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Introduction<\/b><\/p>\n
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John\u2019s gospel reads quite differently than the three synoptic gospels. John is thematic and theological. Not to say the others are not of course, just that John is overtly so. There are many things in this fourth gospel that are unique to it – meaning there are certain things that only John\u2019s gospel account mentions. John\u2019s gospel was written after the other three. Many scholars date the fourth gospel as being written about 50 years after Jesus walked the earth. So what we have is a much older John, who has had much time to think and reflect and ponder on his time with Jesus. He is writing this gospel with much theological and pastoral insight, experience, and reflection. I believe it shows. The apostle would\u2019ve written the fourth gospel before he wrote his epistles. As we saw in 1 John, he built upon the foundation of this gospel there.<\/span><\/p>\n One of the many things I love about John is the incredible amount of allusions to the Old Testament throughout. I love the way John uses the Old Testament, because in many places he doesn\u2019t directly quote the Old Testament, yet he is clearly referencing or building upon it – it\u2019s just assumed and naturally built upon.<\/span><\/p>\n Another thing that stands out in John\u2019s gospel is the doctrines of grace. I believe that Calvinism is all throughout the Scripture; but in many places throughout John\u2019s gospel it is stated very clearly, and is really one of the running themes.<\/span><\/p>\n If you remember from 1 John, towards the end of that letter, he states very clearly his purpose for writing the letter. John does the same here in his gospel. I believe John\u2019s purpose for writing this gospel is important for us to consider and have in mind from the start. John 20:30-31, \u201cNow Jesus did many others signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.\u201d<\/em> So John\u2019s main goal is to show and prove to us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, so that we might believe and have life.<\/span><\/p>\n In serving the purpose of showing us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, John gives us several of what he calls “signs” that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.<\/span><\/p>\n In the prologue John immediately jumps into theological meat particularly concerning the nature of Christ; and yet it is interwoven with the historical reality of Jesus coming into the world in a specific time and space. In the opening to 1 John, we clearly see the similarity to the opening of his gospel here.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “In the beginning was\u00a0the Word, and\u00a0the Word was with God, and\u00a0the Word was God.<\/span>\u00a02\u00a0<\/sup>He was in the beginning with God.<\/span>\u00a03\u00a0<\/sup>All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” – John 1:1-3<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n These verses in the beginning of John are some of the most important verses in the Bible, if I can say so. Verses 1-3 are some of the most deep and profound verses on the deity of Christ – absolutely essential to orthodox Christianity. Yet, as Herman Ridderbos put it, \u201cIt is hardly conceivable that a deeper issue could have been expressed with greater simplicity and in fewer words.\u201d I think he\u2019s right on. John 1:1 is mind-blowingly deep, yet at the same time very straightforward in its understanding.<\/span><\/p>\n John begins his gospel here with Christ and his eternal existence with the Father and the Spirit as the second person of the trinity. As I mentioned, one of John\u2019s goals in his gospel is to show us who Jesus is, and prove to us that he is the Son of God, the Christ, that we might believe in Him and have life. Essential to believing in Jesus, is not only believing His works, but knowing His person – who He is. So we must start here. We must understand where He comes from and who He is to understand what He did.<\/span><\/p>\n It is undeniable that John loved Jesus and he knew that he was loved by Jesus. We saw how beautifully John wrote about the love of God in his epistle, and we will see it here in his gospel. One of John\u2019s goals in his gospel is to set forth the glory of Jesus, that we also might see Him, believe Him, love Him and be loved by Jesus, as John was. Some people don\u2019t care too much to study theology, or don\u2019t care to get into deep theological matters. But John, who loved Jesus, probably more than any of us ever will, shows us that if you love Jesus, you will know and want to know about Him – who He is. If you love someone, and they start to tell you about their family, where they come from, and who they are, you don\u2019t say, \u201cHey, I don\u2019t want to talk about this, this is boring and too deep, and unpractical.\u201d No! You don\u2019t do that. If you love that person, you want to hear all about that stuff. You want to know what makes them who they are. We ought to be even more interested in Christ. As our minds enlarge in their understanding of Christ, our hearts can enlarge in love for Christ. A limited knowledge of Christ, will only allow us to love Him so much. As we look at some of the doctrine of Christ today, let us do so with the aim of knowing Jesus better so that we can love Him better. He has revealed Himself to us right here in His Word, let us not neglect His revelation of Himself to us.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Meaning of the Word<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One of the first things that might be coming to our minds in this passage, is the question, why is Jesus Christ referred to as the \u201cWord?