Jesus, the Word made Flesh from Jesus as seen by John

The word Incarnation sounds serious and theological, but it is really earthy, almost vulgar term. Think of the greatness of God; Jesus at creation. He became flesh -- meat -- bone, muscle and flesh, just like us. Listen to the words of the Evangelist:

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.  (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

What the incarnation really means is that he became just like us. This is profound! Think of it, the one that has been in existence from the beginning, the Word, the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, left it all behind and became just like one of us. He was able to hurt, to feel, to think just like us. The verse goes on to say the he lived among us. John is using language reminiscent of the Old Testament picture of the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was the tent that was erected as a precursor to the temple. It was the physical place where people could say that God dwelt there. The language in this passage really says that He tabernacled with us -- we can look at Jesus and say that it is God dwelling in this human body. In Jesus we see the glory of god. Moses was not able to see the glory of God -- but when we look at Jesus we see His glory along with His grace and truth.


John the Baptist interjects the fact that although he (John) was older than the physical Jesus, Jesus ranked above John because he (Jesus) existed before John. This is a somewhat complicated sentence, but it is important. In the Jewish culture of the time, honor is given to the older person. As an old Naval Officer, I think of the honor that comes with date of rank. Two officers might have the same rank, but if one received that rank even one day before the other, the senior one was the one honored. From this it would follow that John was senior. But, John recognized the pre-existed Jesus -- The Word that became flesh. Therefore the greater honor must be given to Jesus. 


All of us have been blessed by the grace of God in Jesus -- over and over. This is true whether we accept him as God or not. He has blessed us with his words, with his presence and through his grace. We may or may not recognize his grace, but it is by his grace that we live as we do. The people of the Jewish culture looked to Moses as the spiritual founder of their religion; Moses gave them the law. The law was a gift of great importance; one could know what God expected of him/her. But something new about the revelation of God comes through Jesus; he reveals God's grace and God's truth. Grace is that unmerited favor with God. We receive this undeserved love and blessing as a free gift. We do nothing to deserve it. It is pure grace. Jesus reveals God in truth. Through the law a partial picture of God was revealed, but we see the full picture through Jesus. Later in the gospel, Philip requests Jesus to show him the Father. Jesus replied, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father."

Finally, the prologue ends with a statement indicating the Jesus is indeed the One and Only God who has taken on flesh to be like us. No one has ever seen God. Throughout the Old Testament, there were revelations of God; their were angelic appearances, God appearing as a man, but no one saw God as he is. God only reveals himself as he wants to be revealed. But Jesus, who is the One and Only, the one that has come from heaven, he has seen God and he reveals God in truth to us.

Heavy, theological works have been written on this prologue. All that I have written are some words to make a little sense of what God may be saying to us. I think that the important thing is that this sets the stage for the Gospel by telling us that we can truly rely on Jesus; He is like us. To be sure he is also God, but we see him as an ordinary man. Because of what he did for us in taking on flesh and then being obedient through his death on the cross, we receive God's grace for us. He blesses us in many ways. Finally we can trust him. He is also truth personified; there is no falsehood in him.

 

Jesus, the Light of the World from Jesus as Seen by John

Jesus has been called many things throughout history, but John, in his Gospel, uses vivid imagery to describe Jesus and his ministry. After providing us with a picture of Jesus present at the very dawn of creation, he moves to a different image; the Light of the World.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. John 1:6-13 (NIV)

The John who is discussed in this passage of scripture is John the Baptist. Actually throughout the Gospel of John, whenever John is mentioned, it is the Baptist. This is a sort of parenthesis in the prologue -- an interjection about John as a witness to Jesus Christ. In this little interjection, the mission of John the Baptist is made clear; he came as a witness: He came to testify about the light so that people would believe in Jesus. John was merely a reflector of the light that comes from Jesus; the true light. Jesus was the true light. When we talked about Jesus as the word, we said that Jesus was the one who revealed God. This also fits well with the metaphor of light. Light shines in the darkness and reveals what was once hidden. The picture is that of a world steeped in darkness until Jesus, the very creator came into the world and revealed the true character of God to all who had eyes to see. Yet, much of the world missed him. They saw him as just another teacher, a seer or even a charlatan. He actually came to his own people, the people of Israel -- yet, in spite of all of the prophecies concerning him, they missed him too. He was rejected by the Jews. Note that not all Jews rejected him -- the disciples were all  Jews. When the Gospel speaks negatively about the Jews, it is speaking about the Jewish establishment of the time; the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees and/or the Sadducees.

Then the Gospel becomes good news. "Yet to all who did receive him . . ." Those who believed on him -- on his name -- were given authority to be children of God. Believing on his name means believing that he is who he says he is. He is the one who will save Israel. He is the Messiah, the chosen one, the Word made flesh, the Light of the World. Becoming a child of God is a gift of pure grace. We do nothing -- we merely accept him for who he is.

