The Word                                                          John 1:1-5

In the early centuries after Christ there were many letters and writings about him. There were many Gospels; the Gospel of the Ebionites, the Gospel of the Nazarenes, the Gospel of Phillip, Gospel of Peter, and the two that have been in the news the past few years, the Gospel of Mary Magdalene and the Gospel of Judas.

Early century Christians were thoughtful and prayerful in which books would be included in scripture. Was it written by an apostle or one of his close associates? Did the book conform to the theology and known teachings of Christ? Early on through the work and leading of the Holy Spirit, the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John as well as the Book of Acts and Paul’s letters were recognized as authoritive and used in house churches. By the time of the Council of Carthage in 397 CE the canon was effectively closed.

The four Gospels each tell the story of Jesus from a different perspective. Each of the Gospels was written for a different group of people and by a different author who was trying to accomplish a different purpose.

The Gospel of Matthew is traditionally thought to be written first. It was written for people who were familiar with the Old Testament, the Law of Moses and the prophets; it was written for the Jewish people. In fact, Matthew’s Gospel references the Old Testament more than any of the others.

Matthew takes great care to show how Jesus fulfills the prophecies about him. Matthew 5:17 “Do not think I came to abolish the law or the prophets, I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew’s Gospel is the bridge between the Old and New Testaments.

Mark’s Gospel is the shortest and it is believed to have been written by John Mark, the man who backed out of his missionary journey with Paul and Barnabus. John Mark is believed to have aided Peter in his later life and his Gospel is now seen as a collection of Peter’s memories of his life with Jesus.

This Gospel’s focus is on Jesus as the suffering servant. Mark doesn’t include long sermons; his Gospel is all about action. It was written in a way to easily memorized and be repeated, therefore appealing to a large and varied audience.

Luke wrote the longest Gospel was a physician; actually his Gospel is the longest book in the New Testament. It’s now believed by some theologians that there are clues in the Gospel pointing to Luke being non-Hebrew and if that’s true he would be the only such writer of the New Testament.

Luke uses his training for detail to write a historical and chronological account of Jesus life. This Gospel presents Jesus as the savior of all nations. It is a rich and comprehensive story about Jesus for both those familiar with Old Testament scripture and those who are not.

John’s Gospel shows the miracles of Jesus, it’s intended to persuade readers to believe in Christ. John is about demonstrating the divinity of Jesus; the Son of the living God who came to earth to overcome the work of Satan.

Matthew begins with Abraham and traces Jesus genealogy. Mark begins with Jesus baptism, Luke with the events around Jesus birth. John starts with the very first words in the Bible, “In the beginning…” John starts his Gospel by telling us Jesus and God are one; always existing, nothing was done by one without the other.

When the Nicene Council of 325 CE explained and adopted the Triune as doctrine they looked at scriptures such as this and Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

The word for God is “Elohim” which is plural, the word for created is “bara” which is a singular verb. Right with the first sentence of the Bible we have a plural God performing a singular action. And right from the first sentence of his Gospel, John is showing us Jesus is part of the plural God.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” We equate “the Word” as Jesus. Jesus exists eternally like God, Jesus always was and always will be with God, and Jesus is God.

I wondered why John used the word “word” to make his point about Jesus and God. And since John is referencing Genesis, that’s where I went to look.

Genesis 1:3, “And God said ‘Let there be light’ and there was light.” Here is one of those times I don’t like our English translation. “Let there be light” sounds like God is addressing another and asking for light to be allowed. In my Hebrew Bible it says, “And God said, ‘Light be.”God created light out of nothing with just a word. All the power of God manifested in a word. And we are told the power of God manifests through the Holy Spirit.

In this first sentence of John’s Gospel he is explaining the trinity; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, all the same.

As I said before John writes to show the divinity of Jesus. Right from the first sentence he makes the argument that Jesus is God, But by referencing Genesis we can infer that it was written for those who are familiar with the old scriptures, mostly the Jewish people.

But John is not written just to them, he wants all people to know who Jesus is, how God and Jesus are together in one. Verses 2 and 3, “He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things are made, without him nothing was made…”

The Gentiles who are living in the area see and hear the Rabbi’s, the Pharisees and Priests; men who are knowledgeable about God, men who teach about God. To these people John wants to make clear that Jesus is not just another man that studied scripture, not just another man God blessed with knowledge. Jesus is different. John is telling them that Jesus is God and therefore they can put their trust in him.

Verse 4, “In him is life, and that life is the light of all mankind.” So again in verse 4 John is telling his readers Jesus is God; all life comes from God. The Jewish people understand this and even the pagans equate their lives as coming from and directed by their gods, all be it false gods. To these Gentiles John is saying Jesus is not just the God of the Israelites, he is the God of all people; of all mankind.

Verse 5, “The light shines in the darkness…” For all mankind, no matter how hard life is, no matter the circumstances of your life; Jesus is there for you. Ever wake up at three in the morning and can’t get back to sleep? I have, and I lay there waiting for the sun to come up. These people 2ooo years ago didn’t have the conveniences we do, when it was dark you waited for the light so you could see.

John uses this universal experience to explain Jesus. In all the hardships of life; life’s darkness, Jesus shines and you can see God is there to show you the way.

Verse 5 again, “…and the darkness has not overcome it.” No matter what happens; famine, flood, locust, death, the darkness of life, the hardships of life cannot blot out God if you keep looking for the light. Jesus is God, he came to earth to show himself to you and nothing in your life can dim his light.

So by now you’re probably asking why I gave you a seminary lecture this morning; two reasons.

One, I want to show you that this picking apart of scripture and looking for meaning in every line is fun for me.

Second; I know people can think the Bible is hard to read, and I know it can be. It is a book that’s not written like a book of enjoyment. It’s written in a way to make you think and question. It is not written to teach straight forward lessons but to be interpreted. And like the beginning of the Gospel of John can be interpreted by looking at the beginning of Genesis, when you have questions about a Bible verse, the explanation can be found in the Bible.

The Bible is not written to be read from page one straight through, it’s written so you go back and forth to different areas. It’s written to be both a mystery and an enlightenment, all at the same time.

And last, know in your heart we don’t worship a man who was well versed in scripture. We worship the God who wrote scripture.

God Bless