\u201d – or the \u201clogos\u201d in Greek. What is the significance of that? What does that mean? It really gets at the way that God has communicated to us and how He has revealed Himself to us. “And\u00a0the Word\u00a0became flesh and\u00a0dwelt among us,\u00a0and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son[d<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0from the Father, full of\u00a0grace and\u00a0truth… No one has ever seen God;\u00a0the only God,[f<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0who is at the Father’s side,[g<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0he has made him known”<\/em> (John 1:14,18).<\/span><\/p>\n A. W. Pink puts it so well, I will just quote him on this: \u201cChrist, then, is the One who has made the incomprehensible God intelligible. The force of this title of His found in John 1:1, may be discovered by comparing it with that name which is given to the Holy Scriptures- \u2018the Word of God.\u2019 What are the Scriptures? They are the Word of God. And what does that mean? This: the Scriptures reveal God\u2019s mind, express His will, make known His perfections, and lay bare His heart. This is precisely what the Lord Jesus has done for the Father. But let us enter a little more into detail: A \u2018word\u2019 is a medium of manifestation. I have in my mind a thought, but others know not its nature. But the moment I clothe that thought in words, it becomes cognizable. Words, then, make objective [or knowable], unseen thoughts. This is precisely what the Lord Jesus has done. As the Word, Christ has made manifest the invisible God… A \u2018word\u2019 is a means of communication. By means of words I transmit information to others. By words I express myself, make known my will, and impart knowledge. So Christ, as the Word, is the Divine Transmitter, communicating to us the life and love of God.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Jesus Christ as the eternal Word of God, is the means by which God communicates and reveals Himself to us.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Deity of the Word<\/b><\/p>\n Eternal<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jesus was not created. He is the eternal Word of God, second person of the Holy Trinity. He has eternally been with the Father and the Spirit. There has not been any amount of time that Jesus Christ has not been. He has always been, as God has always been. His birth over 2,000 years ago by the virgin Mary was not His coming into being. He has always been. That was simply His coming into flesh.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Distinctive<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Word was \u201cwith\u201d God implies a distinguishing person.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Trinitarian<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Notice that we do not only see the Father and the Son existing together eternally here. John does not say that the Word was with the Father. \u201cThe Father\u201d would be the specific term applying to the first person of the Trinity. Rather, John says that the Word was with God – which would include the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. So this is not Jesus Christ as an isolated deity, or one of multiple gods; but John is showing us the deity of Christ, in the context of the Godhead. We only know Jesus rightly in the context of the trinity.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n One<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Word \u201cwas God\u201d implies that they are of one essence, not three individual gods, but distinct persons, who are one – of the same substance. So Jesus Christ is not an angel or some heavenly creature. John is saying, not only was the Word with God, but the Word was God. Jesus is God. That is one of the fundamental distinctives of Christianity. It is important that we know this, believe this, and can defend this, because you could easily have a certain group of people come knocking on your door, who would like to say otherwise.<\/span><\/p>\n John is putting Jesus on the level of God (because He is), so that it is understood that our obedience and reverence for God is owed to Him. We must listen to Him. Because \u201cthe Word was God\u201d – the deeds and words of Jesus are the deeds and words of God.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Work of the Word<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n One of the first things you may have noticed about the opening of John 1 is the similar language to the opening of Genesis 1. It\u2019s interesting, even in the allusion to Genesis 1, John is raising Jesus Christ to the level of God. Genesis 1:1 begins, \u201cIn the beginning God\u2026\u201d John 1:1 begins, \u201cIn the beginning was the Word\u2026\u201d John places the Word, in the same place as Genesis places God. Thus raising Christ to that level, so to speak. Furthermore, in John 1:3, John emphasizes the deity of Christ, when he talks about all things being created through Him, for only God can create. Only God can create out of nothing and bring things into existence. Creatures like us can only make things with already created materials. There is no amount of willpower that a human can unction that could cause a single blade of grass to appear out of nothing. God, the creator, spoke creation into existence, Jesus Christ who is the Word, was an active agent in that creation. Jesus is God.<\/span><\/p>\n The allusion to Genesis 1 is important and fascinating for other reasons as well. Paraphrasing one commentator: \u201cThis backward look to Genesis 1 is proof that the Evangelist did not wish to subsume the glory of Christ under some other heading and explain it in that other way. Instead, he sought to identify Jesus Christ on the basis of the Old Testament.\u201d<\/em> The Jews knew their Old Testament. When the apostles were writing the New Testament, their attitude was not one that said, “forget the Old Testament, Jesus came and we don\u2019t need that anymore.” No, the Old Testament is the Word of God and it prophesied that a Messiah was coming to save His people. The apostle\u2019s job was to prove that the Old Testament was right and that Jesus is that Messiah that fulfilled those prophecies and promises! And so the better that we understand our Old Testament, the better we can understand all that Jesus fulfilled.<\/span><\/p>\n