There is no doubt that John is the author of the Gospel of John. John was younger than his brother James, who were both known as the Sons of Thunder. And of the 12 disciples, John was the youngest as well. His mother was Salome, who during Christ’s ministry enquired of the Lord if her sons could sit on either side of His throne when He came into His kingdom. His father was Zebedee, who was a fisherman, and who had passed on his trade to his sons. John would seem to have been a disciple first of all of John the Baptist, but left him and followed Jesus after Christ’s baptism.
Perhaps it was the fact that John was the youngest, or perhaps that he was a relative of the family of Jesus, but whatever the reason, John seemed to have a special relationship with Jesus. He described himself as the “disciple whom Jesus loved.” He seemed to share a special closeness with Christ, being described as leaning his head upon His shoulder at the Last Supper. That closeness was born out by Christ at his crucifixion, when Jesus committed to him the care of His mother Mary. Another indication was the fact that when Jesus separated certain disciples from the rest, He always included John with Peter and James. They constituted Christ’s inner circle, his closest companions.
So without a doubt John was very close to Jesus. He very likely knew Jesus while growing up. But certainly for three years he was with Christ 24/7, eating, sleeping and traveling with Him everywhere He went.
Now as you know there are four gospels in the New Testament. Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the synoptic gospels. That means that they shared common themes or incidents in their accounts. But John’s gospel, being written many years later when John was an old man, does not follow their pattern. John writes from a completely different perspective and focuses on many things that are not found in the other gospels. For instance, John doesn’t detail the birth of Christ. And ironically there is no mention of parables in John’s gospel, which account for much of the teaching of Christ in the synoptic gospels.
But the best statement of the purpose of John’s gospel is found in his own words, in John 20:30-31, “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” Note that John says the reason for his writing was to show that Jesus was the Messiah, (that is what the word Christ means) and that Jesus was the Son of God, so that you might believe He is the Messiah and the Son of God, and be saved unto eternal life.
Now that purpose that Jesus is the Son of God is clearly substantiated starting with the first verse of his gospel. And I don’t wish to rush over this point too quickly. Because it would stand to reason that if someone were a close, intimate friend of the One he was writing about, had spent 3 years living with Him on a day to day basis, it would not be likely that this would be the way in which you would begin His biography - by ascribing to Him deity. But in spite of that closeness, even because of that closeness, John begins by declaring the deity of Jesus Christ in a bold declarative statement. John leaves out the familiar details of Jesus life which reveal His humanity, such as His birth, but focuses on His divinity, His attributes of being God.
So as John begins his prologue, he begins not with the birth of Jesus as would be expected in a biography, but he begins in the beginning - in the beginning of Genesis 1:1 - and he declares that Jesus existed before creation. And that is a tremendous thing in light of the fact of his intimate knowledge of the human nature of Christ. Living 24/7 with Christ did not diminish his view of Jesus as God, but it only served to prove it to him, and so his purpose is to establish that for us at the outset, and it will continue to be the theme of all the book.
The fact that John alludes to Genesis 1:1 in his opening statement is fundamental to the doctrine of the deity of Jesus Christ. We know that the NT is the best commentary on the OT. Consider then Genesis 1:1, “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” and compare that to John 1:1, “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And what we find is that Genesis 1 is explained by John 1; the eternal existence of God, who God is, what He is like and what was His purpose. In Genesis 1 we see the origin of creation, and all creatures. In John 1 we see the originator of all life and the origin of light. John makes it clear that from the beginning, from the beginning of eternity, the Word existed. Before time, before creation, the Word was. He was not created, but He existed before creation.
So after establishing His eternal nature, John establishes His identity. Not His name but His identity; which is the Word. You might think that the Word is an ambiguous title, hardly a name for God. In the original Greek the word is logos; which means word. That may sound like a strange title to us for God. But the fact is that at the time of his writing, it was a familiar way of referring to God by both the Jews and the Greeks.
In the Old Testament, we often see a reference to the word of the Lord, or that the word of God came to a certain prophet. In the mind of the ancient Jews, the phrase “the word of God” could be used to refer to God Himself. The word of the Lord was synonymous with the will of God, the law of God and the mind of God. And even in the Genesis account of creation, we see the Word of God active in creation, with the phrase, “and God said…” over and over again being the operative agent in creation. God is Spirit, invisible, but the expression of God is the Word.
