John 1, Part One

Who is Jesus? (vs. 1-18)—For all his simplistic language, the concepts John introduces are deep, thoughtful theological ideas. And his description of Jesus in verses 1-18 of chapter one is profound. And, as noted in the introduction, it is anti-Gnostic. Without going into great detail, let me analyze who—what—John says Jesus is.

He is God (vs. 1-3)—“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The statement “in the beginning” deliberately reminds us of Genesis 1:1 and the verses thereafter, where God used His word to create the world (more on John’s meaning of “Word” in just a moment). Jesus was there with God, and being God, essential in the creative process. This whole idea takes us to the three-fold nature of God, which is humanly incomprehensible. But then, so is human nature itself. We are three-fold beings ourselves—body, soul, and spirit. Take one away, and we no longer exist. Our universe is actually a tri-universe—space, time, matter. These are reflections of the image of the triune God.

He is the “Word” (v. 1)—What are words? Words are expressions of ideas. At this moment, I am communicating my mind to you via the words I am using. In a similar way, God expressed His mind to us through His “Word,” Jesus Christ. In Christ, we see the very mind of God. What an awesome concept. And then, of course, this “word” was written down for us in the Bible. So the Bible, the word of God, is simply a description of Jesus Himself, the “Word” of God, the mind of God explained to man.

He is the light which brings life to man (vs. 4-5, 9-10)—The “darkness” of the world is the sin that plagues it; Jesus provides the light which directs men out of that darkness. The world doesn’t understand Him (v. 5, 10), or more accurately, doesn’t want to.

He was not John the Baptist (vs. 6-8)—The apostle will talk more about John the Baptist later in the chapter, but at the moment, he simply tells us that John came to bear witness “of the Light,” in hopes “that all through him might believe” (v. 7). The Baptizer came from God (v. 6), but he himself was not the Light (v. 8).

He is the one through Whom men can become children of God (vs. 11-13)—Jesus was born as a Jew, something that is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy stretching back to Genesis 12. But the Jews, by and large, rejected Him (v. 11). By the time John writes this gospel (mid-80s), that national rejection was largely manifest. But to those who do receive Jesus—now, notice very carefully—“to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (v. 12). Believers are not children of God, they only have the right to become so, and they become so by fulfilling that belief in obedience. Jesus is “the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Heb. 5:9). Even the demons believe (James 2:19). Faith only is insufficient for salvation. This new birth into the family of God is spiritual, not physical, and comes from God, not man (v. 13). Jesus will talk more of that new birth in John 3.

Jesus was human (v. 14)—“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” This, as noted in the introduction, is a direct attack on Gnostic heresy. And again, we have the incomprehensible. On earth, Jesus was not 50% human and 50% God. He was 100% of each. You try to explain it. But then, we must not forget that we are dealing with God here, whose foolishness is wiser than man’s greatest wisdom (I Cor. 1:25), and whose ways are as high above man’s as heaven is above the earth (Isaiah 55:8-9).

He is the only begotten Son of God (vs. 14, 18)—He’s unique, one of a kind. We are all “sons” (children of God), but not like Him. We cannot “see” God in His spiritual form, but only as He manifested Himself. And the second person of the godhead did that in human form.

He brought grace and truth (v. 17)—The necessary elements of our salvation.

My study in these blogs is only a survey, for, believe me, books can, and have been, written on every paragraph above.