The Word became Flesh

There are many ideas about what the word Logos (Word) meant in John’s day. For Greeks, the word Logos means the reason for everything. Basically, John was showing the Greeks that what they were looking for was, in fact, Jesus.

What we see in these verses is that Jesus is equal with the Father, and always has been so. When John says “THE WORD” he is talking about the fully Divine Jesus Christ.

In the Beginning was the Word.... (1:1a)- The Constant Word

Jesus did not come into being in the manger. No, Jesus was with the Father from the beginning of time

Compare this with Scriptures like and Joshua 1:5

The idea that John is trying to convey to us is that Jesus is unlike any other person to ever walk the Earth. Each of us have a beginning to our existence- it is the front date they put on your tombstone. However, that is not the case for Jesus; Jesus has been since the beginning with God the Father.

The Word was with God… (1:1b)- The Communing Word

Once again, we have a slight word discrepancy; the Greek word πρὸς means towards God- or intimate with God.

English Standard Version Chapter 5

I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me

- “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgement is just because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me.”

English Standard Version Chapter 5

30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. 31

We then read that the word WAS WITH God- but this is not just with like 2 guys sitting in a room together. We are not talking about how you are with someone on a train, or with someone at the grocery store- no this word pros is much more intimate than that. Some commentators present a comparison to marriage. When we are dating someone or married to a person we sometimes say we are “with them.” When Wilma says she is with Wayne, it is not just that they occupy the same space, but that they share emotions, will, desires, and much more. This is the kind of understanding this verse gives us of Jesus. Jesus himself talks about this intimate relationship a few times in this Gospel; including 5:30.

The Word was God… (1:1c) The Controversial Word

Jesus is the only way to God, because Jesus is the only one equal to God. say

“I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father, except through me”-

Well, there may not be a more controversial statement to make these days in church than “Jesus is the only way to Heaven” But I am going to say it, preach it, and live by it. We will see time and time again in this Gospel that Jesus will say with certainty, multiple times, that he is equal with God, and that to get to God we must go through Jesus.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us… (1:14)

“The Son of God became man, so that men may become sons of God.” C.S. Lewis

Incarnation- a person who embodies in the flesh a deity, spirit, or abstract quality

Pastor Greg Nance once told this story of his granddaughter:

Rachel and Hector are missionaries in Costa Rica where Brisa was born. My wife and I live in Tennessee so our visits with them were precious and few. Our phone bill used to be terrible until I discovered "skype." Then we were able to visit by computer and actually see and hear our grand-baby Brisa regularly for free! She calls us Pop and Mimi. She learned to talk in English and Spanish, and by two years old could carry on a conversation with us. She loved for us to read Bible stories or children’s books to her and would always say, "Read me a book!" And one of us would read a book and show her the pictures. She never grew tired of it and we always ended our skype sessions with a prayer and a kiss on the screen. It became our regular ritual.

Hector and Rachel planned a trip to see us and we were so excited. We waited at the airport for them to get through customs and come... then we saw them and Brisa shouted with excitement and gave us all big hugs and kisses. Then she took Mimi’s face in her little three year old hands and said, "Mimi! You’re SOFT!"

She was so used to kissing the screen and this was the real thing! We laughed and cried and held her tight and brought them all home with us.

The next day we were showing Brisa around our home and she noticed pictures of our family on the wall. One picture had our parents in it with us and Brisa, ever curious, wanted to know who we were with. When we explained who they were Brisa wanted to go see them. We had to tell her that they had died and were with God in heaven.

Brisa looked thoughtfully and said, "Oh... then Jesus is SOFT to them."

We both froze and said quietly: Jesus... is.... soft... to them.

Maybe that’s why Jesus came as a baby. So he could be soft to us and we could be soft to him

“The only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him know.” (1:18)

Jesus came to unfold the story of God’s love for the people of God.

Later in this Gospel we will hear Jesus say he “came into this world to bear witness to the truth” (18:33)

“In him was life...” (1:4a)- The Word proclaims life

Jesus came so that we could have abundant life- John 10:10

The ways of the world offer death, but the Word offers life!

“The life was the light of men.” (1:4b)- The Word proclaims light

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We are going to be spending the foreseeable future of our lives together in the Gospel of John. This is one of the most important books of the Bible. In fact, when I meet someone who is interacting with the Bible for the very first time and they are looking for where to start, I will often times say John, because I think John gives us the clearest picture of who Jesus is, and the essence of his ministry. Some people have said that John’s Gospel is both a kiddy pool for the smallest of babes to wade in and a pool where an elephant can swim. There are deep truths in John, alongside simple applications.

John’s begins his work with a deep discourse on “The Word.” You see, each Gospel introduces Jesus in a different way. Matthew, Mark and Luke all introduce Jesus through an explanation of his earthly activity. Matthew and Luke give genealogies, and Mark starts with his baptism, but John starts not with Jesus’ humanity, but his deity- his role as GOD.

In order to understand John’s Gospel, we must have a basic understanding of . These verses are extremely important in understanding the rest of John’s work. While the Bible never uses the word “trinity” outright, these verses form the base of our trinitarian understanding of God. Brian McLaren once stated that the early church leaders described the Trinity using the term perichoresis (peri-circle, choresis-dance): the Trinity was an eternal dance of Father, Son and Spirit sharing mutual love, honour, happiness, joy and respect. These verses begin to outline the dance that we are talking about.

What we see in these verses is that Jesus is equal with the Father, and always has been so. When John says “THE WORD” he is talking about the fully Divine Jesus Christ. So today, I want to unpack this idea a little bit and discuss Jesus Christ- the Word- the Preexistant Word; the Personalized Word; and the Proclaiming Word.

First, Jesus the preexistant Word- John tells us about 2 people in this passage Jesus and John the Baptist. Our Bibles use the word “WAS” to introduce both John and Jesus- but the author of the book does not use the same word. The word that is in v6 for John is Ἐγένετο (Gin-oh-my); it is a passive term meaning to come into being- it is a normal use for a created being. However, when referring to the Word John uses εἰμί (Ay-me) which is an active word more like our word for be.

The idea that John is trying to convey to us is that Jesus is unlike any other person to ever walk the Earth. Each of us have a beginning to our existence- it is the front date they put on your tombstone. However, that is not the case for Jesus; Jesus has been since the beginning with God the Father.

But that is not where John stops. No, he goes on to say that the Word WAS WITH God. Once again, we have a slight word discrepancy; the Greek word πρὸς means towards God- or intimate with God. This means more than just with God like you ride with someone in the car, or walk with them down the street- this is not just association. Pros is an intimate word meaning like a husband is WITH a wife or a a woman is pregnant WITH child. If we say that Wilma is with Wayne is does not mean they just live together, no it means they share the deepest of things. They share love, will, emotion, and desire- their hearts are connected. When Jesus says these things he means he and the Father are intimate- we will hear Jesus say this multiple times in this book.

The most bold things John says in this section is the last part of 1. The Word WAS GOD. Well, there may not be a more controversial statement to make these days in church than “Jesus is the only way to Heaven” But I am going to say it, preach it, and live by it. We will see time and time again in this Gospel that Jesus will say with certainty, multiple times, that he is equal with God, and that to get to God we must go through Jesus.

2- Jesus the Personalized Word- But this eternal God- Jesus became flesh. The fancy word for this is incarnation. Meaning that Jesus became a human being and came to Earth.