Then among the Greek philosophers, the word logos was the way they described the reason, the thought behind the cosmic power of the universe. They saw the logos as the “Ultimate Reason” that controlled all things, that kept order in the world. Though the translation of the term logos is simply “word,” in the ancient Greek world it meant a lot more than that. Ancient Greek philosophers were concerned with answering the ultimate questions of the universe. They were seeking to find ultimate truth. They debated and argued and reasoned among themselves in order to try to discover the ultimate reality that lies behind the universe.
Over time, as philosophers such as Plato pondered these questions, they came up with a term to describe this ultimate reality, and the term they came up with was logos. The logos came to be understood as the thought and reason which gave life and meaning to the universe. Within the realm of Greek philosophy, however, this logos was largely understood to be an impersonal force, not a personal being.
But John taps into their understanding of God by saying Jesus is the logos, the eternal God of creation, the God of truth and reason. Rather than an impersonal force, the logos revealed in John’s gospel is a personal being who can be received or rejected by other people as we will see when we come to vs. 11–12. This logos became flesh as a human being and manifested the glory of God to man in v. 14. John explains that Jesus is the personification of the Word. God was manifested as a person, not an it, not an impersonal force.
Not only does the logos refer to the identity of God, but obviously it refers to the very words of God. Jesus said in John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” The word of God has been written down for us in the Bible, and it is holy and eternal. As Peter said in 1 Peter 1:25, “The word of the Lord endures forever.” The word of God cannot be separated from the essence of God. That is why Jesus would say, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” God has not only manifested Himself in Jesus, but He has revealed Himself through His word. He is inseparable from His word, and that is why we can trust His word. His word cannot be broken. His word according to Psalms 12:6, has been refined as silver 7 times. It is pure, it is truth, it is life.
So John alludes to all of the attributes of God in this title, but brings them to life in the person of Christ. So in the beginning was the Word. Then John tells us who exactly the Word is. He says “and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Now that is so important because it lays the groundwork for the doctrine of the trinity. It tells us is that not only is the Logos the eternal God, but He is distinct from the eternal God. And this is where we come to understand that there is one God and yet there are three persons.
Now I cannot explain how that is possible. But the scriptures make it clear that it is so. It is the triune nature of God to exist in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We see that expressed again in Genesis 1:26, when God said, “let Us make man in Our image.” Plural. In the beginning God created, then the Spirit of God moved across the face of the waters, and then God said. God, Spirit and Logos. Three in One. Jesus is God in the flesh, the Holy Spirit is Jesus in the Spirit. God made visible in the Logos, Jesus made invisible in the Spirit. So then the Word became flesh in Jesus. Both Peter and Paul refer to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9 and 1 Peter 1:11). Jesus said in John 16:13-14 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.” And then even we become sons of God by the Spirit of Christ indwelling in the flesh of men who have received the righteousness of Christ.
So clearly presented in this verse is the doctrine that the Word existed with God from the beginning, but also that the Word was God. Many false doctrines such as the Mormons or the Jehovah Witnesses reveal their apostasy on this doctrine. They insert the article “a” before God so that Jesus is presented as a god. But according to practically all Greek scholars, that is not a proper rendering of the translation. And even if they were to make that claim, then what do you do with Hebrews 1:1-3 “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Or how about Col. 2:9 “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.” Or how about the Old Testament, in Isaiah 9:6 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” Or how about Jesus’ own declaration to Philip, when He said, “if you have seen Me you have seen the Father.” Or “I and the Father are One.”
The whole basis of our salvation depends upon God Himself becoming flesh in the person of Christ to become our substitute by dying on the cross and paying the penalty for sin. Only the innocent could exchange His life for the guilty. And only the Holy God could atone for the sins of all the sins of the world. No good man could even atone for one person’s sins other than His own, much less the sins of the world. Christ had to be God in the flesh to purchase our redemption. Either Jesus was God or He was an imposter, and worse, a blasphemer and deserved to be crucified. But we believe the word of God, that Jesus was the exact representation of God, pre existent with God, who was God and yet distinct from God, identified as the Word of God.
Vs.2, “He was in the beginning with God.” Or as the KJV says perhaps more literally, “the same was in the beginning with God.” In the beginning has no beginning. The Word not only was coeternal with God and coexistent with God from the beginning, but was eternally in active communion with Him. One commentator said it this way, “Not simply the Word with God, but God with God.” John not only reiterates the fundamental truth for emphasis, but to add emphasis to the fact of their unity. The Word was One with God in the beginning.
