The Backstory: The Prologue - 24403

SPEAKER A Hello, I'm Blair Lemke. Welcome to let God speak. Scholars tell us that John was the last surviving disciple who wrote his gospel towards the end of the first century. It was about 30 years after the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. By then, the world had changed dramatically. The Romans had destroyed the temple and routed the jewish nation. At that time, the scattered church was threatened with persecution, waning piety, and greek heresies doubting the incarnation of Jesus. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, John wrote his gospel emphasising the divinity of Jesus, God in the flesh, who walked among men, the prophesied Messiah. Today we are going to discuss John's prologue to his gospel, the first 18 verses of chapter one. You will not want to miss this. On our panel today we have Christopher Petersen and Leeboy Tobias. Welcome. SPEAKER B Thank you. SPEAKER C Thank you. SPEAKER A Let's begin with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this opportunity to study your word. We ask that you would lead us into truth. This is our prayer. In Jesus name, amen. SPEAKER C Amen. SPEAKER A Well, the Bible opens in Genesis with the words, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. A very famous introduction to the Bible. Well, interestingly, the gospel of John opens with the words, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. Now, Leeboy, I want to ask the question. Is this beginning here the same beginning in Genesis one as in John one? SPEAKER C That's a nice question. See, the answer is no. Genesis one one begins, is referring to the creation heavens. And however, in John chapter one, verse one refers to the time of the existence of God and which is eternal. So this beginning is referring to, like, events, example, creation. But John chapter one, verse one talks about the predated creation into eternity past. SPEAKER A Yeah, and there's some very interesting links here between the creation account and, of course, this language that John lifts in John. Now, Christopher, the New Testament, of course, is written in Greek, and the original language here indicates or supports this idea of eternity here in John one one. Can you tell us a little bit about that? SPEAKER B Definitely. Well, when we read this verse in our english translations, we do miss some of the nuance in the Greek that John originally wrote in. And when John is writing in the Greek, he doesn't actually include the definite article. The. And so it kind of reads more like in beginning, doesn't quite roll off the tongue in English. But what John is trying to get across is that this beginning, it's not a specified period of time, not in the same way that Genesis was. There was a specific point where God began to create. He's drawing on that same language from Genesis, one, one. But he's trying to convey something different, that this beginning ness of God, it's just always been. There wasn't a time where God came into existence. It's just in beginning. God's always been there. He's been eternal. SPEAKER A I can see why they've translated in the beginning. SPEAKER B Yeah, it reads a lot nicer in English. SPEAKER A But of course, that idea is a very powerful one of the eternity of God. And. Yeah, let's have a read here in the Bible. In John, chapter one, verse one to three, the Bible says, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God. And the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made. Leeboy, is there any doubt about who this word is? SPEAKER C You see, regarding the background where John wrote the book of John, like the situation where he was in, like John was straight to the point. And John leaves no doubt when it comes to the word. So it was just straightforward. The word is Jesus. And we can see it in John chapter one, verse 14, and even verse 29 to 30. And I'll read from here. And the word was made flesh and dwelled among us. And we breathed his glory, we beheld his glory. The glory as of the holy begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. Even verse 29 and verse 30 reads, the next day, John saith Jesus coming unto him and said, behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. This is he of whom I said, after me cometh a man, which is preferred before me, for he was before me. So this tells us that Jesus, you know, is the word. SPEAKER A Well, John certainly makes it clear there, doesn't. He identifies Jesus specifically. He says the word became flesh and then introduces that character as Jesus. Christopher, can we be absolutely sure that Jesus, the word had no beginning? SPEAKER B For sure, because when you read the gospels and the epistles and the book of Revelation, God the father and God the son or Jesus, they share the same attributes, they receive worship, they have the same divine privileges like judgement, forgiveness of sin. And so when we read passages about God, even in the Old Testament, it's pointing forward, it's telling us about who Jesus is. So psalm 92, for example, it says, before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God. This is the timelessness of God. He's always existed. Or first Timothy, chapter one, verse 17. It