Meet Jesus

Introduction:

“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”

“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the…”

“Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a…”

“Here’s the story, of a lovely lady, who was…”

“In west Philadelphia, born and raised…”

What are all of these examples of? Introductions.

Introductions are a given part of life.

In fact, some of you may have introduced yourself to one another this morning.

An introduction tells us something about the person being introduced.

It can be as simple as a name. “Hi, my name is…”

Or it can be more involved like when a speaker is introduced to an audience.

Whatever the context, the goal of an introduction is to acquaint two parties.

In our passage this week, John is going to introduce us to Jesus.

As with the introductions to the television shows and movies from earlier, a good book starts with a good introduction.

What is this book about?

And why is it worth my time to read?

That’s John’s task this morning.

So grab your Bibles and open to John 1:1-18.

Body:

“In the beginning was the Word…”

This is John’s introduction of Jesus.

He introduces us to Jesus as “the Word.”

The Word in the OT represented God’s power, wisdom, and creative activity:

Genesis 1:3ff And God said…

Psalm 107:20 the Lord sent His word and healed them

Isaiah 55:11 My word will not return to me empty

The Word also represented God’s revelation of Himself, a direct communication from Him:

Jeremiah 1:4 the word of the Lord came to me

Isaiah 9:8 the Lord sent a messenger

The Greeks also had a unique view of the Word as reason, rationale, wisdom, the reason for all that is.

With this as a backdrop, John introduced Jesus as “the Word,” but, as we’ll see in our passage, he defined this “Word” in his own unique way. John wants us to know that this Word is the Word of God, he was with God, he is God.

P1: Meet the Divine Jesus (John 1:1-5)

D.A. Carson has called this passage “a masterpiece in planned ambiguity.”

No offense to D.A. Carson, but I have to take issue with him here. This passage is not at all ambiguous.

In fact, there are three unambiguous declarations about Jesus in this introduction.

First: The Word is the Eternal God. (1-2)

(1a) “In the beginning was the Word”

Jesus was there at the beginning of all beginnings. (Genesis 1:1)

The Word was uncreated.

There has never been a time when the Word wasn’t.

1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning…

(1b) “and the Word was with God”

The word “with” suggests intimate proximity of relationship.

1 John 1:2 was with the Father & manifested to us.

This statement revealed that the Word is a person distinct from God the Father yet eternal like the Father.

(18) “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

The Word, being there at the beginning, being eternal, being with God, was also God.

(1c) “the Word was God”

Here God, theos, is in the place of emphasis, “God, the Word was.”

To include the definite article would have been to commit heresy by declaring that Jesus the Son is the same as God the Father.

John was making a clear and unambiguous Trinitarian statement regarding the deity of Jesus. From eternity past, the Word was with the Father and shared in the fullness of His deity.

There is no ambiguity here at all.

In verse 2, he repeats this claim about Jesus to ensure that we are absolutely clear.

John wants us to meet Jesus and Jesus is the eternal God.

Second: The Word is the Creator God. (3)

(3) “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

As eternal God, Jesus had a hand in the creation of all that has been made.

Hebrews 1:10 You laid the foundations

Colossians 1:16 by Him all things were created

1 Corinthians 8:6 through whom all things have come

Again, there is no ambiguity here. “All things came into being through Jesus, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”

Third, The Word is the Life-Giving God. (4-5)

(4) “In him was life, and the life was the light of men”

As the eternal God & Creator of all things it follows that Jesus is the possessor and source of life for all as well.

John 3:15 will have eternal life

John 5:21 the Son gives life to whom He wishes

John 10:10 have life abundantly

John 11:25 I am the resurrection and the life

John 8:12 I am the light of the world

John 12:46 I have come as light into the world

(5) “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

“Comprehend” “understand” “overcome”

The darkness of mankind could not comprehend the light of Christ, nor could they hope to extinguish it.

John 3:19-21 loved darkness rather than the light

Light a match in a dark room and what happens?

Yet again, there is no ambiguity here. Jesus is the source of physical life yes, but more than that He is the source of eternal life. His light that opens blind eyes that we might believe in Him has come and the darkness has not overcome. This Word is the Life-Giving God.

END P1

John 1:6–9 ESV There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

This is not the Apostle, but John the Baptist.

Isaiah 40:3 A voice is calling, clear the way for the Lord

John 1:23 I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness

Matthew 3:3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet…

Luke 1:16-17 And he will turn many of the Sons of Israel back to their God

John was God’s messenger sent to prepare Israel for the coming of Jesus, so that they might believe in Him. He was Jesus’ forerunner, His testifier, His witness.

Matthew 3:2 Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand

Mark 1:4 John appeared preaching repentance

Luke 3:3 He came preaching a baptism of repentance

John 1:29 Behold the Lamb of God…

John came to prepare people to receive and to welcome Jesus. Repent, get ready, prepare yourselves, He is coming, He’s coming, here He is. Behold the Lamb of God! Those sins you’ve been repenting of, He’s the One with the power to take them away. Receive Him.

