All right, here we go! I
mentioned the possibility of doing these more often and recounting some of the
weekly studies I've done with my youth group, because I think these can be
helpful for everyone- my students, online readers, and myself- to be reminded
by. I’m definitely loving drawing closer to Jesus through these studies, so I
hope these observations may be beneficial to you as well!
I've decided to launch into a 16+ week series through John, partly because it is my favorite gospel, and partly because I felt it was an appropriate study for the building up of our community & youth group for the coming months leading into summer. Of the four gospels, John is my favorite because it is so thematic, and because I’m a sucker for Gentiles being grafted in (being a Gentile myself I suppose). Not to mention you get to see the deep love and tenderness of Jesus in such a unique light here! I think I can relate with John himself for having a dearly loyal and tender soul. So.. It's ma fav :)
The beginning of John famously stands out as significant and is familiar to many, so for the first week I tried to simplify the awesomeness of John’s thematic language into essentially one main take-away.
The first week only covered 1:1-18. I split this into four sections, introducing The Word (v.1-5), John the Baptist (v.6-8), the Reception of Jesus (v.9-13), and the Revelation of God (v.14-18). Simple paragraph breaks in my Bible, let me briefly make key observations on each:
·
Introducing… The Word!! Tadaaa!
“In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (1:1)
Most of us know this verse well, and some
keep it close by in our witness, especially to JW’s. So briefly, three key
points! 1) The word would’ve been recognized
as the λόγος[1] to
Greek readers, which, simply explained, preexisted as the infinite, intangible
beginning of all life and reason on earth. The λόγος was not a personable
being, but rather just an impersonal existence- that gave birth to all physical
life, reason, emotion, spirituality, and what-have-you. It’s basically the
eternal soul of the universe that also served as the philosophical version of
the ‘Big Bang’ for the Greeks. Greeks would read ‘In the beginning’ and think… λόγος!
Duh! But Jews would read ‘In the beginning’ and think… God. ...DUH. John appeals to
both groups but is also shattering the presuppositions of both. Think- Jesus is
the true λόγος, in Him is life, and everything was made through Him. (v3-4)
2) The λόγος, in addition to being the preexistent cause of all life, also preexisted with God. Notice- in this second statement, the word is not God, but the word was with God. This means that the λόγος and God had to be two separate, distinct things, since they are with each other. Roll out your arguments for the Trinity… now!
2) The λόγος, in addition to being the preexistent cause of all life, also preexisted with God. Notice- in this second statement, the word is not God, but the word was with God. This means that the λόγος and God had to be two separate, distinct things, since they are with each other. Roll out your arguments for the Trinity… now!
3) Finally, the Word was God. Although distinct
from God, the Word shared the exact nature and essence of God Himself, because the
λόγος was also God. One God nature/essence, and yet two distinct parties that
are with each other, even intimately.
What is the significance of John 1:1 in light of the rest of the paragraph?
Well, I've been using the past tense in referring
to Jesus as the λόγος, simply because He was preexistent with God and in being
God, in the beginning. But the truth is that Jesus IS the λόγος (presently)! And at this moment
in the text, He IS coming into the world. (Woah!! Shaking in my custom baby seal leather boots over
here. But not yet.. I’m stealin’ the thunder from verse 9 :D ) John also refers to
Jesus as the light of the world, who exposes all darkness and gives spiritual light to
men.
·
Introducing… John the Baptist! Not quite as
exciting as the λόγος, I'm sorry. But hey, it’s supposed to be that way. John is
the witness, the banner-carrier, the town crier, the pointer, and the herald. Both he and the author can’t seem to stress the fact enough that this John is only
the herald of One to come, and not the real deal himself. (v8) Why? Because Jesus is the real
deal, and He is so far beyond anything than we've ever known at this point. He
is breaking ground, tearing curtains, flippin' tables, and blowing minds, even
already at this point in verse 8. I loved just recently pointing back to this
when we covered John 2:24- Jesus needs no herald to bear witness about man to
Him, because He knows man through and through. But (implied) we need a herald to
introduce this ‘Jesus’ to us, because we have no way of comprehending who He
is. He is on another plane entirely and comes from a dimension higher than our
own, and thus He needs one to bear witness to us about him for our sake. John
is that herald, and he existed to cry, “Behold the Lamb!!” More on this next
time.
