John 1:1-34
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
What does intimacy with God look like?
How do I grow in intimacy with the Lord?
The Word Became Flesh
The Word Became Flesh
Who is Jesus?
This question is one that John is looking to answer as we go throughout this Gospel. It was a question John the Baptist asked, the Pharisees, Jesus’ disciples. It is a very important question for us to ask as well.
Who is Jesus?
What we believe to be true about Jesus is the most important thing about us. There are plenty of debates about who people are. Who should be president, who is the GOAT in basketball, Who is the best rapper. Jesus is no exception to this. Who is Jesus? Was He a good person? A prophet? A good teacher? Was He a liar? A Conman? Was He a crazy person? Was He just a regular guy that his followers started to worship after He died? Was He really fully God and fully man like He claimed? John from the very beginning of this Gospel begins to answer those questions. In fact John tells us that this is the very reason he is writing this account.
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John’s intention in writing this book of the Bible is so that we might walk away with a deeper understanding of who Jesus is (head knowledge) but more so that we would have a deeply connected belief in Him and find life in the name of Jesus our savior, Lord and friend. It is an invitation to come and know Christ intimately. To walk with Him and here His words and see His love. It is a picture of God’s love and plan of redemption beginning all the way before anything was created.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John takes us all the way to the beginning. Here he introduces us to our first Character in his Gospel, the Word. The Word existed in the very beginning. We see that the Word exists in addition to God, the Word is present with God and yet the Word is also God. This Word was in the beginning with God and John says that all things were made through Him and without Him nothing that has come into being would have existed. So this Word was with God, it is God. It created all things and is Himself not a created thing. He has always existed. In the Word was life and light. This Word is the key to life for mankind.
We are also introduced to John the Baptist.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
John the baptist was not the light. He came simply to testify about the Light that was going to soon appear on earth. The goal was to make the Light known so that all might believe through the Light. His job was simply to testify to the Light.
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
The Light (who gives light to everyone) was going to come to the world. He would be in the world, even though He created all things. The creator of the universe living amongst His creation, but the world would not know Him. They didn’t recognize Him. The Light would come to His own people, but they wouldn’t receive Him as the Light and life of men. However, to any who did believe in His name, they were given the right to become children of God. Children not born of flesh and blood or by the will of man, but born of the Spirit by the will of God.
And so...
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
The Word of God was born in human flesh. He lived amongst His creation and because of this, the world has seen the glory of God. God’s only Son sent by the Father, full of grace and truth. This God man is of whom John testified saying He who comes after me ranks before me, because He was before me. The fullness of grace lavished on mankind through one man. Jesus Christ. Where the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. He is the image of the invisible God. The eternal Son making known to us the nature and character of God.
Who is Jesus?
He is no ordinary man. Jesus is the Word of God, the Light of the World, the creator of the universe, and the one who holds the keys to life and death. Jesus is the Son of God but not in a sense that we might think of a son. He was not created nor did He evolve from out of the Father. He has always existed in His person and has always existed as God. We refer to Christ as the Son because He is the only person of the Trinity to be born in human flesh. He is also the firstborn from the dead. The first to be raised again. Jesus is God and while He was on earth He demonstrated perfectly who God is.
Why does John the baptist say Jesus was before him and came after him?
Jesus has always existed, long before John was ever born Jesus was. But John was born before Jesus. If we go to the Christmas story in Luke 1-2 we see that John the Baptist was cousins with Jesus and was born a few months before Jesus was. So Jesus existed before John but appeared after John, yet it is Christ who has the greater honor and rank.
So far what we have heard about Jesus is unprecedented. He is unlike any other person who has ever lived. We talked last week about the word transcendence. Jesus transcends above all of creation. He is greater than creation because He is the creator. Transcendence is the characteristics of God that separate us from Him. His is holy and mighty. Eternal, all knowing, and all powerful. Jesus is God. He is transcendent. Look at how John described Him.
He is the Word of God
The Light of the world.
The life giver.
Creator of all things.
The revealer of glory.
Bringer of grace and truth.
The fullness of God born in human flesh.
We see Christ this high and lifted up person of the Triune God empty Himself of glory and be born in human flesh. Why? Because He is bored? Because He needed a hobby? No! The light and life of the world was born into flesh so that He could bring new life to all who believe in Him. Not by human means but by the will of God. New life born of the Spirit through the flesh and blood of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus came to earth for you and for me. To undo what sin had broken and give us new life. This is why we are looking at how we can grow in our relationship with God and in our intimacy with Him. If Jesus is light and life I want to be as close to Him as I can be. Everyday when I wake up and everyday when I go to sleep I want Jesus with me. I want to spend time with Him. I want to love Him dearly and honor Him with everything I do. I want my life to revolve around Him because in Him there is life. He is shining a light into the darkness of my life and giving me hope for a future. I want intimacy with Christ because He has created me for it. He has designed me for it. A life without intimacy with Jesus is a life of death and darkness. I want to be with Jesus. Walk with Him, talk with Him. Trust Him in difficult situations. I want to confide in Him and be comforted by Him. I want to talk about my insecurities and fears because I know He gets me. He understands and cares about me. I want to leave everything behind to be with Him.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
The Testimony of John the Baptist
And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The religious leaders questioned John the baptist. Who are you? Why are you doing this? John makes it known right away. I am not the Messiah. The word Christ means Messiah, the promised one who would deliver Israel. The one whom the prophets predicted would come and set the captives free. John says I am not the Messiah I am not the Christ. They ask are you a prophet, are you Elijah? He said no I am the answer to a prophecy. I am the voice crying out in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. John’s goal wasn’t to make much of himself. He wasn’t trying to be a popular preacher or have a megachurch and lots of money and nice shoes. We see from other Gospel accounts that John was a wild man. He ate locusts and wild honey. He wore camel skin clothes and never cut his hair. John looked like a crazy person shouting in the desert. John’s purpose, his mission was to prepare Israel for when Jesus would come. He did this by calling people to repentance, calling people to be baptized. John’s baptism is different than the one we do today. John baptized people as often as they wanted to be baptized. It wasn’t about salvation it was about repentance. John wasn’t offering new life and transformation of hearts. He was calling people to behavior modification. To stop doing bad things. He was trying to prepare people’s hearts so that when Jesus came through He could do the real transformation. He was there to get them ready for the Messiah to do what He was there to do. The baptism we do today is a symbol for the spiritual transformation that happens when we trust in Jesus for salvation. Our old self is buried with Christ in death and we are raised to new life in Christ Jesus. John’s baptism was I did a bad thing and I’m going to commit to not doing it anymore and I want to be baptized to show I’m serious about trying harder. Do you see the difference?
