The Word was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world didn’t recognize it. He came to His own creation, yet was not recognized. However, any who did accept Him and believed in His Name, to them He gave the power to become children of God; who were born, not merely through genetics, nor out of sexual lust, nor of the will of humanity, but born of God. (John 1:9-13)
Even though Jesus, the Word of God, had been actively present at the creation of the world, the world did not know it. Though Jesus, the Word of God, had been actively present in the creation of humanity, and even had for a time lived among the people, yet He went unrecognized. As we shall soon see, Jesus was born, not in a fine palace, or even a home or a hospital, but in an animal shelter. Other than his parents, the only people to welcome Him into the world were a few shepherds. Throughout his life, very few would ever recognize His true nature.
Even today, there are those who don’t recognize that there is a Power greater than themselves Who created the world and all things in it. They’d rather believe that the world more or less just created itself. Is there anyone who would believe me if I took out a watch and said that it created itself? Of course not. Yet, is there anything more intricate or awe-inspiring in its creation than the human body? Or, for that matter, the body of any living thing? Or the way in which the natural world works so efficiently, and is so interdependent? Scientists are discovering that even natural disasters have a beneficial ecological purpose. Given all that scientists have been able to teach us about the intricacies of creation, how can anyone believe that the world just created itself!
For some of us we struggle so hard to understand God and Jesus, when really all we need to do is accept. Something wonderfully unusual happens when we decide to accept God through Jesus. We begin to see things differently; our thoughts and attitudes begin to change. The change may be imperceptible at first–it happens while we’re doing other things and we don’t even realize it. Over time, others begin to see it in us, even before we see it in ourselves. We become, as Paul would say, new creations. We are born of God. Already in John’s words, we find expression of concepts, which will be more fully explained in the epistles:
The Word became flesh, and lived for a time with us. We saw His glory, the glory of God’s One and Only–filled with grace and truth. John testified and said, “This is the One I spoke of when I said, ‘The One who follows me really ranks ahead of me, because this One existed before me.’ ” Of the fullness of the Word we have all shared, and grace was added to grace. (John 1:14-16)
Christ became fully human, and lived as a human being for a time. Notice that in verse one we read that In the beginning, the Word was… In this verse we read, The Word became... John proclaims that Christ (the Word) always existed, but for a time became a human being. Even so, those who accepted and believed, who realized that Christ came from God, were filled with grace and truth. Because of the goodness of Christ we have received blessings on top of blessings.
Repeatedly, when John the Baptist spoke of Jesus, he always emphasized that he was just the prophet, and Jesus was the One from God.
While God gave the Law through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; it is the Only-Begotten, Who is ever at God’s side, Who has shown us what God is like. (John 1:14-18)
Again, John presents concepts that will be defined in the epistles. As expressed by Paul in Romans 5:20 and 21, the Law expressed God’s standards–God’s guidelines for life. Because human beings are incapable of fully keeping the law, the result was that the law increased sin. However, when we accept Christ we are freed from the Law and blessed with grace (forgiven).
Note: In this first section of John, he has repeatedly identified Jesus, using the phrase: the Word. Word in Greek was logos, which has several meanings, the most important of which, for our purposes is reason. Jesus is the creative mind and power of God. Logos is also an expression of personality, in this case the personality of God.
It is important to remember that Christianity has its roots in Judaism. Jesus was Jewish, and used expressions of Jewish thought. The first “Christians” all were Jewish. However, within thirty years of Jesus’ death, Christianity soon traveled into the wider world–a Greek-speaking world, with very different backgrounds and expressions of thought. John, the gospel writer, needed to find a way of Jewish expression, which would be understood, and compatible to Greek understanding. He had to find a Greek concept for Jesus that would complement the Jewish concept. John found it in the Word.
Remember that in Jewish thought, words had power–words were considered the very things the words expressed–they were equal to the ideas they expressed. According to Genesis, when God created the world God merely spoke, and the world was created. God’s power was revealed in God’s Word.
We all can easily understand that the world began in the mind of God. God thought, then God spoke, and the world was created. In Proverbs 3:19 we read, God by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding God created the heavens. In Jewish thought, wisdom (Sophia) provides enlightenment, and is akin to the concept of reason. The Greek word for reason is logos. We derive our word logic from logos. The Greek word for word is also logos. Thus, in Judaism the world was created by God’s (spoken) Word, and in Greek, the world was created by God’s (Logos), reason and Word. Thus Word became complementary to both Jewish and Greek thought.
Are the gospels merely a collection of legends and fables, assembled and distributed over the years? How can we assume them to be reliable? After all, they were written many years after the crucifixion, which occurred in the neighborhood of C. E. 24-32. Mark’s is considered the earliest, written around C.E. 65-70; Matthew around C.E. 85; Luke between 70 and 90; and John is assumed to have been written around C.E. 100. Isn’t it also true that there were untold numbers of people through the centuries all claiming to be the Messiah? What made this one stand out from the others? What about all the discrepancies? While some stories appear in more than one gospel, often what is written in one, reads differently from another.
The very fact that the stories differ from gospel to gospel is our assurance that they have a basis in truth. A very important element in police detective work is the interrogation of witnesses. When witnesses all tell their stories almost identically, the police regard them with great suspicion–the witnesses are presumed to have been coached. Authentic witnesses do not all tell the same stories. Each witness tells his or her story from their peculiar viewpoints, taking into consideration their own background, education, and beliefs.
Scholars do not know for certain that any of the writers of the gospels actually walked with Jesus. Luke’s gospel tells us specifically that he did not. The authors could have collected their materials from actual witnesses, and scholars do agree that this often was the case. Though John’s gospel seems to indicate that he was the beloved disciple, the late date for writing leads scholars to believe otherwise. More on this when we study the particular passages.
What makes this Messiah stand out from all the others? As you study the life of Jesus, your life will change. Your attitudes will change. All the proof that you need or require you will find in your own life, as the Holy Spirit guides you into all the truth.
Since many others have decided to write a record of the things that have come to pass among us, taking down what was reported to them by eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word, it seemed like a good thing to me also, having made careful investigation about everything from the very beginning, to write them down for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may be certain of the facts about which you have been told. (Luke 1:1-4)
Scholars believe Luke was a physician, and a very close friend and companion of Paul’s. There is reason to believe he was a Gentile. Momentous events had occurred a few years before. Luke was aware that others were attempting to record the events for posterity by interviewing eyewitnesses of the actual events, as well as those actually involved in Jesus’ ministry.
Luke was a scientist, a man with a curious, educated mind, but one who liked to find things out for himself. “It seems like a good thing to me also,” he says, to conduct his own careful, scientific investigations, and to write them down in an orderly fashion. His intention is to verify all that had been told to Theophilus, to give Theophilus assurance that the facts of the stories all were true.
Now, who is Theophilus? Obviously, someone whom Luke considers very important–he calls Theophilus “most excellent.” Many scholars believe that Luke was writing to a distinguished person, also most likely a Gentile, and one who had earlier heard some of the stories that had be circling the area. However, the name Theophilus means “friend of God.” It may very well be that Luke was writing to you and me. If you are studying the scripture, if your intent is to learn more about God, if your intent is to try to understand God and your place in the world, then you indeed are a friend of God. And this story is for you.
This ends the study for today.
Life Application
You need only say, “Yes, God, let’s be friends.” And so it will be.