John
1 – 2
Verses 1:8 & 9 talks about John the Baptist and Jesus in
a different perspective:
8 but John
was not the Light. He merely pointed to the Light. 9 The
true Light, who shines upon the heart of everyone, was coming
into the cosmos.
Jesus is he light and is God. We see this by the phrase
“coming into the cosmos” since God’s realm is different from ours. The idea of
a first, second and third heaven are alluded to here. In a nutshell God resides
in the third heaven, we live in the first and the second is the spirit world.
God came to dwell in our world as a light to all. John the Baptist pointed to
that person.
Verse 1:29 shows Jesus entering the scene as an unlikely
man:
The morning after this
conversation, John sees Jesus coming toward him. In eager
astonishment, he shouts out:
John the Baptist: Look! This
man is more than He seems! He is the Lamb sent from God, the
sacrifice to erase the sins of the world!
John the Baptist reveals Jesus to the world. He came as the
underdog, born in the wrong city, in the wrong time and doing the wrong thing …
at least as the people believed the prophecies to say. He was born poor and
meek, yet he continues to turn the world on its head. How is it the name of
Jesus freaks people out more than any other prophet before or since? Because He
is real!! This day John points to an unlikely face in the crowd and alludes to
his true mission on this earth, to die for our sins as the final sacrifice.
Verse 1:46 highlights His unlikely character:
Nathanael: 46 How
can anything good come from a place like Nazareth?
Philip: Come with me,
and see for yourself.
Think about this statement, Jesus was unexpected as the
savior. Again the people were expecting a mighty warrior to restore Israel to
its glory and free them from Rome. Instead they had this poor carpenter from
Nazareth, you can see why God received resistance.
Verse 2:9 talks of Jesus’ first miracle:
After tasting the water that had
become wine, the headwaiter couldn’t figure out where such wine came from (even
though the servants knew), and he called over the bridegroom in
amazement.
The next verse shows even more how God loves this world by
the statement “You have held back the best for last.” Think about it, the
tradition was to serve the good stuff first and once the party goers get a
little tipsy the cheap stuff is brought out. But God is saving the best for
last! This is to show the people God’s love for us is so great that He will not
only “save our bacon” but also give us the best doing so. If you think about
it, that is what God is doing with Jesus. He saved His best to save the world,
not a valued heard animal but His one and only son.
be living