John 1: Who is Jesus

John is known as John the Revelator, John the Elder, and John the Evangelist, however, he began life as the younger brother of James. Most Bible scholars place him between fifteen to eighteen years old when he walked with Jesus. John’s mother, Salome, is identified as the sister of Mary, who was the mother of Jesus, making John and Jesus cousins.

“The disciple whom Jesus loved,” was John’s best title; what could be better than that? Since love is really is a two-way street, I believe that John returned that love. The love of the Lord is shown by the length of John’s life and the fact that he was the only disciple who died of natural causes.

The Gospel or Book of John is unique in that it begins with a statement about His divinity rather than his birth or genealogy. This disciple goes back to the true beginning of Jesus upon the Earth.

In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. (John 1:1 AMPC)

 Many of us know Jesus as Lord, as the Son of God, or even as our Beloved, but do we recognize Jesus as God, Himself? Until I began meditating on this chapter, I didn’t realize how little I consider the true nature of Jesus. He isn’t merely the Son of Man, meaning He was born on this Earth doing what a perfect man can do. He is so much more. John goes to great lengths to show us the role or aspect of God that Jesus fulfills.

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. (John 1:2-5 ESV)

“Light” is the key word to understanding who Jesus is in relation to our world. In the phrase “life was the light of men,” the word light means reason of the mind, the power of understanding. Because Jesus created our world and everything in it, He understands all things. It is through Him that true understanding is gained. John begins at the creation of the Earth, so we must look at those scriptures together to gain full understanding.

In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light: and there was light.” (Genesis 1:1-3 AKJV))

The words “without form and void” come from the Hebrew words tôû (to'-hoo) meaning chaotic and bôû (bo'-hoo) meaning undistinguishable ruin. Hebrew mothers would refer to a teenager’s room as tôû bôû. Into this dark, chaotic mess came Light.

Going back to the original text, “Let there be light” should read something closer to “God said, ‘Light be, and Light was.’” The Light that came forth is Jesus who took that chaotic mess and organized it. He created the entire system on the Earth. Remember, John began by saying Jesus is the Word, and He is the Word that came forth from God: “Light be.” He didn’t leave God but remains part of Him and through those words, Jesus moved upon the earth creating all that we know.

John continues with the theme of light:

There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came to witness, that he might testify of the Light, that all men might believe in it [adhere to it, trust it, and rely upon it] through him. He was not the Light himself, but came that he might bear witness regarding the Light. (John 1:6-8 AMPC)

The John mentioned in this chapter is not the author of this testimony but John the Baptist. He is called the witness of Jesus and part of his job was to identify who the Light was so that we could believe in, adhere to, trust in, and rely on Jesus. Knowing that He is God, that through Him all things were created should help us to this! Since everything was created through Him, all things are easy for Him, He can do all things! This is why we can rely on Him!

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. (John 1:9-13 ESV)

Once we know who Jesus is and that John was sent to prepare the world for His coming, John elaborates upon the purpose. Through Jesus, we become children of God. This is not because of our lineage which would be the blood and will of men, but we become children of God because of what God has done!

And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten Son receives from His father, Full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth. (John 1:14 AMPC)

The words “only begotten,” means single of its kind, unique. Jesus was a one-time creation; God placed the part of Himself that created the world into that creation. The word tabernacle means dwelling place or tent. For a time, God dwelled with us in a tent of flesh, a human body!

For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift [heaped] upon gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, grace (unearned, undeserved favor and spiritual blessing) and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:16-17 AMPC)

John the Revelation quotes John the Baptist, revealing the benefits of receiving Jesus. Through Him, we get grace, time and time again. Spiritual blessings build, one upon another as we continue to walk with Him. These declarations worried the religious leaders because, until this point, they were in control of Israel. It bothered them so much that they sent people to question him.

He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

And he answered, “No.”

