John 1: 1-13…..It begins way, way back!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Comment: There will be great scholars who will no doubt say that I am trying to make this too simple. Wrapped in John’s beginning section is a huge amount of sublime truth. I am trying to present a skeleton which does John’s writing justice but helps us quickly to grasp it in a way that we tend not to think. In the beginning aeons ago the Word, the One who would become Jesus when he was born was with and equal to God (A touch on the Trinity); Giving the Word another name – the Light – was the One who breathed real quality into the Creation. Sin, darkness, existed but didn’t stop the Light glowing forth. Up to here it has been an overview of Jesus, co-equal God, and His place in history from the beginning until John the Baptiser came.

John’s writing is now based in the life time that his gospel covers. John the Baptist isn’t the ‘Word’ or ‘the ‘Light’ but he introduces the Word/the Light onto the world when he introduced Jesus into society! Jesus came out of ‘the space world’, into ‘the world of our physical experience’ – where he had always been working but unseen. When sin had entered we lost our special relationship to God – a Father/child relationship and were now only His loved, but lost, Creation. Not everyone believed that Jesus was whom He, John the Baptist and the Bible said He was – but accepting Him opened the Way to become restored into that Father/Child relationship with God.

In some ways and for some people this is not easy to get our minds around – but John’s gospel makes little sense until we allow John to prove his point, which he will do.

Prayer: Clear my mind to see You, Jesus in this gospel record!