God relevant for my life today? Does he offer anything for me in this daily grind I plod through day after meaningless day?
One of 1995’s biggest songs was Joan Osborne’s “One of Us.” The song earned 7 Grammy Award nominations, and made a virtually unknown singer an overnight sensation. These are some of the words of that song:
“If God had a name, what would it be,
and would you call it to his face,
if we were faced with him in all His Glory,
what would you ask if You had just one question…
What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us?
Just a stranger on a bus, trying to make his way home.
To a world of questions and confusion, John writes us his gospel, and tells us exactly what it was like when God DID become one of us, and showed us his glory, and showed us the way home.
Let’s look together at John 1. READ chapter 1:1-18
Today, we see the introduction to John’s gospel, and we see who this Jesus really is. John is going to show us through the book what Jesus was like, the power he had, the compassion he had, and why we need to believe in him. But today, in these first verses, we get a glimpse of who this Jesus really is and why it is important to look at his life. The goal of communication is clarity. "The Ten Commandments contain 297 words. The Bill of Rights is stated in 463 words. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address contains 266 words. A recent federal directive to regulate the price of cabbage contains 26,911 words." More is not always better! In the Greek, verse one contains 17 words. But they are very powerful words.
God CAN relate to us, and he DOES have a message to communicate to us. Down through the ages, God used many means to communicate to us. He used angels, a burning bush, audible voice, dreams, visions, even a donkey. But Hebrews 1:2 tells us “but now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his son.” God has a message for us, and He gives it to us through his son.
In the book, Prince Caspian, the second book of C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, Lucy reencounters Aslan, who symbolizes the person of Christ. As Lucy again gazes into large wise face, he says, “Welcome, child.” “Aslan,” says Lucy, “You’re bigger.” “That is because you are older, little one,” answered he. “Not because you are?” Lucy replies. “I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”
The serious student of scripture will find that each time he returns to John’s gospel, Jesus will be a little bigger. John starts out by declaring to be true the facts about Jesus. He sets up the proposition of his book. We gain a little more appreciation for who he is. What do we see about him today? John starts out by revealing the “climax” of his story the very first thing!
1. Jesus is eternal - so therefore His message never changes. 1:1 tells us “In the beginning the Word already existed.” Or another way of stating this is “when the beginning began, the word was already there.” John starts with the imagery of Genesis 1:1 - “in the beginning” - and the reader looks back to the story of creation. John reminds us that before any of this existed, Jesus was already here. He exists from eternity past. He is timeless. He loved us “before the foundation of the world”; he knew he would die “before the foundation of the world; he chose us “before the foundation of the world.”
So, why is this important? Why does it matter that God is eternal? Because the God of yesterday and today is also the God of tomorrow. We can trust the God who has eternally existed. We can trust him with our future. He has already seen the future, so he knows what is best for our lives. Many times we want to tell God what is best, but let’s remember that he is eternal, and he knows what tomorrow will hold.
2. Jesus is distinct from the father - “He was with God” - He existed from eternity past with the father - and therefore he knows God’s message and plan for us intimately well. Jesus is not just another name for the father. But he is unique and distinct.
3. Jeus is divine - he is deity; he is God. “he was God.” There is no question about who Jesus is - He is God - He is not the Father; he is the Son. But He is God. He is eternally God, He is equally God, He is essentially God. There are some groups, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses who would like to say Jesus is “a god.” They say Jesus is a lesser God. Really this verse says that in his essence, all that he is, Jesus is God. And because he IS God, there can be no confusion over the message he brings from the father. Sometimes it’s easy to misinterpret messages.
A school superintendent told his assistant superintendent the following:
"Next Thursday at 10:30am, Haley’s Comet will appear over this area. This is an event which occurs only once every 75 years. Call the school principals and have them assemble their teachers and classes on their athletic fields and explain this phenomenon to them. If it rains, then cancel the day’s observation and have the classes meet in the auditorium to see a film about the comet."
Assistant superintendent to school principals:
"By order of the superintendent of schools, next Thursday at 10:30 Haley’s Comet will appear over your athletic field. If it rains, then cancel the day’s classes and report to the auditorium with your teachers and students where you will be shown films, a phenomenal event which occurs only once every 75 years."
