John 1 - Jesus Became One of Us!

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What's So Unique About John's Gospel

Today. we begin our journey through the 21 chapters of John's gospel, the 4th and final gospel. John is very different than the other three gospels, which are called the "synoptic gospels", because they report basically the same stories with different nuances. John was written around the turn of the 1st century, whereas the other 3 gospels were written about 30 years earlier.

John is also called the "theological" gospel, as it focuses on the "divinity" of Jesus. John was confronting what became the most popular heresy at the time "gnosticism", which basically said that Jesus only seemed to be human, but was actually more of a "spirit being". Of course, if Jesus was only appeared to be human, he didn't truly die for our sins, which is at the center of what we believe as Christians. 

In John, we also see several more personal interactions with Jesus and his disciples. For instance, we learn about Jesus' reinstating, Peter after his threefold denial. And also stories like the "Woman at the Well". In John we also get the famous "I am" statements like "I am the way, the truth, and the life", and "I am the resurrection and the life." Okay let's begin my favorite gospel.

The Word Became Flesh

Another big theme with John is what he calls the "Word". Notice it is capitalized. The Greek word for this is "logos", where we get our term "logic". Later, John says the "Word of God became incarnate", which basically God's Word, Jesus, became a man. But in this opening section John gives us ample evidence that Jesus the Son was with God the Father at the time of Creation. 

This gives credence to the Trinity, where the Father "created", the Spirit "was hovering" over the waters, and Jesus was also part of the Creation process, "Through him all things were made and without him nothing was made." He also describes Jesus as the "light" another metaphor for Jesus, which we will see through his gospel. 

Then, John tells us about John the Baptist, who came to give witness to light. John's clear role was to give witness to the light not to be the light. Unfortunately Jesus, as the light, would not be accepted by the world he created. This was true especially his own people as it says, "He came to his own and they would receive him not."

A lot of times you will hear the language from Christians, "I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior." Some might ask, "Is this even in the bible?". John 1:12-13 is the best verse when it comes to a biblical backing of this concept. John writes, 

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

John 1:14 gives us the basis for the doctrine we call the "incarnation". 

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

In other words, Jesus became a human being, so we could know what God looks like. Jesus came full of both "grace" and "truth". "Grace" is God's gift of unmerited favor, and "Truth" is the truth about who we are and the truth about who God is. Specifically it is the truth about how God saved the world through His Son, Jesus. We will see Jesus treating people with both grace and truth throughout John's gospel. 

John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah

As in the other gospels, we get a glimpse of who John the Baptist is. Because John came as a prophet, which Israel hadn't seen in hundreds of years, the people wondered if he was the Messiah. If he wasn't the Messiah, maybe he was Elijah, the greatest prophet in Israel's history. 

John quotes Isaiah's prophecy about him when he says, 

“I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’" Isaiah 40:3

John refers to Jesus' baptism, which he performed, when he says, "I saw the Spirit descending him like a dove." Jesus' role would be to baptize with that same Holy Spirit. John then boldly proclaims that he has seen the "One, the Messiah". This is the first proclamation of Jesus' true identity and it comes very early on in the gospel story. 

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus

The next day Jesus' begins the calling of his disciples. They are with John the Baptist, and when he sees Jesus he says, "Look, the Lamb of God". This term would have deep meaning for them, as the Lamb was the central part of Passover, where God provided for the atonement of their sins through the innocent unblemished lamb. 

One of these disciples was Andrew (we don't know who the other one is) went and found his brother, Simon Peter (who we know as Peter), and said, "Come we have found the Messiah". Obviously Jesus had made quite an impression on Andrew. When Andrew brought Peter to Jesus, Jesus said, 

“You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter). Cephas was Aramaic for the Greek word "rock". After this Peter is almost exclusively called by this name. 

Andrew is nicknamed the "bringer", because he brought people to Jesus. He is a great example of evangelism. Some of us are called to just "bring people to Jesus" not necessarily to preach to them. As Paul says, "One plants, one waters but it is God who makes the seed (gospel) grow." 1 Corinthians 3:6-9

Andrew also brought Nathanael to Jesus. These stories of the calling of Jesus' disciples are unique to John's gospels, which again give us some valuable personal interaction of Jesus with his disciples. Nathanael responded by referring to where Jesus grew up, 

"Nazareth, can anything good come out or Nazareth."

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching him, he said something interesting, 

"He is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit." What did he mean by this?

Jesus gave him a wonderful compliment. The sense is that there was nothing tricky or deceptive in Nathanael. He didn’t have a mask. - Guzik

I guess Jesus appreciated his honesty. Nathanael was apparently a "straight shooter". When Jesus told Nathanael he saw him under a fig tree, Nathanael knew Jesus was more than a prophet. Though Jesus was human, he shows his divine qualities here. 

Another explanation is that Jesus literally saw Nathanael under a fig tree. F.F. Bruce famous New Testament commentator says this, 

“Perhaps it was a place where Nathanael had recently sat in meditation and received some spiritual impression. It is impossible to be sure. Certainly the shady foliage of the fig tree made it a suitable tree to sit under in the heat of the day.” (Bruce)

Whatever the case, Nathanael realized this kind of call could only come from the Messiah. Jesus finished chapter 1 by saying, 

You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.” 

The part about Jesus ascending and descending to and from heaven, is a reference to Genesis 28, and the story of "Jacob's dream of heaven."

You can see in chapter 1 how many new things we learned about Jesus and his disciples. This is why I am so glad John's gospel got included in the bible.