Sermon Tone Analysis

TITLE:   Christmas Beginnings!                                             SCRIPTURE:    John 1:1-18 \\ \\

EXEGESIS:      \\ \\ VERSES  1-18:   THE PROLOGUE TO THE GOSPEL OF JOHN \\ \\ The Gospel of John weds theology to poetry -- scholars refer to it as poetical prose -- prose with the soul of poetry -- prose that, like poetry, packs layers of meaning in a word or phrase.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

Those few words have inspired theologians to write books -- and musicians to compose music -- and artists to paint masterworks -- and all of us to understand Jesus in a profoundly larger way.

Stair-step parallelism (see v. 1) brings rhythm to theology.

\\ \\ "But supremely, the Prologue summarizes how the 'Word' which was with God in the very beginning came into the sphere of time, history, tangibility -- in other words, how the Son of God was sent into the world to become the Jesus of history, so that the glory and grace of God might be uniquely and perfectly disclosed.

The rest of the book is nothing other than an expansion of this theme" (Carson, 111).

\\ \\ "It is essential to grasp at the start the insight that the entire Gospel will be a disclosure of God by the one in the bosom of the Father who could say, '.I know him' (8:55), and 'I speak of what I have seen with my Father' (8:38)"  (Sloyan, 20).

Jesus alone reveals God with perfect clarity, because he alone has shared an intimacy with God in which there \\ were no secrets or disagreements.

Moses heard God on Mount Sinai, but could not see God.

He read the words engraved on tablets of stone, but did not produce them.

The Word, on the other hand, was present with God from the beginning, and participated fully in every stage of the creation.

(v. 3) \\ \\ "The principal topic in these verses is the incarnation, together with its astonishing sequel, the rejection of the Word by those who might have been expected to welcome him" (Morris, 63).

\\ \\ The Prologue closely parallels the great hymn of Philippians 2:5-11, and also has much in common with Colossians 1:15-20 and the first chapter of Hebrews.

These were written earlier than the Gospel of John, and it seems likely that the Prologue borrows from them.

\\ \\ VERSES  1-5:   IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD \\ \\ 1In the beginning (Greek:  en arche) was the Word (Greek: ho logos), and the Word was with God (Greek: ton theon -- the God -- with the article), and the Word was God (Greek: theos -- no article).

2He was in the beginning with God.

3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.

What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.

5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

\\ \\ "In the beginning" (en arche) (v.

1).

The Jewish people know the books of their scriptures by their first words -- in the same way that we know hymns by their first lines.

"In the beginning" is their title for the book that we call Genesis.

In the Greek Septuagint (LXX), the first words of Genesis are en arche.

This Gospel begins with those exact words by design, because the Prologue models itself after the creation account: \\ \\ -- Both Genesis and this Prologue are accounts of creation at God's word.

\\ \\ -- Both speak of darkness and the light coming into being at the word of God to penetrate and to overcome the darkness.

\\ \\ -- Both speak of life.

\\ \\ -- In Genesis, God speaks, and that word brings man to life; in the Prologue, the Word of God brings eternal life to humanity.

\\ \\ Each of the four Gospels traces Jesus back to a particular beginning:  \\ \\ -- Matthew traces Jesus' genealogy to Abraham.

\\ \\ -- Mark begins his Gospel by saying, "The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God," but starts with Isaiah, who prophesies the coming of the one who will prepare Jesus' way (Mark 1:1-3).

\\ \\ -- Luke begins with the word of the angel to Zechariah announcing the coming birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-24) and the announcement to Mary of Jesus' coming birth (Luke 1:26-38).

\\ \\ -- The Gospel of John traces the Word back to the very beginning – before time -- before the creation of the world.

The Word is not part of the creation -- was not created -- but stood with God before the creation.

This is important, because it is contrary to the prevailing Jewish thought of God working alone in creation.

\\ \\ "was the Word (logos)" (v.

1).

Logos is a brilliant choice of words to bridge the gap between the Jewish and Greek worlds.

The first Christians were Jewish, but the Gospel spread quickly to Greeks, who know nothing of the messiah or the fulfillment of prophecy.

John's task is to couch this Gospel in language that they can understand and appreciate.

Logos is a common word in Greek philosophy.

Greeks believe that the world is highly volatile, but is under the control of Logos.

John is saying to the Greek world, "You believe in Logos.

Jesus is Logos come to earth.

Jesus is the mind of God in human form" (Barclay, 13-14).

\\ \\ Jews also understand logos ("the Word"):  \\ \\ -- Out of respect, Jews prefer not to use God's name, so they sometimes use the phrase, "the Word" as a substitute for God's name.

\\ \\ -- Philo, a Greek Jew, brought together Jewish and Greek thought and used logos to speak of God's role in creation.

\\ \\ The Jewish concept of the Word (logos) of God is rooted in the OT.  "The creation accounts of Genesis are governed by God's spoken word; God spoke through the law at Sinai and through the prophets.

The Word encompasses both word and deed, and that fits well with the image of logos in the Prologue" (O'Day, 519).

The OT frequently refers to God's speaking or God's word as a creative, revealing, saving, or judging word.

In each \\ instance, God's word is powerful and action-oriented, i.e.: \\ \\ -- "Then God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light" (Gen.

1:3).