Principals to teachers:
"By order of the phenomenal superintendent of schools, at 10:30 next Thursday Haley’s Comet will appear in the auditorium. In case of rain over the athletic field, the superintendent will give another order-something which occurs only once every 75 years."
Teachers to students:
"Next Thursday at 10:30 the superintendent of schools will appear in our school auditorium with Haley’s Comet; something which occurs once every 75 years. If it rains, the superintendent will cancel the comet and will order us out to our phenomenal athletic field."
Students to parents:
"When it rains next Thursday at 10:30 over the school athletic field, the phenomenal 75 year old superintendent of schools will cancel all classes and appear before the school in the auditorium accompanied by Bill Haley and the Comets."
It’s easy to have confusion over messages and mix things up. So God entrusted his message of salvation to his one of a kind, unique Son Jesus.
John uses a term to refer to Jesus - “the Word” - to the Jews they would identify the Word of God as an agent of creation (Psalm 33:6) - as the source of God’s message to his prophets (Hosea 4:1) - as God’s standard of holiness (Psalm 119:11).
The Greeks also had a concept of “the Word.” This is the translation of the Greek term “Logos” which to the Greeks represented the principle of reason, the governing force of the universe. Sort of like in Star Wars, where the characters talk about “the force.” John uses this concept to teach us that the key power of the universe, the key force in the world, became human, and took a body and a face. God loves us enough to communicate to us by becoming one of us.
For the Greeks, the Logos was an eternal, impersonal Principle. The gods of the Greeks were far removed and aloof. They had no concern for simple humanity. Yet John declares that the Logos is not impersonal but personal. He is not far removed but intimate. God became one of us. The Word became flesh. God invaded humanity.
“What if God was one of us”? He was, and he is, and he understands.
If Jesus was not God, He would be powerless to help us. But because Jesus IS God, no problem is to hard, no decision too complex, no fear to great. We have a God of might and power in Jesus.
We go on in verse 3 to see
4. Jesus is creator - and as such he know what it takes to reach us. He knows us better that we know ourselves. He knows all our inward thoughts. He sees us and understands us, because he created us.
Sometimes it takes a special insight to communicate. A doctor had hired a new secretary. She was pretty and thin. Part of her responsibilities was mailing out the bills to all the doctor’s patients. The doctor began to notice that it was taking more time than should be necessary for her to fulfill this task, and so he observed her one day. He discovered that rather than using the wet sponge to seal the envelopes, she was licking each one. This took a long time. The doctor asked her to use the sponge instead of licking each one, but the new secretary said that she would rather do it the other way. The doctor tried all kinds of motivations to try and convince her to do things his way. He tried telling her how much quicker it would be, he told her that her mouth wouldn’t get so dry, he even tried switching the type of envelopes that he used to one of those kind that had nasty-tasting glue. Nothing worked. One day, a female patient came to her window to pay her bill and noticed that the secretary was licking the envelopes. She said to her, “Did you know that each envelope has about 1 1⁄2 calories?” The secretary immediately stopped and began using a wet sponge.
Sometimes it takes a woman to communicate in a woman’s language.
God can understand us and communicate us, because he created us and knows us well.
When we ask ourselves if God really cares, we remember that he is our creator, and because of that we are of great value to him. He loves us and cares about us because we are his creation. He knows me better than anyone else. He understands why I act the way I do. He understands the unique aspects of my personality. He knows me better than anyone. He knows the worst about me, but loves me in spite of that.
5. Jesus is Life and Light - verse 4 tells us “life was in him, and this life gives light to everyone.” Jesus gives understanding to God’s message to us. He translates God’s message to us in a form we can all understand. No matter how bad your situation, God has a “light at the end of the tunnel.” Into a world of darkness, Jesus came as the light, and verse 5 tells us “the light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” God’s light shines, no matter how bad things get. There is no one too far from God’s love and grace.