·
The Reception of the λόγος, Jesus Christ. For
the most part, it didn’t go well. We just didn’t know how to react, how to cope
with such a mind-breaking reality that is God in the flesh. That, or… we just
didn’t want to believe. We were exposed to the light that cuts through flesh
and soul, and when our sin was exposed we decided we liked our sin more than we
liked Jesus. And what is there to do when you’re blinded by such a light? Crawl
away to a dark hole to fester in our sin, or try to snuff out the light. People
did both.
“But to all who did receive Him, who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” (v12) Redefining salvation and spirituality on the basis of belief. This true light came into the world, and suddenly, Jesus is here!! (Truly, an ‘oh snap’ moment in v9.) Is your response going to be one of panic and rejection, or one of belief and repentance? This is now mankind’s greatest predicament: who is Jesus, and what to do about Him?
“But to all who did receive Him, who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” (v12) Redefining salvation and spirituality on the basis of belief. This true light came into the world, and suddenly, Jesus is here!! (Truly, an ‘oh snap’ moment in v9.) Is your response going to be one of panic and rejection, or one of belief and repentance? This is now mankind’s greatest predicament: who is Jesus, and what to do about Him?
·
The Revelation of God. You could say.. ‘the revelation
of the λόγος, or the revelation of Jesus’… but it is actually Jesus who is, in
fact, making a ground-breaking revelation about God Himself. Jesus, John and
John the Baptist all give testimony to the fact that nobody truly knows who God
is, unless they have seen the Son. John says “No one has ever seen God” in
verse 18 even though plenty of people have seen God and been exposed to Him
throughout Old Testament history. Guess what peeps! John says that even all ya’ll
haven’t seen the real deal. Jesus repeatedly
states this fact throughout John’s gospel- “No one has seen the Father except
He that is from God” in 6:46, even up to Philip at the last supper.. “How can
you say ‘Show us the Father’?” Don’t you know that “Whoever has seen me has
seen the Father?” (14:8-10)
No one can truly know what God is like unless they have seen Jesus. That is, Jesus is the completest, fullest revelation of God, and one will not fully understand who God is unless they understand who Jesus is. “I and the Father are one.” (10:30) In the passage at hand, this takes an exciting twist as Jesus reveals who God the Father is by the unthinkable action of becoming flesh and dwelling among us Himself, making the Father known. #immanuel
No one can truly know what God is like unless they have seen Jesus. That is, Jesus is the completest, fullest revelation of God, and one will not fully understand who God is unless they understand who Jesus is. “I and the Father are one.” (10:30) In the passage at hand, this takes an exciting twist as Jesus reveals who God the Father is by the unthinkable action of becoming flesh and dwelling among us Himself, making the Father known. #immanuel
Now, what to do about Jesus?
In setting up our study in John, I wanted to stress at least this one main
take-away from 1:1-18.
Jesus is the preexistent λόγος. He was the λόγος that
came into the world 2,000 years ago and blew people’s minds, and He is also the
λόγος today. His ‘office’, if you will, as the λόγος is an eternal one, which
gives meaning and application to passages such as Colossians 1. “He is the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all
things were created… through Him and for Him. And He is before all things… And
He is the head of the body, the church” (Col 1:15-20) Oo! and check this one.. “And
He who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’”
(Rev 21:5) There is power in these words because Jesus will always be the λόγος-
the infinitely good and eternally powerful source of all life.
Think Christian! This is the same Jesus that you pray to. Do you doubt that he can make you new? Do you withhold your sin from His sanctifying power, or do you cower from the light that shines so deeply into your soul? Jesus is just as powerful right now in your life as He has ever been or as He ever will be, because He will always be the λόγος. All creative authority and power comes from Him, all things have their beginnings and endings in Him, whether spiritual or physical. Will you not entrust your soul to this Jesus in full confession and obedience, with the full belief that He can and will make you new??
Think Christian! This is the same Jesus that you pray to. Do you doubt that he can make you new? Do you withhold your sin from His sanctifying power, or do you cower from the light that shines so deeply into your soul? Jesus is just as powerful right now in your life as He has ever been or as He ever will be, because He will always be the λόγος. All creative authority and power comes from Him, all things have their beginnings and endings in Him, whether spiritual or physical. Will you not entrust your soul to this Jesus in full confession and obedience, with the full belief that He can and will make you new??
I believe this question
is pivotal when it comes to the fruitfulness of studying the rest of John, and
I hope to carry on in my study with these first few paragraphs close at hand.
He is the Resurrection and the Life; truly, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I’m
praising God that an ancient Greek concept such as the λόγος can still be used
to so aptly describe God and make Him known to us!!