“In the beginning . . . .” Where do you begin a story? Matthew begins with a genealogy, Mark with the proclamation that this Jesus is the Son of God, Luke begins with events leading up to Jesus’ birth, but John begins, “in the beginning.” He looks much further back beyond even the creation of the world, and sees that before there was anything else there was, “the Word.”
When we read Genesis, God speaks words and where there was nothing now there is something. God’s Word is powerful. In John in becomes evident that the Word is more than sounds that move past God’s lips. The Word is God. The Word makes life. The Word gives light. And the Word stands in conflict with the darkness – and the darkness has not – cannot! – overcome it.
The Word entered into this world – God stepping into time – for give us light. There’s an important implication in that statement. It means that we were in darkness. We were born railing against the Light. But God sent messengers like John the Baptist, and the prophets of the Old Testament to declare He was coming so we could believe in the Word.
This was not an easy thing. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to his own people, but they rejected him. The darkness fights hard against the light! But when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, there was glory – this Word is the Son from the Father, and He came with grace and truth. The Word pours out grace upon grace, and God’s love overflows from Him to everyone who will believe, and those who do become children of God and they know God because of the Word.
And that Word, John makes known, is Jesus.
John’s Gospel is the easiest of the four to read. His vocabulary is generally pretty simple. But sometimes the things he says really make you pause and catch your breath. I remember someone once said, “John is shallow enough that a second grader can read it and understand it. But it is also deep enough that the greatest scholar, the greatest theologian, can drown in it.” He proclaims a simple message of God’s love. He starts with the premise that we were so lost in darkness that we would shun the light, so God wraps up His glory in human flesh and dwells with us to give us a message: That He loves us and forgives our sins. He will do that through preaching, teaching, healing, rebuking, confronting, living, dying and living again. The message must get out.
When I read this chapter, I sat back and said, “What am I going to write about?!? There’s too much!” The truth is whenever we talk about Jesus there is too much for one telling. Even John will admit that at the end of this Gospel. “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” He is overwhelming – He is, after all, God!
So what should we grab from this? This: God loves us so much that He wants us to know Him. Jesus came so we can know him, indeed, to make Him known. He is the Word.
When we read Genesis, God speaks words and where there was nothing now there is something. God’s Word is powerful. In John in becomes evident that the Word is more than sounds that move past God’s lips. The Word is God. The Word makes life. The Word gives light. And the Word stands in conflict with the darkness – and the darkness has not – cannot! – overcome it.
The Word entered into this world – God stepping into time – for give us light. There’s an important implication in that statement. It means that we were in darkness. We were born railing against the Light. But God sent messengers like John the Baptist, and the prophets of the Old Testament to declare He was coming so we could believe in the Word.
This was not an easy thing. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to his own people, but they rejected him. The darkness fights hard against the light! But when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, there was glory – this Word is the Son from the Father, and He came with grace and truth. The Word pours out grace upon grace, and God’s love overflows from Him to everyone who will believe, and those who do become children of God and they know God because of the Word.
And that Word, John makes known, is Jesus.
John’s Gospel is the easiest of the four to read. His vocabulary is generally pretty simple. But sometimes the things he says really make you pause and catch your breath. I remember someone once said, “John is shallow enough that a second grader can read it and understand it. But it is also deep enough that the greatest scholar, the greatest theologian, can drown in it.” He proclaims a simple message of God’s love. He starts with the premise that we were so lost in darkness that we would shun the light, so God wraps up His glory in human flesh and dwells with us to give us a message: That He loves us and forgives our sins. He will do that through preaching, teaching, healing, rebuking, confronting, living, dying and living again. The message must get out.
When I read this chapter, I sat back and said, “What am I going to write about?!? There’s too much!” The truth is whenever we talk about Jesus there is too much for one telling. Even John will admit that at the end of this Gospel. “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” He is overwhelming – He is, after all, God!
So what should we grab from this? This: God loves us so much that He wants us to know Him. Jesus came so we can know him, indeed, to make Him known. He is the Word.
Comments
God knew we were so lost in darkness that we refused the light, so He entered the realm that we understand best - He became MAN.... that knowledge leaves me speechless.
Thanks, Pastor.