And then in vs. 3, as we have already noted in Genesis 1, all things God created came into being through Him. “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” God spoke through His Word, and all things that were created came through the Logos. That’s what the author of Hebrews said as well as we just read while ago: “in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” And consider what Paul said in Col. 1:16 “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things have been created through Him and for Him.”
Here is the proof of His eternal nature. Everything that exists came into being through Him. That’s a positive declaration, simple, clear evidence, that the Lord Jesus Christ is eternal deity. Everything that exists, He made. It all came from Him. He didn’t come from anyone, or anything. Everything came from Him. 1 Corinthians 8:6 “yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.”
Notice that “all things” – that includes us - were made for Him, we exist for Him. We were made to share His glory, to have intimacy with Him, to walk with Him, to talk with Him, to be the bride of Christ. That is the purpose of creation. Creation was made for man, and man was made for God. That was the declaration of one of the church’s earliest theologians, Augustine, who said, “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” We were made with the spark of divinity, in the likeness of God, in the image of God. All things created were brought into being by simply the spoken word of God. But man was brought into being by the hands of God which formed us out of the clay, and given life by the very lips of God when He breathed into us His breath, the breath of life. But unfortunately sin killed that divine spark, and it lay dormant until the Son of God our Creator breathes again into us the Spirit of Life.
And that principle of spiritual life is what John lays the foundation for in vs.4, “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.” That is such a profound statement. “In Him was life.” The word used is not bios, because He’s not just talking about biological life, which is the rudimentary form of life. But the word is zoe, which has to do with spiritual life, the vitality of life, the fullness of life. The Word is the source of life. We already quoted Jesus saying that in John 6:63, “the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” And “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Jesus is the source, the originator of all life.
Paul said in Acts 17:28 “for in Him we live and move and exist.” Hebrews 1:3 says, He “upholds all things by the word of His power.” Jesus Himself said, “I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.” He was talking about zoe, the real, spiritual life, even eternal life of which He is the source.
Near Geneva, Switzerland, buried under the ground in a 17 mile wide circular tunnel is what is called the Hadron Collider. And this scientific machine’s purpose is to break apart the smallest particles of subatomic matter, in order to find the origin of life. To get these protons to break apart they have to smash these particles together at the speed of light. They have been conducting these experiments for years, and the result is that they continue to discover even more subatomic particles and mysteries upon mysteries in their hope to reveal the source of life. But here in John 1 God declares the source of life, which is Jesus Christ, the Logos. He holds all things together by the word of His power.
This life is the light of men, speaking of spiritual light as well as natural light. It isn’t that the Word “contains” life and light; He is life and light. John is connecting life and light. The one who was the life of men became the light of men. The light to lead them out of darkness. In the beginning of creation God said, “Let there be light.” So in the new creation the pre existent source of life is the light that illuminates creation. That’s why He came into the world, to shine light into the darkness, to reveal God that we might see the truth of God. Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the Light of the world,” whoever “follows Me will not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Therefore, without Jesus, the world is dead and in darkness. When man became separated from God because of sin he became spiritually dead, he lost his spiritual life, so he became dead and in darkness. He became lost.
But thank God for the last phrase of vs.5, “ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” The KJV says does not comprehend it. That is an unfortunate translation which is understood to mean that man could not understand the light. But what it should read is the darkness could not overcome it. The light prevailed over the darkness, not the other way around. The light can not lose against the darkness; the darkness will never overcome it.
The darkness refers to the realm of darkness, the realm of Satan, the powers of darkness. Jesus said in the hours before the cross that this hour belongs to the power of darkness. Eph. 6:12 says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” But the darkness cannot overpower the Light. The Light shines in the darkness. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. Though all the forces of hell conspired together to keep man in darkness, the Light has come into the world so that man might be saved from death and darkness and dwell in the light for eternity.
John has made it abundantly clear concerning the doctrine of the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is eternal God, the Word of God made flesh, that we might know God, that we might know the truth and that the truth would be the light by which we come to have life in Him. I hope that you have received Him as your Lord and Savior and believed the truth of the gospel. That is why He came, to give light and life to a world lost in darkness. Today the light of God has shone upon you. Come to the Light and believe and you will have real life, and have it more abundantly.
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