says, all honour and glory to God forever and ever. He is the eternal king, the unseen one who never dies. He alone is God. Amen. So it says God, he alone. He's the one that has never died or is immortal. And it says, he is the eternal king. And again, both Jesus the Son and God the Father, they share these attributes. And so if God is described as eternal, Jesus as the word or the Son, he is equally as eternal. SPEAKER A Well, it's interesting here that when John introduces Jesus, he first uses that term word. He uses the word to describe Jesus. And of course, we noted how he then says the word is Jesus. But I want to know, Levi, why was it that John chose to use word to describe Jesus? SPEAKER C Well, this is interesting. You see, in the Greek, the word itself means logos. And in a broader term it can mean speech or narrative and account. But with the understanding in the background, the emphasis of the meaningful arrangement, and also the recent of the thoughts which has been expressed, you could see that Jesus came to reveal the character, the mind, and the will of the Father. And, well, we can read in John 14 nine, just to clarify it, and I'll read from here. Jesus said unto him, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the father, and thou sayest, then sue us, the father. And this clarifies the doubts and what Jesus came to reveal. SPEAKER A Yeah, we see very clearly. Jesus comes to reveal the father, to tell that story or to be that word, so to speak. Now, that first verse that we've spent some time unpacking describes Jesus. Here it says, jesus was the word and the word was with God. The word was God. Now, some translations or a translation renders this that the word was a God. How are we to understand this, Christopher? SPEAKER B It's a good question because, again, most english translations we interact with, they're pretty good because the translators are seeking to be faithful to the original Greek. But unfortunately, sometimes translators want to put their own thoughts and ideas in. And this is one of the most common verses that is often mistranslated. In particular, the way that it's described, like you said, blair, is they'll interpret it and say the word was with God and was a God. But when you go again to the original Greek that the apostle John wrote in, you can look at any greek manuscript. You're not going to find that article of a in there. John clearly writes the word was God. There is no evidence that says John had a God. And that's so important because if he's not a God. So he's not some other divine being, but he is the eternal God. Well, then Jesus as the word again, he possesses all the same divine qualities and attributes that God the father does. SPEAKER A And it's interesting. Here we see John's gospel starting with this, emphasising this point of establishing Jesus nature. And the reason for this, of course, is because there are differing gnostic views, wrong, false views that were emerging at the time about the nature of Jesus. So the question I'd like to share with you, Leeboy, is why is the full divinity of Jesus of Christ such an important part of our theology? SPEAKER C Yeah, like, there are many reasons. Like, one of the most important reasons that I would like to share with us is, like, God's law is the embodiment of his character. And when sin entered in heathen and, like, through, you know, the breaking of God's law, the penalty of sin is death. And there's nothing else we could do. There's only one person that could save us, that rescue us, and that could satisfy the claim of the law was not in Jesus. So the plan of salvation was put in place. And like in Genesis, I mean, John, chapter one, verse one to three, we read that, like, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. And interestingly, you see, it emphasised, like the verse two emphasised the importance of the eternal one. The word was with God in the beginning. SPEAKER A Wow. I'd like to just draw our attention very briefly again to verse 14, where it says, the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. Christopher, what are the implications of the implication that the word became flesh? SPEAKER B Well, kind of jumping on what Leeboy said. The human race is in this dilemma of sin. And the real troubling part is, in order for the penalty of sin to be paid, it has to be a human, an animal. Even the book of Hebrews says an animal can't die in the place of a human. So a human has to be that substitute. But no human is perfect enough to be it. We're all sinful. We all fall short, and then only God is able to really rescue the human race because we're incapable of doing so. So really, this is the dilemma that we face. A human must be a representative substitute. But only God can save us. And so that's when God, he decided, in an eternity past, I will be the one to rescue the people. And we see that God, he did take on this additional nature of humanity. He took on human flesh. And it's a mystery how that happens, right? How does God become a man? It's something we can't quite understand, but we can contemplate its implications, which is that God was so full of love that he humbled himself. He became a human. He went through the stages of human