Introduction
The disciple whom Jesus loved is the moniker that John gives himself in the book of John. (John 13:23) Due to this inmate relationship with Jesus, we get to answer some of the more inmate questions about Jesus. We get to answer the following questions. Who was Jesus in eternity past? What did Jesus do in eternity past? What does it mean when it says that Jesus was the Word? How and why does John introduce Jesus this way while two of the synoptic Gospels begin with Jesus’ family lineage?
John does not mention Jesus’ family lineage. Mark begins his Gospel with the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah 40:3. The two synoptic Gospels of Matthew and Luke talks about Jesus birth in Bethlehem. John simply says in John 1:14, “ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
In John’s Gospel, there isn’t fanfare nor drama. We did not hear about the census. We do not hear that there wasn’t any room in the inn. We did not hear that Jesus was born in a manger. We did not hear anything regarding the angels, the shepherds, Herod, the wise men, nor the killing of the babies in Bethlehem. What can we learn from John’s introduction of Jesus for the twenty-one-century church?
The Word of God (John 1:1)
Let me describe the differences in the Gospel of John from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke both discuss the lineage of Jesus’ family. The lineage on both his mother and step father’s side is examined. John unlike the Gospel of Mark is still dealing with Jesus’s family lineage. Mark starts his Gospel by talking about the voice crying out in the wilderness. John the disciple whom Jesus loved is giving a more inmate look of Jesus family lineage from His real Father’s side. John traces Jesus’ family lineage back to God the Father. In John 1:1 it states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Jesus had a family on the side of His Father, the Creator of all men. The family is the Holy Trinity. His family consisted of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We trace Jesus back to his family with God in this text. Jesus was at the beginning. Jesus was with God the Father at the beginning. Jesus was a God at the beginning.
His family members consisting of Himself and God the Father are mentioned in the upcoming text. If we look in the latter part of the text, it states that the Word became flesh and dwell amongst us. As we continue on, the third part of the Trinity which is the Holy Spirit comes into play.
Luke gives the detail as to how this happens from an interview with an angel in Luke 1:35. “The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” Therefore, the Word of God came from the family of God to do the Work of God.
The Work of God (John 1:3)
The work of God started in the creation of God. In this text, we see the work of Jesus before He came to this earth. The bible says that through Jesus all thing was made. In John 1:10, it states, “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.”
Jesus plays such a great role in the creation that it says without Jesus nothing was made that had been made. God the Son carried out the work of the creation. God the Father said, let there be and God the Son did it with the help of God the Spirit.
In Genesis 1:2-3 gives us some of the insights the take place during the creation.
1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
After the work of the creation, Adam was disobedient to the Word of God. Adam was the cause of sin coming into the world. (Genesis 3)
The family of God would then begin the work of salvation. The work of salvation for mankind would culminate with the death of Jesus on the cross paying for the sins from Adam. Jesus Christ would have to pay for all who had sinned since the genesis of Adam. Jesus Christ would have to die for the sins of those who would live again after His death and resurrection. This is why His works would have to be a witness for this sins of the world.
The Witness of God (John 1:6)
Hence, John’s perspective of Jesus’ family knits the lineage of Jesus to the family of God. This like the other family lineages in Matthew and Luke. It authenticates His claims to be the Son of God. However, with John’s Gospel, Jesus’s real Father, the Creator of all men. God the Father is examined. Jesus called himself, “The Son of God.”
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke discuss the lineage of the Messiah from his mother and stepfather, Joseph. Jesus called Himself the “The Son of Man” as he had earthly parents. The Messiah had to be the Son of God to be a witness for God. The is the witness of John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
This is the witness of God! Today as you are reading, “John On The Run” I would like to make sure that you are saved now with this witness.