\\ \\ -- "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth" (Psalm 33:6).

\\ \\ -- "he sent out his word and healed them" (Psalm 107:20).

\\ \\ -- See also Isaiah 9:8; 38:4; Jer.

1:4; Ezek.

33:7; Amos 3:1, 8. \\ \\ The feminine equivalent of Logos is Sophia, which means Wisdom.

In Sirach 24, there is a story of God granting Wisdom permission to dwell on earth.

The earth, however, proved to be an inhospitable dwelling place for Wisdom, "so God made Wisdom to become a book, the Book of Moses, to dwell in the tents of Jacob" (Craddock, 44).

In a present-day analogy, we are tempted to treat scripture as the ultimate Word of God.

That is not entirely inappropriate, because the scriptures are a powerful word from God.

The ultimate Word, however, became flesh and dwelt among us.

\\ \\ "and the Word was with God" (ton theon -- the God -- with the article), "and the Word was God" (theos -- without the article) (v.

1).

"When Greek uses a noun it almost always uses the definite article with it....  Now when Greek does not use the definite article with a noun, that noun becomes much more like an adjective; it describes the character, the \\ quality of the person.

John did not say that the Word was ho theos; that would have been to say that the Word was identical with God; he says that the Word was theos--without the definite article -- which means that the Word was, as we might say, of the very same character and quality and essence and being as God" (Barclay, 17).

\\ \\ By using theos with the article in the first instance and without the article in the second instance, the Prologue distinguishes between God and the Word while, at the same time, emphasizing their unity.

If those opposing ideas -- individuality and unity -- seem incompatible, consider the relationship between husband and wife.

In marriage, two people who retain their individual identities, become, in some sense, one.

(As one wag put it, after the wedding they learn which one.) \\ \\ "and the Word was God" (v.

1).

This is not traditional Jewish theology of the messiah, whom Jews expect to be like King David -- a great man – a God-empowered man -- but only a man.

The Jews are fiercely monotheistic, and the phrase, "the Word was God," must set their teeth on edge.

\\ \\ John's emphasis on the creative role of the Word counters Gnostic heresy.

Gnosticism is dualistic, saying that matter is evil and, therefore, could not be created by God.

Gnostics believe that the OT God of creation is evil and must therefore be different from the NT Father of Jesus, who is good.

John directly counters that line of thought, saying, "All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.

(v.

3)  (Barclay, 19) \\ \\ Verses 4-5 introduce the themes of life and light shining in the darkness -- important themes in the Gen. 1 creation story -- and important throughout this Gospel.

More than one-quarter of all the references to life in the NT are found in this Gospel, and usually refer to eternal life (Morris, 73) (see 3:15-16, 36; 4:14, 36; 5:21-29, 39-40; 6:47, 51-54, 63, 68; 8:12; 10:1-28; 11:25; 12:25, 50; 14:6; 17:2; 20:31).

The life that Jesus offers is more than mere physical existence -- it is life in relationship with God.

\\ \\ "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it" (v.

5).

God's first creative act was light (Gen.

1).

The light of creation was the first step in bringing order to the formless void, and the light brought by the Word is the first step toward bringing order into the chaos of our lives.

\\ \\ "The darkness stands for the state of mind in which mankind fails to welcome the light" (Howard, 466).

The promise is that the darkness did not -- and, by extension, will not -- overcome the light.

"Because, says the NT, this fight is not our fight, but God's; and he is in it with us..

And unless the Almighty fail, goodness cannot be conquered; and must win in the end" (Gossip, 468).

\\ \\ We have seen that even a small light can dispel even a great darkness -- even a tiny candle can drive darkness out of a large room.

"Light and darkness are opposites, but they are not opposites of equal power.

Light is stronger than darkness; darkness cannot prevail against it....  Similarly darkness cannot overcome... those who walk in the light (John 12:35)" (Bruce, 34).

\\ \\ VERSES  6-8:   THERE WAS A MAN WHOSE NAME WAS JOHN \\ \\ 6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7He came as a witness (Greek: eis marturian) to testify (Greek: marturese) to the light, so that all might believe through him.

8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

\\ \\ John the Baptist renewed the prophetic tradition after four hundred prophetless years.

Because his ministry was so powerful, some people thought of him as the messiah.

This Gospel makes a number of references to John -- always clearly establishing that he was subordinate to Jesus.

He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light (vv.

7-8).

\\ \\ The other Gospels call him John the Baptist to distinguish him from John, the son of Zebedee, but this Gospel refers to him only as John – and makes no mention of John, the son of Zebedee.

The traditional explanation is that John, the son of Zebedee is the author of this Gospel, and prefers not to mention himself by name (Carson, 120).

\\ \\ John's purpose was to bear testimony to the light -- to serve as a witness to the light (v.

7).

The word for witnessing -- martureo -- is the word from which we get the word martyr.

To witness for Christ often provokes the forces of darkness to violence, and Christian witnesses often become martyrs -- a reality as true today in many parts of the world as it ever was in the Roman world.

John died as a martyr because of his testimony \\ regarding Herod's marriage (Mark 6:14-29).

\\ \\ VERSES  9-13:   HIS OWN PEOPLE DID NOT ACCEPT HIM \\ \\ 9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world (Greek: kosmos).