development. He was born as a baby, became a teenager, became an adult. That's a very humbling thing for the creator God of the universe to do. But why? Why was he motivated to do that? It was because of his love for us. He wanted to reconcile us back to him. And so the implications of God becoming flesh, I mean, we could think about that for ages, and I think we will. SPEAKER A I love this verse, and I really want to focus in on this other idea here it says, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. Now, that greek word translated dwelt, there is this idea of pitching a tent, living with us. And it's really profound concept, this idea of Jesus living with us, God with us. What do these words, this idea of dwelling among us, what does this remind us of? SPEAKER C Leeboy, in order for us to understand, we have to go back to Exodus and Exodus 25, eight, nine. Allow me to read it and let them make me a century that I may dwell among them. According to all that I saw thee after the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all the instrument thereof, even so shall ye make it. You see God. When the Israelites follow the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, and in the wilderness out of Egypt, the Lord asked Moses to build him a 10th century so that Jesus could live among his people. And in that century, it was Jesus who met with the priest. But interestingly, after more than like 1500 years, Jesus now is trying to live with us again through his human. SPEAKER A Yeah, yeah. Very, very powerful concept, this idea. Now reading on in John, in John, chapter one, verse 18, it says, no one has seen God at any time. The only begotten son. It describes Jesus here as a begotten son. Christopher, I'd like you to unpack this a little bit for us. Does this phrase only begotten mean that Jesus was created at some distant point, passing creation? This is the idea that some will suggest by reading this word. What do you say for sure? SPEAKER B Well, it's clear that the scripture isn't trying to tell us there was a point in time where Jesus didn't exist. And then he came into existence. Because the rest of this chapter clearly doesn't teach that. It says he was in the beginning with God. He was God. He's eternal, just as God is. So really, it comes down to, again, getting into a little bit of the Greek. And I do want to encourage anyone, as we've gone through these verses, it's very easy to see what the Greek for these passages is. You can just go online, type in the Bible verse you're after, put in the word interlinear, and it will show you the English and the Greek compared. Anyone can do it. You don't even have to understand the greek letters. SPEAKER A Don't need a theology degree? SPEAKER B No, definitely not. You don't need the student debt either. But anyone can do this, and I encourage you to. And when you come to John 114 here, this is the verse where it has this adjective. The greek word is monogeneos. Now, the reason it's been translated only begotten is it was commonly believed that the root word for this was the greek gene o, which means to beget or to give birth. But as we've continued to study this, we've come to a realisation. It's not this word. It's actually another greek word which means unique. And so it's not trying to say, well, there was one point where Jesus came into existence. It's saying, jesus is the unique or the one and only son of goddess. Just like in the story of Abraham, when God says, abraham sacrificed your son, your only son, Isaac. Isaac was the one only unique son of Abraham. And that's the same way that Jesus is described in this verse. SPEAKER A That's very helpful. Thank you. Let's keep reading here. In John, chapter one, we're going to read verses four through to nine. The Bible says, in him was life. The life was the light of Mendez. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man came for a witness to bear witness of this light, that all through him might believe he was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light, which gives light to every man coming into the world. Now, I want to ask Leeboy. John the Baptist is referred here in verse six. It says that there was that man, John, who came as a witness. Why is Jesus referred to here as the light? SPEAKER C That is interesting. The answer is in John, chapter three, verses 19 to 21. And I'll read he that believeth, rather verse 1921 and I'll read. And this is the condemnation that light came into the world and mentioned, loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hated light. Neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wret in God. You see, Jesus is the light of the world and light talks about the truth and the opposite of light is darkness and it's evil. So that clearly tells us the important thing about who Jesus is. SPEAKER A Yeah, this light, this truth that is brightening the world and revealing error and sin, which is of course what Jesus came to do. Now we know and we saw even in that text that many rejected that light. How far reaching was or widespread, you could say, was this rejection of the light, Christopher? SPEAKER B Yeah, well, it's a troubling thing to think about because this is God trying to come to