Knowing Jesus

John 1

John 1 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. 19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? 20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. 21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. 22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? 23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. 24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? 26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. 28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. 29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. 32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. 35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; 36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! 37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? 39 He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. 42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. 43 The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. 44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him,Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. 49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. 50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. 51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. Knowing Jesus When reading and studying The Gospels it is important to realize that each one is looking at Jesus from a different side. All 4 are accurate. All 4 give an authoritative, correct, and complete picture of who Jesus is. But each one is partial in its description by itself. Let me explain. Matthew shows Jesus as The King of The Jews. He takes the time at the beginning of his gospel to give Jesus’ genealogy back through King David to Abraham. It was necessary to validate Jesus rightful claim to the throne of Israel. Matthew’s genealogy does just that. In Mark, Jesus is presented as a servant. No one is interested in the genealogy of a servant or where he is from; so none is given. From the very first chapter of Mark we see Jesus busy doing the work that he came to do. In Luke Jesus is presented as The Son of Man. Luke gives his ancestry all the way back to Adam, the first man. Also, Luke is the most thorough of the Four Gospels. There are parables that are only in Luke. Luke chronicles more events and sheds more light on the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled. In John, Jesus is presented as The Very Son of God. God is eternal. God has no genealogy. We see this truth given from the very first verse till the very last. There is no contradiction and there is no confusion in what John says. He is certain that he is right because he witnessed it all. Let us look at a few verses to set this stage. You will see an unbroken chain in this. I also, for sake of proper context, always share the entire chapter at the beginning. The reason for this is simple and important. It is very easy to take God's Word out of context when reading just a small portion of it. I desire to share truth. By including the whole chapter within this study, it helps me stay focused on what God is saying in His Word and not on what I think God is saying in His Word. Let us continue. John 1:1 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.' John 20:31 John 21:24-25 24 This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. 25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.' John 21:24-25 What I love about these last two verses of John is first the certainty of what was shared. We can and should believe it because it is truth, It is the only truth that really matters. The second thing I love is the excitement and enthusiasm that John shows in this last statement. Picture this scene in your mind. Mary, the mother of Jesus and John are sitting at home. Luke is there also. He is gathering information and learning more of what Jesus did from both Mary and John. As the evening progresses, you can see John is getting more excited with what he is sharing and hearing. In a wonderful burst of emotion He says “I suppose that even the world could not contain the books that should be written!” Let that sink in. Yes, we get a complete portrait of Jesus and His work here on earth. We have what we need to know. But our finite minds cannot fully grasp the infinite God we serve. John knows this. Should we get blown away by what we do learn here? Honestly, when we approach both Secular and Biblical History, which is His Story,we cannot help but be blown away. We are learning in measure more about Our Saviour who is without measure. I ask that you keep this in mind as we go into this study. The first striking thing is the first thing said. In the beginning was The Word. Haven’t we read that somewhere else? Yes, we have. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Genesis 1:1. God’s Word immediately establishes the fact that The Word is God. We quickly learn that The Word and Jesus are the selfsame person. We are introduced to some important people in this chapter. We meet John who later is called by Jesus himself John The Baptist. Yes, Jesus called him that. But we will cover that at a later time. We learn that John was to testify of the Light. It is a sad fact that many did not accept that light. But the wonderful news is that he gave those who did receive him the right to become the children of God. John knew that he was not worthy to have the responsibility that had been given him. He always magnified who God was and always diminished himself. Even when the religious leaders came and asked him about himself he was self demeaning. He was clear as to what God had called him to do. It was to promote The Light. He did this job well. He did it so well in fact, that 4 of his disciples went and joined Jesus. In essence, they stopped being John’s disciples and started being disciples of Jesus. John was pleased. He did not have a pride issue at all. I think it was one reason that later Jesus said of him there is none greater born of woman than John the Baptist. What a statement! I want to end with a question. Who is BIG in our life? Is it you and I; or is it Jesus? This will determine the direction that you and I will go. As we look at this book I pray that Jesus will get bigger and bigger every day. It has been said if you have a big person you will have a small God. If you have a big God you will have a small person. This is my prayer for you and me.