Prayer: Heavenly Father, in this new year, we ask that You draw us nearer than ever before. There is a sense of urgency around us. Tune our hearts and minds to hear Your truth above all the noise that surrounds us as we embark on a new study of the truth found in the Gospel of John.
Yes, we’ve read this before and we’ve studied this before. Yet somehow, there is a thought lingering that perhaps we’ve missed something. It’s been a few years and we’ve grown since then. Lord, teach us what we were unable to understand before. Lead us to a deeper understanding of You. We ask this in the incredible name of Jesus. Amen.
The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Points to Ponder: John reaches back to Genesis and introduces Jesus as eternal, an agent of… not a product of… creation; Jesus is God but distinct from the Father. (Genesis 1:1-5). His purpose is to announce who Jesus is – to establish His identity. In a few short sentences, John establishes two parts of our triune Godhead – marking distinctions from other religions such as Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses that limit the identity of Jesus.
IN JESUS IS LIFE – these are four words that we will ponder for the rest of our days. John further ties this new concept of ‘life’ to ‘light for mankind.’ I’m mankind… I’m interested. Light shines in darkness… duh. And darkness has not overcome it… wait, suddenly I’m very interested. I have experienced some darkness that almost overcame me.
Even a child knows that in darkness if you could hit the light switch, the darkness disappears. A child also knows that when the light is on, ‘darkness’ cannot just creep in and take over. Can the darkness we experience in this life be addressed this simply?
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
Points to Ponder: We are introduced to John the Baptist as a witness to give testimony to the authenticity of Jesus. The Old Testament requires witnesses to testify to truth. As we saw in the other gospels, John the Baptist was prophesied about in the Old Testament; he will be a witness for Jesus. There were 400 years between the last words of Malachi and the arrival of Jesus – a very dark time indeed for the Jewish people.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Points to Ponder: John, the Gospel writer, and John the Baptist, direct our attention to Jesus. Yet these verses show the RESPONSE of humanity when confronted with the truth of who Jesus is. Not all would believe and receive. Mankind may be the creation of God, but not all would submit to becoming children of God.
In the physical and natural world, you cannot ignore light in darkness. It is obvious. Yet, in terms of a spiritual dimension, there is a darkness that we can only sometimes feel. The Jewish nation, raised on the Old Testament, with testimonies regarding God’s direct intercession – i.e. Moses interceding for them after 400 years of slavery in Egypt, did not readily receive Jesus. Some did and were given new identities – Children of God.
(2,000 years later, this same invitation is extended to all who read or hear the Gospel and believe in the truth of what is revealed – Jesus, the Son of God, God himself, came into this world to save us from the penalty of our sins. When we confess our sinfulness and pray to Him for salvation because we believe in who He is and what He did… we get this new life, we start over a new spiritual life as His children.)
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Points to Ponder: John now reaches back to Exodus with the concept of the tabernacle and the glory of God. Those familiar with the Old Testament would understand that these terms: dwelling and glory… all speaks to God’s presence with His people – first in the tabernacle, then in the temple.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
Points to Ponder: We hear again about the testimony of John the Baptist, with more details. His testimony builds on the concepts of Jesus’ eternal nature, His divine nature, His distinct nature and Jesus’ purpose – to make the Father known.
John gives a hint towards what is going on in history right now… transitioning from BC to AD… The understanding of salvation will evolve from ‘obedience by man to God’s law given by Moses’ to ‘trusting in the obedience of Jesus to this same law on our behalf.’
Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Perhaps after 2000 years of hearing about ‘grace and truth’ we think we can do this without Jesus. (We would be wrong. Kinda misses the whole basic premise of why we need a savior.)
John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah
19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Points to Ponder: Jewish ‘leaders’ do not come to see John the Baptist themselves, but send priests and Levites to question him. With history on our side and using the advantage of hindsight, it is interesting that the Jewish people have any sort of ‘leadership body’ at all at this time. They are under Roman rule… before that the Greeks… before that the Medo-Persians… before that the Babylonians and the Assyrians… (In all the later wars, land-grabs and colonization efforts since then, does any political power allow such a thing?) Yet this nation of Israel defies all rational explanations.
The nation of Israel was given prophets, priests, and the very Word of God. They were called to live differently as an example to the surrounding nations, but instead, they wanted a king like the nations around them. And the nations around them, throughout their history, fell – one after another.