Helen Keller tells of that dramatic moment when Anne Sullivan first broke through her dark, silent world with the illumination of language:
“We walked down the path to the well house, attracted by the fragrance of the honeysuckle with which it was covered. Some one was drawing water and my teacher placed my hand under the spout. As the cool stream gushed over one hand she spelled into the other the word water, first slowly, then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motion of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten—a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that “w-a-t-e-r” meant that wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free!”
The moment Helen Keller describes is that moment her world of darkness was shattered with the light of language. Although she was the same person physically, her life was transformed. She now had a way she could see and understand. In the same way, the light of God, through Jesus Christ, shatters the power of sin and death, and gives us HOPE even in the midst of the worst of circumstances. He gives me HOPE even when there appears to be no hope
6. Jesus became one of us - He identifies with us to teach us and show us the truth. God meets us at our point of need, and gives us what we need. Verse 14 tells us “the Word became human [flesh] and lived here on earth among us.” The literal phrase used is he “pitched his tent” or he “tabernacled” with us. The Jew would instantly think back to the idea of the OT tabernacle. In the camp everyone knew that God’s presence was in the tabernacle. There Moses would go to hear the voice of God. In the OT, God’s people erected a tabernacle and later a temple to symbolize the presence and dwelling of God among His people in the wilderness. The tabernacle reminded the people that God was with them and leading them. Now, John writes, God has tabernacled, taken His dwelling, among us. God dwells in the flesh among humans. He lived as one of us. He is present in human flesh. He understands what I am faced with and going through
The verse goes on “and we have seen his glory, the glory of the only son of the father.”
The tabernacle had 2 interior parts, one of which was called the Holy of Holies, and contained the Ark of the Covenant. This part was separated by a veil and was entered by the priest only once a year, on the Day of Atonement. The tabernacle was the portable structure where the glory of God dwelt. Later it was replaced by the Temple. At the exact moment that Jesus died on the cross the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the common people in the temple was completely ripped in two. No longer would it be said that God’s dwelling place – his presence – could be entered only by one man once a year. God became flesh to change all that.
God’s glory represents His self-disclosure, how He reveals Himself to His people. In the OT, the people could not see God and live. They could only see His glory. Now, John writes, we have beheld His glory. In other words, we see how God has chosen to reveal Himself to us. He has chosen to reveal Himself as a human, as one of us. God’s glory has been revealed in Jesus Christ, the one and only one who could express the glory of God. John serves as a witness. Jesus shares with us all that God is, in human form.
Jesus was God’s way of meeting us where we were to take us where we could never go.
If our greatest need is money, God may have sent us a banker.
If our greatest need is knowledge, God may have sent us a teacher.
If our greatest need is wisdom, God may have sent us a philosopher.
If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer.
But our greatest need was forgiveness - forgiveness of our sin against God..., so God sent us a Redeemer who would pay His way to buy us back! "
In verse 16, it says “we have all benefited from the rich blessings he brought to us--one gracious blessing after another.” In the Greek, it uses a term here “fullness” of grace - to the Greeks the term “fullness” was the name they had for all of their deities put together. They had various gods and goddesses, and all of them together made up the “fullness.” John says Jesus gives us the “fullness” of grace from the father. All that God has to offer to us comes to us through Jesus Christ.
John continues to bear witness about this Jesus: he is eternal, co-existent, divine, creator, life and light, and one of us. But when he came, we did not receive him. Look at verses 10-12. “But although the world was made through him, the world didn’t recognize him when he came. Even in his own land and among his own people, he was not accepted.”
The idea here is of a homecoming. It says Jesus came as the honored guest to the homecoming, but no one gave him any recognition. He wasn’t welcomed. But to those who would welcome him, he gives the right, the authority, the permission, the power, to become the children of God.
This morning, as we look at the witness of John, we realize that Jesus came to show us the way to God. He comes to us in whatever situation we are in and says, “I understand; I can identify with you.” And he comes to us a God, come in the flesh, and he offers us grace: that which we do not deserve, that which we have not earned, that which we could never buy for ourselves.
This morning, have you welcomed him or have you ignored him. What if God were one of us -- would we listen to his message. God is present with us this morning through his Holy Spirit, and he wants to offer you his grace and hope and love. Will you receive it this morning.