(8) “He was not the Light, but he came to bear witness about the Light.”

John had caused quite a stir with the people.

Mark 1:5 All Judea was going out to Him

John 1:20 I’m not Him

John 1:23 I’m His forerunner

The anticipation built, the people flocked to see John, and he in turn pointed them to the One who was coming.

P2: Meet the Awaited Jesus (vv. 9-13)

(9) “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.”

John the baptist was introducing people to the long-awaited Divine Messiah!

Isaiah 9:2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

Psalm 27:1 – “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”

1 John 1:5 – “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”

This Jesus, the Divine Messiah, was coming into the world! There has never been a more significant life lived than that lived by Jesus between His coming into the world His return to the Father.

Calvin: “For we know that men have this special quality which raises them above the other animals, that they are endowed with reason and intelligence, and that they bear the distinction between right and wrong engraved on their conscience. Thus there is no man to whom some awareness of the eternal light does not penetrate.”

Christ’s revelation of the Father through His coming into the world, was initially made available to all men without prejudice, and it has rendered all accountable to make a decision regarding that illumination.

John 1:10–13 ESV 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

In this passage there are two groups of people who missed the significance of Jesus’ arrival.

First, HE CAME TO THE WORLD AND THE WORLD MISSED HIM.

John 1:10 ESV 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

In this verse we find both the amazing and the amazingly tragic.

The amazing is a bit of a restatement of what we just covered: The Word, God eternal, the Creator God, the Life-Giving God, was in the world that He created!

The tragedy is that His creation did not know their Creator.

Romans 1:20-25

Second, HE CAME TO HIS OWN, AND HIS OWN MISSED HIM!

John 1:11 ESV 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

Not only generally did the world miss Him, Jesus came specifically to His own, to Israel, and they missed Him as well.

John 4:22 Salvation is from the Jews.

Romans 1:16 Salvation to the Jew first.

Matthew 23:37-38 Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem

Isaiah 1:3 An Ox knows its owner

John 5:15-16 persecuting Him bc healing on Sabbath.

John 5:18 seeking to kill Him bc calling God His Father

John 7:20 crowd accuses Him of having a demon

John 8:13 Pharisees call Him a liar

John 8:48, 52 Jews accuse Him again of having a demon

Acts 2:22-23 This Jesus You crucified

Those who were His own people, the people of Israel who longed for, hoped for, anticipated the arrival of the Messiah, they did not receive Him when He came to them.

Now the question is: HE’S COME TO YOU; WILL YOU MISS HIM?

John 1:12 ESV 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

Though the world has missed Him, though His own people had missed Him, not everyone will miss Him.

John 1:35-51 The disciples

John 4:29 The Samaritans

John 4:53 The household of the nobleman

John 7:31 many of the crowd believed

(12) “He gave the right to become children of God.”

Israel as a nation was God’s son, but individually they dared not approach Him as Father.

But now John tells us that we can be adopted as individual children of the Lord if we will receive Him. If we accept Him.

So then John tells us that Christ’s universal call of salvation that the world missed, that Israel missed, is tonight, this morning, still available. And if you will receive Him, accept Him, trust Him, commit to Him, He will give you the right to become a child of God, an heir of God with Christ, one whose sins have been forgiven by the blood of Christ.

END P2

JOHN 1:14a – And the Word became flesh…

No Mary and Joseph, no wise men, no donkeys, no camels, no inn keepers, none of that. Just the simple statement: “And the Word became flesh…”

John’s brevity is meant to take us aback, to catch us off guard, to cause us to do a double-take, to give intentional thought to what he just said.

Illustrate: Have you ever had that happen where someone has just casually delivered earth-shattering news? Let me give you an example: It was the middle of the night, and I woke up to Amanda climbing back into our bed. I asked her if everything was okay, and she responded casually: “Yeah, everything’s fine, I just took a pregnancy test, and it was positive. Good night.”

Sometimes brevity can be used to an enormous effect, and John used it in this way right here.

In perhaps the single most amazing moment in created history the Word, the eternal second member of the Trinity, God very God, took full humanity to himself without giving up an ounce of His full deity. In these five words John announced that God had come in the flesh.

“Became” here is best understood as “added to.”

Humanity was added to his deity without the two blending or intermingling at all.

When the Word added humanity He came as 100% man and 100% God.

Two separate natures coexisting without confusion or bleeding one into the other, in the God-man, Jesus Christ.

And John describes this with “And the Word became flesh.”

JOHN 1:14b – and dwelt among us

The word “dwelt” only partially captures the idea behind the word John used here.

It’s a Greek term that was used to refer to “pitching a tent.”

In the LXX this word is used mostly in reference to the Tabernacle, or the tent of meeting, where God took up temporal residence with the people of Israel during their wilderness wanderings.

