The Gospel according to John is a missionary document. It was written to encourage disciples of Jesus to evangelize, by giving essential tools needed to make disciples of the nations. By preaching this gospel, by teaching this gospel, unbelievers may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and so believing have eternal life.
The Good News according to John begins with a song of worship to God. It proclaims the nature of God, of God’s character, of God’s heart, of God’s own reality: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Good News according to John proclaims a succinct cosmology: The Word cast fire into every star, he lit the spark of atoms, and set the deep darkness ablaze with his glory. From out of his nature, the Word exuded life, life that became light for every human eye. And his nature shines to make an encompassing darkness fade away.
The term “Word” translates the original term logos. What is the meaning of this term? Logos is the term from which we ultimately derive any number of words in our language, such as “logic” and a goodly number of compound words such as bio-logy, theo-logy where the suffix “-logy” means “study of.” The original term “word” or “logos” can mean “reason”, “purpose”, “message”, or, as in our case more to the point, “wisdom.” This makes some sense inasmuch as Proverbs 8:22-31 indicates that God used wisdom as his agent of creation. However, wisdom in Proverbs only hints at the Word of John’s Gospel.
Nothing existing since the beginning has existence except through this Word. The Word came into his universe, he came among his own people; but the cosmos he lit did not know its own creator, the people at the center of his heart did not receive him.
But some did receive him. To believe in him is to receive him. And here is the heart of the moment's Scripture selection: He gave authority/power to the believing-in-him-ones to become sons of God. This power to become God’s children is not a power inherent to the in-him believers – it is given to them by him. Lest we who read his Bible misunderstand and start to think that we have achieved something for ourselves . . .
Lest we look to ourselves, the Bible says, “who were born, not of blood.” Lest we cast eyes upon our own heritage to say, “Because of what father or mother has done, we are special”; or, “Because of what the Restoration Movement has done, we are special”; or, “Because of what the Reformation has done, we are special”; or, “Because of what the martyrs have done, we are special”; or, “Because of what the Church has done, we are special” . . . The Bible says, “who were born of God.”
Lest we listen to ourselves, the Bible says, “who were born . . . not of the will of the flesh.” Lest we hear our own willful pride to say, “Because we planned and put our minds to it, we are special”; or, “Because of our collective intellect and wisdom, we are special”; or, “Because we have organized ourselves just right, we are special”; or, “Because we considered every nuance and put all the pieces in place, we are special” . . . The Bible says, “who were born of God.”
Lest one thinks to one’s own effort, the Bible says, “who were born . . . not of the will of a man.” Lest we reason in line with personal output and charisma to think, “Because I studied hard and worked hard, I am special”; or “Because I sweated and did the grunt work to make it happen, I am special”; or, “Because I wanted it to happen I wielded it, I am special” . . . The Bible says, “who were born of God.”
Lest we think that building our own Tower of Babel into the sky will make us children of God, the Bible speaks of the Word himself to be the one upon whom angels ascend and descend between heaven and earth. Christ alone is the portal to the throne of God, and humans become children of God by God’s own action, not by their action. By God’s own will, not theirs. Salvation does not arise in the human desire to have life, as real as that desire is, but it comes instead in God’s desire to give life. Life is his gift, it is his grace.
Humans do not become children of God because they believe. Rather, it is because they believe in him. It is the object of faith, not faith itself, who brings sonship and salvation. It is not “believing,” as an intransitive verb, as an abstraction, but believing in him, believing in Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, where “believing” becomes transitive, it transitions the self from self to him.
The Word, which was in the beginning with God, and indeed was God, became flesh and tented among us humans. He lighted our campground with his glory, and from his overflow we have received grace upon grace. Grace after grace. Grace and more grace. Gifts upon gifts. He brings the throne of God into the very midst of this benighted world, and his life becomes our splendor. Suddenly in him, a far away God, a transcendent God whose name is worshiped in fear becomes immanent, accessible to any person, and may now be worshiped in love, in reality, without fear; he renders a distant God to become Abba, Father, Abba. And he renders us his beloved children.
Why? because that’s the way he is.
The Bible makes a big deal of the distinction between law and grace. It says that the law was given through Moses; in contrast to what was given, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. The first time John identifies Jesus Christ as the Word, the first time he mentions Jesus by name, it is to say that in Jesus, the Son of God, comes grace and truth. Grace and reality. That is, the reality of God’s nature. The Son has seen the Father, and makes him known to the rest of us.
Moses brought the law. Jesus brought grace and truth. The truth that Jesus brings concerns the reality of God, the reality of God’s nature. It is in this gospel, for example, that Jesus bids Mary Magdalene inform the brothers that Jesus is alive, and that, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
Jesus has not only seen God, an unparalleled event in itself, but Jesus comes from the very bosom, from the very heart of, from the very arms of the Father. He knows God, and makes God known.
Do you want to know God? Do you want to experience God? Then come and follow Christ, to follow him. John the Baptist said of Jesus, “The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Andrew heard this and followed after Jesus. Then, first thing, he found his brother Simon and told him of Jesus. Jesus found Phillip and said, “Follow me.” Phillip found Nathanael and said, “Come and see.”
Jesus finds people and calls them to follow him. He has found you, and has called you to follow him. And why? because he wants to show you the Father, and make God known to you. This is grace, that you may know the Father and his Son Jesus Christ, and in believing in him, to have eternal life.
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