So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” (John 1:20-23 ESV)

Israel took the prophecy of Malachi about Elijah coming before the Messiah literally even though God has never sent someone back to Earth to impact a generation they were not born into. This was a huge stumbling block. They failed to recognize that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of that prophecy! We know this because Jesus revealed it to His disciples:

He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He was speaking to them of John the Baptist. (Matthew 17:11-13 ESV)

With this statement, Jesus reveals not only that John the Baptist was operating in the power of Elijah but that someone will come again in that same power before He comes again. Jesus was very intentional with every word He spoke and He began answering their question by saying “Elijah does come…” This is future tense. The Lord knew He could come once more to people who were once again walking in darkness and not following His ways. Once more, someone will appear walking in the power of Elijah to ready the world for His arrival!

And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on Him. I myself did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:32-34 ESV)

Even though John the Baptist was related to Jesus, He didn’t know Jesus was the Messiah. It took a miraculous sign from God to show John that Jesus is God’s Son. Soon, the disciples of John would begin following Jesus and witnessing to others in their lives about Him. Andrew was the first to call Jesus the Messiah as he told his brother Peter about Him. Then Philip tells Nathanial.

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”

Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?”

Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (John 1:47-49 ESV)

The omniscience of Jesus is shown in a brief conversation with Nathanael. Jesus states that Nathanial is free of deceit and guile. When the Lord is asked how He knows about Nathanael, Jesus states that He saw him under the fig tree. Whatever Nathanael was doing under that tree, it must have had to do with standing strong against deceit and guile because mentioning the tree convinces Nathanial that Jesus is the Son of God.

Later Nathanael is known as Bartholomew, one of the twelve disciples. It is interesting that although Nathanael is the first to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, He isn’t one of the Lord’s inner circle of three. Peter, James, and John accompanied Him when He raised Jiarus’ daughter from the dead and on the mountaintop when Moses and Elijah appeared to Him. They are the disciples that Jesus was never without.

This is proof that even if you are the first to discover a revelation from God, it doesn’t mean that you are the one He has to bring it to the fullness within the Body of Christ. We must all be content with the destiny God has for us. There is grave danger when we begin to compare ourselves with others or think more of ourselves than we ought.

For if any person thinks himself to be somebody [too important to condescend to shoulder another’s load] when he is nobody [of superiority except in his own estimation], he deceives and deludes and cheats himself. But let every person carefully scrutinize and examine and test his own conduct and his own work. He can then have the personal satisfaction and joy of doing something commendable [in itself alone] without [resorting to] boastful comparison with his neighbor. (Galatians 6:3-4 ESV)

Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. (2 Corinthians 10:12 ESV)

When we compare ourselves to others, we are in danger of judging them, and that is God’s job, not ours. If we try and measure our progress or position by others, it brings no understanding. We don’t know what road they have had to walk and how they began in life. We need to focus on our own walk and what God created us to do, and not on what others are doing.

The truth of this principle is seen when Paul describes the gifts of the Spirit. He warns against comparing ourselves to each other and judging our worth by the gifts God brings.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.

If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. (1 Corinthians 12:12-20 ESV)

In God, we are all equal. One race, gender, or position is not better than the others. It is God’s Spirit within us that makes us worthy, not who we are in this life. God has created each one for a purpose. The gifts of the Spirit are given to each one for a purpose and we shouldn’t disparage what we are called and equipped to do.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. (1 Corinthians 12:21-25 ESV)

We are all part of the Body of Christ. Just because the Holy Spirit hasn’t brought us awesome gifts, it doesn’t mean God will not use us! Being gifted to help with administration is vital to God’s work, even if it is behind the scenes and not glamorous. Perhaps you gifting is in commerce, supplying finances for the Kingdom is also vital!

We cannot judge ourselves or others by the gifts they have. We need to care for one another so that we can work effectively for our Lord. Each part of the body needs to be treated with honor and respect! The first chapter of John concludes with a promise from Jesus:

And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see Heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:51 ESV)

 This promise came to pass, but not in the way any of the disciples expected! John would receive a long, detailed vision which we know as the Book of Revelation. He would witness Jesus coming in power!

John opened with a declaration, “Jesus is God,” and closed with a story about Jesus illustrating that divinity while He stating His humanity: He was living as a Son of Man. In the coming chapters, John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, will continue to reveal more about Him than any other Gospel Testimony, showing Jesus's divinity and humanity.

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John 1: The Power of God Online Christian Church

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