The Word
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[Prayer for Illumination]
Amen.
It has been said that a picture speaks a thousand words. It used to be said that you should not believe everything you hear, but what you read that’s truth. Then it was you could only believe what you saw, if there was a photo or a film of it you could trust that. Now with the advent of computer generated images you can’t believe that anymore either.
It’s not just the words we hear, but we pick up on the cues of tone, pace, facial expressions, posture, and a myriad of other clues that help us understand what the person is saying. Communication researchers tell us we often trust non-verbal forms of communication more than verbal forms of communication. Something that should give every preacher pause.
Yet historically it is not movies, videos, or even writings that have so moved people as the spoken word.
Historically the written language has been around for about 6000 years. But the spoken language has been around since the beginning.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Focusing on the 3rd verse there:
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
“God said...” God spoke. The spoken word, the LOGOS. That is where our text from John comes today. We’re going to read it together.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
This is God’s Word to us, thanks be to God.
We read these words and we know immediately of whom they are speaking of, yet I find it curious that the name of Jesus is not even mentioned until v. 17.
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
And when it is mentioned, it’s not just Jesus’ name, but his title. You see Christ is not a synonym for Jesus name, it is not his last name. It signifies that He is the anointed one, He is the Messiah.
It’s important when we read the Scriptures that we not always read them as to us living in the 21st century, but we seek to try and understand how they would have been understood by the people that first read them.
In the case of John’s Gospel, that would be a mix of both Jews and Gentiles living in the greco-Roman world in Ephesus and beyond in the first century.
As we reflect on our passage today it is clear that John is demonstrating that Jesus ie equal with God - we would say that they co-exist in the trinity. Notice all the ties to the beginning of Scripture.
In the beginning - the same words that begin our biblical narrative.
Was the Word - “God said…and there was....”
That’s how God mad all of creation - through what He said, through the Word -
All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
If we reflect back to the book of Genesis, we see the story of life unfolding, and that’s precisely what John is pointing to in Jesus, that Jesus was at the beginning. It was through Jesus that all of Creation is made.
Now lest that we think this is the ramblings of an undeducated fisherman, which indeed John was, let’s look at what a Pharisee of the time wrote:
Remember Paul was a Pharisee prior to his conversion to follow Jesus, and he wrote this to the Colossian church:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
Last week, we considered truth, and we noted the evil that is in this world. See verse 4.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
And as we reflect on the creation we remember those first words spoken by God and he says, “Let there be light, and there was light.” Then we look at the words of John.
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
Sadly though we are reminded of the fact that many rejected Jesus. We read the sadness and the joy in verses 10-13
He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
I love that statement in verse 12& 13
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Receiving one is not an active position, but a passive one. God is the one who is acting, our job is simply to receive, and the belief comes not as something that we can take credit for, but that too is a gift from God. This is God’s doing.
But notice that phrase in vs. 12, “He gave the right to become children of God...”
This points to the mystery that is in our faith. On the one hand it is God who acts, and God’s ability alone. We know that it is not by works of Righteousness that I have done, but it is according to God’s mercy that he has saved me. (Titus 3:5-6),
he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
We know that We are saved by grace through faith and this is not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no man can boast.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
The mystery of our faith is that it is not just the work of God, but we too have to act. God gives us the right to become children of God, the right to walk in the ways that God has called us to, but we still need to get up and walk. We still need to lay hold of that “right.”
Perhaps an analogy would be of our citizenship here in the United States, we have the right to vote, but we still have to educate ourselves to the issues, make a decision, fill out the ballot, and submit it.
God does not coerce our discipleship, he gives us the right to it.
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
We are going to be spending the next several weeks in the Gospel of John. The first half of his Gospel focuses on Jesus life leading up to what we know as Passion Week, the last half of the book is spent on that week, and the things that Jesus did.
I’d like to encourage you to read through the Gospel of John this week. Take special note of descriptive words of Jesus:
The Word, Light, Truth, etc.
Ask yourself, “what does that mean for me?
Share some of what you’re thinking and learning with someone else, a friend, co-worker, family member.
Finally, invite someone to explore it with you. Invite them to church to join us as we explore what John says about Jesus.