February 17, 2003
March 2
___John 1:1-18
Pictures are unnecessary; the Word said volumes
___By Paul Kenley
___The first chapter of John has contributed, perhaps as no other passage, to the molding of some of our most vital Christian beliefs. From these verses and others flow our doctrine of the person of Christ, our understanding of the incarnation and our perception of the eternal nature of our Lord's mission as the Lamb of God.
___The prologue is central in refuting some of the earliest and most virulent heresies concerning Jesus as the God-man, particularly those having to do with the relationship between flesh and spirit. Any suggestion of a union of the two ran counter to the most commonly understood philosophies of the day, which held that flesh was evil and spirit good. Therefore, the notion that God took on human flesh was considered blasphemy.
___But through eyewitness testimony, John so personalizes the presence of God in Christ that the intimate nature of his atoning mission comes alive, even to the degree that we have "beheld his glory, as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (v. 14).
___Who is this John?
___Few dispute that the author of this record is John, one of the 12, who along with his brother James, are known as the "sons of thunder." Here "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (as he refers to himself in verses 7 and 20 of chapter 21), offers us a perspective on his Master's nature and character that we receive from no other biblical writer.
___John's Gospel stands apart, as if the Holy Spirit chose to preserve particular foundational truths uniquely to its writing. In addition to his own description as the beloved disciple, the gospel recurrently reads of a special relationship between John and Jesus. This unique relationship of John with the Son of God causes us to take special note of the personal perspectives on the Lord in this gospel, particularly in the prologue.
___What's in a word?
___The central focus of the prologue is the "Word," the "Logos." But the "Logos" cannot be addressed without first noting the opening prepositional phrase in verse 1.
___These first three words, "In the beginning," set the tone for the theme of the prologue, as an identifying statement of Jesus Christ as God. The phrase does so by precisely paralleling the opening of the Old Testament record in the book of Genesis--"In the beginning God," with "In the beginning was the Word," in the gospel--setting the two in apposition as one and the same.
___The "Word" in the second case, explains and reveals "God" in the first. The obvious parallel also interjects the Word into the act of creation and specifically locates Christ in the Godhead of eternity past. Verses 2 and 3 specify not only that the pre-incarnate Son was present at the creation, but was indeed the agent of it.
___But why such an ambiguous designation to describe the Christ of the incarnation when he had never before been so called?
___As one who majored in English grammar, I have always been fascinated with what identifying Jesus as "the Word" reveals about him. To the grammarian, writer or speaker, a word is the basic tool of communication. As the hammer is to the carpenter, as the plow is to the farmer, so words are the basic tools of the communicator. As a series of words reveals a thought or idea, so does the Word reveal God in John's prologue.
___Creation and re-creation
___In establishing the Word as the creator in verse 3, we are compelled to recall the definition of "create." Creativity is a divine attribute which is unique to God alone. Indeed, human beings can only "re-create." As created beings ourselves, we may only make things from previously existing matter. Only God can make something out of nothing, so the assertion in verse 3 that the Word was the agent of creation is in itself a statement of his deity.
___Light for our darkness
___With the introduction of the subject of light in verse 4, we meet a recurring theme in Scripture. Light-darkness imagery is rich in its communication--first of the darkened state of our existence outside of Christ, and then of our enlightened condition once the brilliance of his light floods the cavernous darkness of the unregenerate heart.
___A full exploration of light-darkness imagery in the New Testament is a journey of some length. Darkness in Scripture signifies not only sin, but lack of direction, and yes, even ignorance, be it incidental or intentional. So, a number of pictures come to mind.
___First, we observe a person seeking his way but without even enough light to discern sizeable objects which threaten to cause him to stumble. In this picture, we are reminded that the present moment is the only light we have. Even the next minute is as sheer blackness as far as our understanding of our future is concerned. But the Word is light, with a detailed understanding of our future, and is therefore able to guide our steps through whatever minefields may loom before us.
___Second, the Light shines on our ignorance and leads us to understand certain propositions to which we must then respond. When the light of the Word is superimposed on our dark understanding, we are aware we are sinners, and, further, that we cannot save ourselves. Since the Word has been made flesh, we now can comprehend something of who God is and must respond to his holiness. We also are enlightened to the suffering and darkness of others and are compelled to take the Light to them. Extremely notable is the reality that Jesus not only called himself the "Light of the World" (John 8:12; 9:5) but also called us who have received his light by the same designation--"You are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14).
___When John asserts "the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it," he uses a word difficult to translate. The King James Version and the New American Standard Version translate the word "comprehend." The New International Version uses the word "understand." But the English Standard Version prefers the word "overcome." The Greek word literally means, "to seize, win, attain, make one's own."
___Inherent in the meaning then is not merely the failure to understand God as revealed in Christ, but the failure of the darkness to alter his redemptive course or prevent the success of his mission, thus implying the ultimate defeat of the evil one, who is the father of spiritual darkness.
___Another John
___Verses 6-8 introduce another John--the one we call John the Baptist. He was in every sense the forerunner, the one who paved the way, the announcer that the long-promised Messiah had now indeed come. From the moment he leapt in his mother's womb at the announcement of Mary's pregnancy (Luke 1:41), to the triumphal introduction of Jesus as the Lamb of God at his baptism, John's entire existence served to prepare the way for the life and ministry of Jesus.
___The call to receive him
___Verses 11-13 state the only acceptable response lost humanity may make to the coming of the light in Jesus. The reference to "his own" underscores the Jews' rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. Sonship, John asserts, is not determined by human bloodlines but by spiritual birth and adoption. To "receive" him is not the mere intellectual acceptance of the facts related to him, but a life-trust that relies fully on his saving act as the only possible means of deliverance from the darkness that eternally condemns. Verse 13 makes clear that this birth is neither physical nor humanly generated, but one accomplished by God alone.
___The incarnation realized
___Verse 14 is perhaps the clearest statement of the incarnation in Scripture. The fact that the Word "became" flesh indicates his existence prior to conception. While we have our origin in the womb, the womb for Jesus served as the gateway from heavenly glory to human flesh--flesh that could be seen with the human eye, so for the first time, as is indicated in verse 18, man could truly see God as the very embodiment of grace and truth.
___John as the forerunner
___The John of verse 15 is the same John as in verse 6--John the Baptist. His testimony was two-fold: "He is greater than I"; and "He existed before me."
___Both of these statements were sensational to his hearers. They were flocking to him as their leader, and from the human perspective, he was born before Jesus. The purpose of John's ministry was realized when he baptized Jesus and announced him as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." (1:29)
___Grace upon grace
___The "grace and truth" of verse 14 are emphasized again in verse 17. So superior is he to the law that came through Moses that in him nothing is lacking. "Fullness" signifies that complete provision. While the law looked to another for fulfillment, in him nothing was lacking. So complete is his gift of grace that John can only describe it as "grace piled upon grace." (verse 16)
___This expression reminds us that grace is not only the over-arching theme of Scripture, but God's grace as revealed in the person John calls the Word is so abundant it cannot be measured. This is the very grace in which we must walk as well as practice in our relationships with others.
___Questions for discussion
___Consider the special relationship between Jesus and John, the author of the gospel and how this relationship impacted its writing. Discuss the practical nature of our own relationships with him.
___
___
___
___Paul Kenley is a pastor in Lampasas
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook
