“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
~ John 1:14
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you know Who Jesus is? Have you met Jesus? If you have met Jesus, when did you meet Jesus? If you have met Jesus, how did you meet Jesus? If you have met Jesus, what was it like meeting Jesus? If you have met Jesus, did anything take place when you met Jesus? Apostle John – in John 1, introduces Jesus to the readers of his book. Apostle John introduced Jesus as the Word. Jews and Gentiles – 2000 years ago, used the term that translates God in the context of Word. When Apostle John starts out his John Book by saying that the Word was already there in the very beginning, that the Word has always been there and that the Word is really God, Apostle John is saying that Jesus was already there in the very beginning, that Jesus has always been there and that Jesus is really God. Apostle John says that it was because of Jesus that all things were made or created. Apostle John says that Jesus is the only one Who is able to give light and life in a place – which is planet Earth, where figurative darkness exists because of sin’s dark manipulations and because sin cannot offer hope in any way. God – as God the Son or Jesus, took it upon Himself to become the answer to the utter darkness dilemma and to become the way for hope to be eternally claimed. Verse 14 says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus in an earthly physical body was not initially recognized as being God – as God the Son, by guys and gals who about 2000 years ago were living on planet Earth. God – as God the Son or Jesus, instead of self-proclaiming Who He was to guys and gals who were living about 2000 years ago on planet Earth, had to be introduced to the guys and gals who were living on planet Earth at this time by another guy. The guy who was given the unique blessing and special honor of introducing God – as God the Son and as Jesus, to the guys and gals who were living about 2000 years ago on planet Earth was called John the Baptist. John the Baptist – or just John per the author of the John Book – who was Apostle John, was not a king, a Jewish leader or a rich guy; John the Baptist was a simple desert nomad who wore a covering that had been made from a camel skin and who ate locusts and honey.
Why do you think that God – as God the Son, as an incarnate guy – Jesus, was introduced to guys and gals who were living about 2000 years ago on planet Earth by a guy who lived in a desert, wore camel hide and ate locusts and honey? Why do you think that God – as God the Son – as an incarnate guy – Jesus, pick every day, blue collar kind of guys to be His disciples instead of spending His time associating with leading Pharisees and chief priests who were supposedly the spiritual leaders among His specially chosen guys and gals? Apostle John may have been a friend of Andrew who was one of the first guys who Jesus picked to be one of his twelve disciples. Andrew and an unidentified guy – who may have been Apostle John, had been following John the Baptist – listening to and learning from his teachings, when Jesus suddenly showed up on the scene. When John the Baptist pointed Jesus out to the two guys and told the two guys that Jesus was the Lamb of God, the two guys decided to follow Jesus. After spending a day with Jesus, Andrew decided to hunt down his bro – whose name was Simon, to tell him that the Messiah Who they had been waiting for had arrived. Andrew introduced his bro – Simon, to Jesus. The first thing that Jesus did with Simon was to change Simon’s to Cephas. Cephas means Peter or rock. Even though Peter – when he first met Jesus, did not have a rocklike character – as Peter was a very impulsive dude, Peter became one of the early pillars of an emerging Christ-follower community of guy and gals. The next guy who Jesus picked to follow Him was Philip. Phillip would end up talking with another guy – whose name was Nathanael, under a fig tree, Philip encouraged Nathanael to meet Jesus. Jesus picked Nathanael to be another one of His disciples even after Nathanael said what seems to be to your grandpaa a smart aleck remark about ‘is there anything good that comes out of Nazareth’ – Nazareth being where Jesus grew up as kid. Jesus commended Nathanael on his integrity and understanding of Scripture when Nathanael did not hesitate – after he had been told by Jesus that he had been seen by Him talking with Philip under a fig tree, to tell Jesus that he believed that He was the Son of God, the King of Israel and a Rabbi/Teacher.
Have you introduced anyone to Jesus? Jesus wants to meet His specially elected guys, gals and kids. Jesus really does expect you, your dad, ma, Uncle Chris, Aunt Lynn, grandpaa, grandmaa and every other Christ-follower guy and gals to introduce Jesus to whoever he or she meets. Just as a humble desert nomad introduced Jesus to His first two disciples, you can introduce whoever you meet to Jesus. Jesus does not care what a guy, gal or kid does before becoming a Christ-follower. Peter’s profession was fishing. Your grandpaa thinks of himself as a farm kid. Your grandmaa thinks of herself as a housewife. Your grandmaa and grandpaa – for the past thirty years, have been missionaries. Your grandmaa and grandpaa know that they were very blessed by God to have Him pick them to be missionaries as a way to serve His kingdom.
John 1 (781)