Ep. 258. John 1 | In the Beginning

EPISODE 258

IN THE BEGINNING: JOHN 1

I am not saying that Genesis 1 and John 1 are directly tied together, but I do think that the author of John 1 is intentional in the language he chose to use. The book of John spends a lot of energy proclaiming Jesus as God. Remember that the idea of God was almost universally accepted in the first century. (I am not aware of any people group who disbelieved in the idea of God, but that doesn't mean they weren't there) Therefore, the book of John is not trying to get the world to believe that God exists, but rather that Jesus is the incarnation of him. Genesis begins with the line "In the beginning" and then describes the creation of life. John starts with the exact words and then shows how Jesus is the creator of life. John also points out that "In him was life, and the life was the light of men." So Jesus is the source of all life, and he is the light, which is the first thing mentioned in the creation account in Genesis. When we drop down to verse fourteen of this opening chapter, we see, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." The idea that God would come down and dwell with mankind was revolutionary. Here, the book of John tries to convince the reader of the personal nature of this God. It is like Paul in Acts 17, talking to the people of Athens and telling them, "The God you worship as 'the unknown god', I can tell you who he is." In the book of John, the author introduces the idea of the eternally existing creator God, who came to dwell with man on the earth, and then he unfolds the story of Jesus. It is a beautiful way to teach. John is very different in form from the other three Gospels, which all seem to record more miracles, the genealogy of Jesus, references to the Law of Moses, and the traditions of the Jews. The book of John doesn't seem to be as interested in revealing Jesus as the Messiah as it is in revealing Jesus as God. That is what makes this a great book to start for someone who has just come to faith or for someone who wants to know more about the faith.

Also of interest to me in this text is that John the Baptist twice mentions, "I myself did not know him." John the Baptist had been told by God, "The one on whom you see the Spirit descend is the one." John was busy baptizing but, apparently, wasn't sure who the Messiah was going to be until the dove descended on Jesus. Then John the Baptist is bold to proclaim, "I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God." He will later say, "Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world."

This chapter ends with one of my favorite subtle references to the Old Testament when Jesus seems to interpret the famous dream of Jacob. Jesus tells Nathanael, "You will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." The only other occurrence of this imagery in the Bible is found in Genesis 28, where Jacob dreams of a ladder set up between heaven and earth with angels going up and down on it. Jesus has just proclaimed to Nathanael that he (Jesus) is the ladder, the point of contact between heaven and earth. Of course, we know that later, Jesus will say, "No one comes to the Father but by me."

ADDITIONAL READING: Colossians 1:15-20; Genesis 1:1; John 3:19-20; Revelation 21:3; Hebrew 1:3; Isaiah 40:3-5; Luke 3:22; Mark 1:10; Matthew 3:16; Genesis 28:10-17