“Among us” should be understood as specifically referring to the disciples who, as we’ll see in just a moment, were the eye-witnesses of the incarnate Word while He resided on earth.

(14c) – “and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

In Exodus 34:18 Moses prayed that YHWH would show him His glory.

In Isaiah 6, the prophet was ushered into the throne room of God where He beheld the glory of the Lord.

In Daniel 10, the prophet sees a vision of the glory of the Lord in the image of a man.

In Ezekiel 1, the prophet sees a vision of the glory of the Lord surrounding His throne

But never before, in all of human history, had the glory of the Lord been perceived in a man.

That is, until the incarnation, until the coming of the God-man.

As Moses veiled his face after being the presence of the glory of the Lord, so Jesus, the Word incarnate, veiled the full force of His glory behind the flesh of His humanity.

(14c) – “glory as of the only Son from the Father”

Jesus was qualified to show us this glory because He was the unique Son from the Father. But John provides more for us about this glory.

(14c) – “full of grace and truth”

(16) – “we have all received, “grace upon grace”

This was the purpose of the incarnation: to embody both grace and truth, and upon closer inspection it is amazing.

Illustrate: If you’ve ever taken your kids or grandkids to a splashpark or some other water park there is one device that always gets the most attention. It’s usually a giant bucket that is on hinges, and all the while there is a steady stream of water pouring into that bucket. Whenever it is filled to a certain point it tips and out comes a huge downpour of rushing water. Then the bucket tips back to its original position waiting to be filled again.

This is somewhat like this grace upon grace except that the bucket is never emptied. It’s a constant pouring out, a constant downpour of grace that we have in Christ. This is a grace first realized in trusting Him for salvation, but it is also the grace that continues to conform us to His image day after day. From His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

P3: Meet the Unexpected Jesus (vv. 14-18)

(17) – For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

For those who wish to have a relationship with the Lord, there are two castles that you might run to. The first looks like a castle from the outside. It has the drawbridge and the moat and the towers and the archer’s windows. But when you enter this castle, all of a sudden you realize that it was just a facade. There’s nothing there to protect you. And if you remain there, you stand no chance against the attacks of the enemy. This castle is the law.

We so often connect the Law with legalism and self-righteousness, and there are certainly good reasons why. But we can’t lose sight of the reality that the giving of the law, which notice, is what John references here in verse 17, was in fact a demonstration of grace on God’s part. It was an expression of Himself, a revelation of His holiness, and a conduit through which His people might come to Him and have relationship with Him. But it fell short of being able to save, to justify, to redeem.

Romans 3:19-20 No flesh will be justified by the law

Gal 3:19 given to point us to grace the one who would fulfill the promise

Before Christ, this was God’s greatest expression of Himself, of who He is, of what relationship with Him looked like. But it was never meant to provide the grace needed for salvation. Indeed it wasn’t able to do this! It was a shadow of salvation. It was a facade. It was meant to expose sin in our lives and point to our need for atonement, our need for someone to shed blood so our sins could be forgiven. It was meant to point to Christ.

But there’s another castle. This castle is strong, indeed it is impenetrable. This castle was built to withstand any attack, to fend off any threat. This castle is Christ. Those who are able to see the glory of the incarnate Word see that He is the One full of grace and truth, and they take shelter in his unassailable castle of grace.

Which castle are you placing your trust in?

Do you hear the good news building in John’s argument here? Do you?

The law came through Moses, but no man was able to be justified by that law.

But now something greater than the law is here!

Jesus is here! And from His fullness we have all received grace upon endless grace.

His grace is unassailable.

No one can question it, no one can attack it, no one can remove it, no one can thwart it.

Nothing else in life will do when it comes to our standing before God.

We must have this grace, and it has come in the person of Jesus.

There’s a scene in the movie, Gladiator, where Maximus the slave and his army of gladiator slaves are victorious in battle before a packed arena. And looking around, seeing the crowd, he takes his sword and throws it into the crowded seats. When a hush falls he yells out, “Are you not entertained?! Are you not entertained?! Is this not why you are here!?” I wonder if John might not ask us this morning if he were standing before us, “Are you not amazed!? Are you not amazed?! Is this not why you are here?!”

And the Word became flesh…

Conclusion:

One cannot know the Father except through the Son. (John 1:18; 14:6) And what did the Son come to explain about the Father? That He is full of grace and truth. This is immeasurable grace! That God would take on flesh in order that we might receive grace upon grace! There is no adjective sufficient in any language anywhere to communicate the magnitude of such grace!

If you want to know what God is like, meet Jesus! Think back to those thoughts you have about Jesus. All of those thoughts about the Son are equally true of the Father. Jesus came and lived among us to tell the story of the Father. The story of grace.

Men, if you are God’s child He is not an angry, disappointed, stern, Father. He is a God who loves you compassionately and graciously. Jesus came to explain the Father. And He explained Him ultimately with grace upon grace.

Have you met Jesus? If not, why not tonight?