1. What stood out to me from this chapter?
The beginning of John is a very poetic, artsy description of Jesus coming to this earth. Where Matthew and Luke begin with the facts about the birth of Jesus, and Mark skips it altogether, the gospel of John begins with a more abstract introduction to the person of Jesus. John says that he is the Word. John says that the Word was with God, the Word was God, and that everything was made through the Word. God did create the universe through his words (speaking). God used words many times to get the attention of His people. But this Word was easily the most powerful word ever. The following emphasis sums up a lot of things about Jesus being the Word:
In John, [logos] denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with God, his minister in creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the world's life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of man's salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, and shone forth conspicuously from His words and deeds.2. How does this relate to any other Scripture I know?
John the Baptist refers to Jesus twice here as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. I think of two different references to the old testament here. One was in Egypt, when the Spirit of God came down to kill the firstborn male of every household in Egypt. The Spirit passed by any house that had the blood of lamb smeared across the doorway, showing a sacrifice to God. (Exodus Secondly, in Leviticus 16:9-10, the Jewish law provided a goat to be used as a sacrifice for sins. Ultimately, the sins of the whole community were "placed" on the goat and when it wandered away, it removed the sin from the community. Jesus really embodied both of those concepts.
3. What does this mean for my life?
I am struck here by John the Baptist and his consistency in pointing people to Jesus. He was a big deal, a rising star, but at every opportunity he humbly shared his own ministry and then told people that Jesus was the real deal. I need to adopt John the Baptist's mode of operation. To be full of witness and truth to who Jesus really is, and really not caring of who or how many follow me.
4. What questions do I have about this passage?
I wonder what Jesus meant at the very end when he said to Nathaniel, "You will see 'heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." Was this part of his ministry on earth, or was he talking about a future time in heaven?
Those are my thoughts for this chapter. I'd love to hear yours. God's blessings to you and KEEP DIGGING IN!
In Christ,
Dan
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