Now the prophecies that they have studied have begun to unfold in history and the leadership can’t be bothered to investigate. The Pharisees that were sent reveal their expectations that scriptural truth and John the Baptist must fit into a box that they have designed… John quotes Isaiah 40:3 but they don’t connect it to the rest of Isaiah’s Servant prophecies… their answer to the question posed in Isaiah 43:19 would have to be, ‘No, we don’t see You doing anything new.’
John Testifies About Jesus
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
Points to Ponder: John the Baptist continues his testimony about who Jesus is by introducing the title, ‘Lamb of God’ and defining it for us – ‘takes away the sin of the world.’ There’s so much here – When Abraham was bringing Isaac up the mountain to be sacrificed and Isaac asked where the lamb was for the offering? Abraham answered that God would provide it. (Genesis 22:8) During the last plague of the exodus, it was the blood of the lamb on the homes of the Israelites that caused the angel of death to pass over their houses without inflicting death (Exodus 12:12-13) – the last plague before they began the march towards freedom from Egypt.
John the Baptist leaves many breadcrumbs for the Jewish people to follow. ‘The next day’ implies that perhaps the Pharisees are no longer present – just the usual crowd of people wanting to listen to John and present themselves for a baptism of repentance. We all like the concept of a ‘clean slate’; we think we are up to all that repentance means – a do-over, but do-differently, because we’re sorry. The problem is – we can’t. Not on our own strength.
The good news is that John knows this – He’s baptizing with water in order to reveal The One who can. And our faith in the completed work of Jesus comes with the Holy Spirit to enable us to truly give us this new life.
John’s Disciples Follow Jesus
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
Points to Ponder: John’s purpose was to baptize with water to reveal Jesus. He was faithfully consistent in doing his work. In that sphere of influence, he has ‘disciples’ – people who study and listen to him. John uses that influence to introduce them to Jesus and they begin to follow Jesus.
It’s a simple model we can all follow. Whatever ‘our’ purpose is… whatever ‘our’ work is… when we are faithfully consistent in our execution, we too will be influencing others. The challenge is directing their attention off of us and onto Jesus. And are we prepared to ‘lose’ their attention as John was?
I am especially fond of Jesus’ response to the disciples in v39… ‘Come and you will see.’ This takes tremendous pressure off of a Christian who wants to share this glorious new life with others… you can’t make anyone a Christian. Your job is to invite them, it’s God’s job to save them.
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”
Points to Ponder: Like his master, Philip, invites Nathanael to ‘Come and see.’ Nathanael does and Jesus saves. 💖 Nice. Jesus also points out that He has seen Nathaniel well before Philip called him. This line calls for wisdom and discernment.
We all know people who simply long to be seen – knowing that Jesus sees them can be a comfort. But some of these same people, 🙋♀️, have done some sketchy things in order to be seen. This is a delicate and difficult situation.
We want to offer hope to those who are on the brink of despair – those who are now mortified to think about Jesus seeing them AND knowing what they’ve been doing – the thought can be a source of great discomfort. Only the truth of Jesus’ coming to save ‘sinners’ and not the ‘righteous’ will ease this discomfort. Know your audience; approach with compassion, honesty, and integrity. Tell your story – do not hide all that He’s done for you. Once the invitation is made – God will do the rest.
(It should not have to be said, but I will anyway. Do not invite someone to ‘Come and see’ if you, yourself, do not ‘Go and look.’ No one likes a hypocrite.)
SUMMARY: In this first chapter of John, we see the establishment of Jesus’ identity and hear the testimony from a witness to establish His identity as true. It has been 8 years since the term ‘post-truth’ was added to the dictionary. Our culture is being influenced by those who are pushing the concept of ‘relative truth’. They believe there is no such thing as ‘absolute truth’. As a result, we are witnessing grown adults who refuse to define what a ‘woman’ is.
This is nothing new. When we get to the end of this Gospel, we will hear a leader ask, ‘What is truth?’ And he will condemn Jesus in order to please people instead of standing on his own convictions of what is right and what is true.
As the darkness of this world presses in, I invite all to ‘Come and See’. There is a light that offers a different, eternal life for all who will follow Him. That Light is Jesus and He is God – He can deliver!
🙏 Heavenly Father, thank You for opening our hearts and minds, our eyes, and our ears, to invite us into Your Kingdom through Your Word and our Lord, Jesus. Your Word is the compelling story of Your faithful love for us and we are grateful to be called Your children. We offer this prayer of thanksgiving in the name of Jesus. Amen.