What does this mean for those of who are Christians now, in the 21st century? We are not just human beings (of course we are human and we never lose that), we are children of God. This is a spiritual, not a biological reality. But it is real! We are God's children. We didn't earn the right to be his children anymore than we earned the right to be born into our earthly families; it is pure grace. This also means that we have the opportunity to be "John the Baptists" for others. Not everyone sees the light, but we can witness to that light. We have a special opportunity to witness to those 8-15 people closest to us that make up our "household" or Oikos.  As "Amazing Grace" says, "I once was blind, but now I see." May we all see the true Light of the World, accept him for who he is and be born as children of God.

Jesus at the Beginning from Jesus as Seen by John

Who is Jesus? Really, who is he? Was he a good teacher, or a prophet? Did he really exist? The Gospel of John gives us a vivid picture of the identity of Jesus as the Son of God. The first part of the Gospel starts with these powerful words:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.(John 1:1-5 NIV)

The other Gospels give a more straightforward description of the life of Jesus. Since they are so alike, the are called the Synoptic (seeing together in Greek) Gospels. But John is different. It is more "theological". It is also more picturesque. The metaphors are such things as light, life, lamb of God, the vine etc. It also gives the cosmic picture of Jesus. In the few verses quoted above we have Jesus at the beginning before anything else came to be -- not just a poor person born in a stable. The birth in the stable is true -- but John gives us a much bigger picture.

The beginning of the Bible, Genesis states, "In the beginning God . . ." Here we have the Word. The Word was there with God when everything began -- in fact the Word was God. Here we not only have the Son of God unmasked in the very beginning, but we begin to see the mystery of the Trinity unveiled. We see the other member of the trinity present in the Genesis account where the Holy Spirit is hovering over creation like a mother bird hovering over her nest.


A question that occurs to me is, "Why the Word?" The Greek word used for Word is Logos which had a certain significance philosophically in the Greek word. It was a divine concept of wisdom and knowledge. To me, the use of Word is much more simple and down to earth. What does a word do? It names something, describes something or tells of an action. It reveals something. When I write the word "apple" people who speak English immediately picture a red, roundish fruit -- unless they are Mac users. Jesus came to reveal the Father. He actually says later in the Gospel that if you have seen me, you have seen the Father.


The Son of God was not only present in the beginning, but he was part of the creation process. God created through a word -- through The Word. This Word was willing to become like us. He took on flesh -- the incarnation. The word incarnation sounds so theological, but it is a very earthy word describing what happened to the Son, the Word as he was born as Jesus of Nazareth. This passage further states that he came to bring life. He was also the light of the world. Both of these metaphors will figure large in the Gospel. They speak of abundant living, having direction and being truth.

Is this little passage of scripture which is jam packed with theological import only theology. Certainly if it was, it would be enough. Having these theological truths is very important. But, there are also very practical implications because of the theological truths. First, it is so important to understand who Jesus is; of course he is savior, he is friend, he is brother. He is also the one who was with the Father in the beginning at creation; He is God; He is Lord.  This is how much God loves us. He came to be like us and we can be close to him. But, we must never forget that this friend of ours is indeed the King of Kings.

And the Spirit said . . .

First I must apologize, if there is anyone out there reading this, for being so neglectful in writing on this blog. I haven't posted for almost 6 months. My excuse is that I have been majoring on my other Blog, "Life Together." Thus, I confess that the Spirit said for me to do some work in this venue. The subject of this posting relates to what else the Spirit told me.

I intended for this blog to generally relate to where I see the Spirit moving in our world, but also to present how the Spirit is leading to me as I minister as pastor of Bay View Baptist Church. For the past couple of months I have been preaching and teaching about ministering to our Oikos. I guess that I have to define Oikos first. This is a Greek word meaning household. As we read the Bible we see that God seems to usually reach people their household. A household consists of relatives, servants and hangers on who make up the network of people around us. In our society we might define it as those 8-15 people who have been placed in our lives so that we can be missionaries to them. I have been learning about the concept of seeing this as the means to evangelize through the head of my mentor group, Tom Mercer. He is the pastor of High Desert Church, a mega church located in Victorville, CA. This is the concept that I have been teaching to my people.

About 6 weeks ago I sensed that God was telling me that I was to teach the people through a study of the Gospel of John; I was to preach an open-ended series moving through that Gospel. I thought, "I like that idea. I'll do that after the first of the year." About a month ago I read a post written by one of my heroes, John Piippo, pastor of Redeemer Church in Monroe, MI, where he was expressing the blessings that had transpired in that church as they had just completed a five year journey through all of the gospels. I thought that this was interesting. I also saw this as a confirmation that God was indeed speaking to me about the opportunity and necessity of concentration on this Gospel.

Later that week as I was spending time with the Lord, I heard him say, "Have you heard me when I told you to teach the Gospel of John?" I answered, "Of course, Lord. I intend to do that after the first of the year." "Why do you need to wait? Can't you start now? Indeed, this is what I want you to do!" he said. I looked a little like my little Pug -- Oso -- I was caught!

I hadn't been listening! Well, I got the word, and I started that week -- Oct. 17. I gave my first teaching on the Gospel of John.

I intend to follow up with these teachings on this blog. This should keep me writing at least once per week to keep up with the sermons. You may see a few more initially because I am playing catch-up.