Who Is Jesus? John 1:1-5

 

GOSPEL OF JOHN BIBLE STUDY   

John was very clear on the reason for writing this book. It is found in 20:30-31:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.                                                             

1:1-5

Who Jesus Is

The first 18 verses of the first chapter of John is often called “the Prologue”. A prologue comes at the beginning of a literary work and sets the stage by giving us background information that is important to the story.

For example, William Shakespeare wrote a play entitled “Romeo and Juliet”. He wrote a prologue, in the form of a sonnet, which explained that two families had an ancient grudge against each other and that two lovers would come together from those families and it would end in tragedy.

Similarly, John will tell us of many things Jesus did and said. But, before he does, he wants to tell us the background. He did not start at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, or of his family tree, as the other gospels did. John started at the very beginning to tell us who Jesus is.

So, John starts his gospel with the words “in the beginning was the Word”. John intended for his readers to recognize those words. He directed us to Genesis 1:1, which says “In the beginning, God…”. Those words told us that, before the universe existed, God existed. He is eternal, he has no beginning. 

John, then, is telling us that Jesus existed before the beginning of the universe. He is eternal. He has no beginning.

John then says Jesus, the Word, was with God. In the New Testament, the word “God” refers to the Father, the first person of the Trinity. An example is John 3:16, which says For God (the Father) so loved the world, he gave his only Son…”. 

In eternity, Jesus was with the Father. 

By saying Jesus was with God, the Father, he says Jesus is distinguishable from the Father. They are not the same person. This is the first part of the doctrine of the Trinity, which says there are three persons in the Godhead: Father, Son, and Spirit. This is the orthodox belief about God. The hymn “Holy Holy Holy” states it well: “God in three persons, blessed Trinity”. 

In contract to the orthodox view of the Trinity is the modalist view. The modalist view says God is one person who reveals himself in three different modes, or forms of activity, at different times. This is the view of the “Oneness” denominations. It is difficult to sustain when we see Jesus pray to the Father or say he was sent by the Father.

In addition to being distinct from the Father, the Greek word for “with” also implies an intimate relationship. Jesus had an intimate relationship with the Father. This relationship is often portrayed to us in the gospels as father and son.

John then tells us the Word was God. Jesus is deity. He is God. He is the second person of the Trinity. He is distinct from the Father but is God. This is important for the rest of this book, which will show us the actions of Jesus which show he is God and the words of Jesus that teach this truth. It is the lens through which we should read the rest of the book. D. A. Carson said “the deeds and words of Jesus are the deeds and words of God.”

In these verses, John referred to Jesus as the “Word”. There is much speculation as to why he did this. In the Old Testament, God’s word is connected to his power to create. Genesis 1 repeatedly states that God “said” and something was created. 

God’s word also refers to his revelation of himself to his people. The Old Testament often says the word of the Lord came to one of the prophets. 

Jesus embodies both of these definitions. He is the agent of creation, as shown here in John. He is also the ultimate revelation of God, as verse 18 tells us. So, it is appropriate that John calls him  the Word to convey these truths.

Verse 3 recapitulates Jesus’ role in creation. John states it positively and negatively for emphasis. All things were crated through him and without him nothing was created. Paul wrote something similar, saying all things were created by him and for him and he holds all things together. (Colossians 1:16-17)  

In fact, the Bible speaks of God creating the world repeatedly. Exodus 20:11 says “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth…”. Psalm 33:6 says “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made…”.

Hebrews 11:3 says “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that were visible”. In other words, God created the universe from nothing. Theologians like to use the Latin “ex nihilo”. And he created by his word. He created the universe though the Lord Jesus.

Next, John says in Jesus was life. (4) This again references the deity of Jesus, because it is God who is the source of life. The creation account in Genesis shows God creating plant life and animal life. But more importantly, he gave life to mankind. Genesis 2:7 says “then the Lord formed man of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” 

Jesus also had the power to give life. He said “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself”. (John 5:26) Jesus demonstrated his power to give life when he raised Lazarus from the dead. And he will demonstrate his power to give eternal life at the resurrection, when he will call to those who are dead and they will live forever with him.

This life is the light of men and women. John will use the contrast of  light and dark several times in his gospel. Here light means the knowledge of God and his standards of holiness. Jesus came to a world that was dark. Verse 5 says “the light shines in the darkness”.

Again, there is an allusion to the creation story. When God created the heavens and the earth, “darkness was over the face of the deep”. (Genesis 1:2) But, when God said “let there be light”, there was light. (Genesis 1:3). And the darkness did not overcome the light.

The same is true with the spiritual aspect to this.  

The Jews, who should have been light bearers, had lost their way. Some had adopted the ways of the Greeks and Romans. Some got lost in the making and keeping of hundreds of rules. 

The pagan world was lost in spiritual darkness, worshipping idols and becoming bound to superstition. Romans 1 describes the terrible condition of those who live in darkness.  

But there was always a remnant that had the light. And now Jesus has come to bring the light of knowledge of God and eternal life and he will not be overcome. 

John portrayed that same truth to us in the book of Revelation. At the end, Jesus defeats all of his enemies. From then on, all believers live in his light and there is no darkness. There is no more night. In fact, the Lord will be the light of the new creation.