John explains saying I’m not the Christ, I’m not Elijah or a prophet, I’m just a voice trying to prepare the way for the Christ to come. John even talks about his baptism. He says, I just baptize with water. It’s just water, but someone greater than me is on His way. He is so great I am not even worthy to undo the strap of his sandal. This Jesus is so incredible I shouldn’t even untie his shoes because I don’t deserve it!
Isn’t it great that the intimacy Christ invites us to is deeper than untying His shoes?
Jesus doesn’t use His authority to Lord over us in the sense that He treats us like worthless subjects. He treats us with honor and dignity even though we aren’t worthy of any of it. In 1 Corinthians Paul even says that Christ chooses the weak and foolish to demonstrate His power and wisdom.
I think of the story of the prodigal son. A young man demands his inheritance from his father and it says he takes it and squanders it on reckless living. He wastes all the money he demanded from his father. His friends abandon him and a famine hits the land forcing him to take a job feeding pigs which was about as low of a job an Israelite could ever have. It says he is so desperate he even considers eating the slop given to the pigs. He is wallowing in his guilt and shame for what he has done to his father. It says he came to his senses left the pigs behind and went home to his father. The whole way there he was planning his apology. Maybe he might let me be a servant in his house. He will never welcome me as a son again, but maybe if I could just be a servant in the house. When the son got close it says the Father, seeing him from a long way off ran to his boy. Met him with open arms. He got him a robe and a ring. He brought him back and threw a celebration for his boy who once was lost but now is found. He was covered in shame and guilt but the Father received him in honor, clothed him in fine clothes and gave him a seat at the table.
We were far away from God. We ran off to do our own thing but Jesus stands with open arms ready to welcome us home again. He washes away our sin, He clothes us in His righteousness, He welcomes us into a restored relationship with our heavenly father. There is no more guilt and shame only grace and truth. We may not be fit to untie His shoes, but He has made us to be sons and daughters of God.
Behold the Lamb of God
Behold the Lamb of God
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
Something interesting here. We see Jesus called a new name that’s really an old name. We know John is a reader of the Old Testament. He calls himself a voice calling out in the wilderness which is actually a quote from the book of Isaiah. Here John calls Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Where have we seen this name? Well Isaiah!
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
Not only are we introduced to Jesus, the God of the universe. We see Him as a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy as well as the sacrifice necessary for sins to be forgiven. This is before Jesus ever preached a sermon. Before the Pharisees ever got upset. Before Pilate and the Romans ever got involved. Christ’s role in salvation is known here as John the baptist testifies to who Jesus is. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Who is Jesus?
He is the Lamb of God. The only means by which we can have our sins forgiven. He is the only way.
John also says the baptism by which Jesus baptizes. It isn’t with water like what John does. It isn’t a temporary thing. Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit. That means real life transformation. Not a temporary commitment. He offers total restoration. A change in identity. Baptism water dries off but the Holy Spirit is never taken away from those who have put their faith in Christ.
How does John know? It isn’t like he spent a lot of time with Jesus. John spent most of his time in the wilderness. Jesus hadn’t started His ministry yet. John tells us and we see the way it plays out in the other Gospels. John says that the one who sent him to baptize with water (God) told him that the man on whom the Spirit descends like a dove and remains on him, that is the promised Messiah, this is who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
This is important for us to understand. All four Gospels testify to Jesus’ baptism. We see the Father and the Holy Spirit testifying to who Jesus is. This isn’t some ordinary carpenter from Nazareth. This is the Son of God confirmed by the Holy Spirit descending like a dove and by the Father’s declaration, “This is my Son; with whom I am well pleased”.
Jesus is the Son of God.
This Gospel is written so that we might see and believe that. It is where intimacy with God begins. What we believe to be true about Jesus is the most important thing about us. If we get this wrong nothing else matters.
What do you believe about Jesus?
Does what you believe change the way you live?
I think growing up in church being around church a lot it is easy to believe in your mind who Jesus is. We hear facts and information and we understand it. Instead of stashing away head knowledge what if we looked at heart knowledge. Do we really believe? Do we have a relationship with God? Information about Jesus didn’t save me from my sin, Jesus did. I want more than just information about Him. I don’t want to live my life and be really good at Bible trivia and miss out on knowing my Jesus. I want Him. I want to know Him and be known by Him deeply. I want my life to be transformed by His love for me and His grace in my life and His truth. I want to be in the Light.