his own creation. And why has he come here? He's come to rescue them and yet they reject this offer. Here in John one we'll read verse ten. It says, he came into the world he created but the world did not recognise him. He came to his own people and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are born not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. It's interesting that John says, especially in verses ten and eleven there, that not only the wider world rejected Jesus but his own people. Here he's referring to the jewish people. God had a special covenant with the Israelites so that they could bring that worship of God to the other nations. And even after this special covenant God had made, when God came to them, they rejected him. So it's a very troubling thing to read but it's part of the history that we read in this passage. SPEAKER A And I think of that passage in John chapter six where Jesus is preaching and the Bible says many turned away from him and this is really the legacy of Jesus ministry. Although he was the most powerful preacher of God's word, the most christlike, I mean, Christ himself, and yet most of who he preached to turned against and left him, which is. Yeah, I suppose many lessons we can draw from that for ourselves. Leroy, what are the implications for us that Jesus is the light of the world? SPEAKER C Well, before I give some of the answers, let me read John 812. And John 812 reads then spake jesus again unto them saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life. Jesus came into the world as a light and his light shines across the world to everyone. And it's like it's in the word. You see, it's interesting that even in psalms 119, verses 105 tells us that, you know, Jesus is like, is the path and everything is. But it's interesting that, like a lot of people, you know, we're living in the darkness and a lot of people don't like the light. And we have to make the choice either to follow Christ. The word is a lamp unto my path and a light unto my. The word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. But we rejected it and we have to make the choice right now. And I wish our answers would be like Joshua, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. SPEAKER A Absolutely. Because, of course, when we do accept the Lord, what is the promise that when we accept the Lord, what's the promise that we have? SPEAKER B Christopher well, again in verse twelve, we've read it once, but I'll read it again. It says, to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. This is describing, we can be saved. The penalty of death no longer has to be on us if we accept that Jesus took our place on that cross. And this is a theme that John really likes. He repeats it again in one John three one. He says, behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God. And he says, therefore the world does not know us because it did not know him. And so the Christian should expect as well that at times, in the same way that the world shunned the light, shunned Jesus, it may reject us as well. And that can be a challenging thing. But we have the gift of salvation. I mean, what better hope do we need to get through life's challenges? SPEAKER A Absolutely. We've had one that has gone before us, that has faced those, has overcome the world, and we can rest in his example. And I'd like to draw our attention to John, chapter three. And it continues this theme, Christopher, that you've just been unpacking about this light and rejecting the darkness or the darkness that's there and all of that. These themes are developed and built on by John. John, chapter three, verses 16. The Bible says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life, perhaps the most famous text in scripture. And this is where often we'll stop. But as we read on, there's so much light and truth here. It says, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. We see the purpose of Jesus here. And then it touches on this theme of light and darkness. It says, he who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. And this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Quite an amazing passage here. And it goes on, it says, for everyone practising evil hates the light and does not come into the light lest his deeds should be exposed. And finally in verse 21, but he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they may be done in God. A very powerful passage here with so much that we could unpack. But I want to touch on this idea of believing here. Is believing a simple intellectual acknowledgement of Jesus, or is there something more that this, that is contained in this passage here? In believing in Jesus? SPEAKER C It is much more than that. Yeah. Like in John chapter three, verse 18, it tells us about the word believe. It, it happens three times. And in Greek John uses the verb pistel, which is translated as believe, instead of using the noun believe or faith, which is pistis. And John is highlighting like the believers of Jesus as the believers of Jesus. You know, to walk with Jesus is an ongoing, active behaviour. It is something that we do, we express in how we live and not just a set of intellectual beliefs. SPEAKER A Very interesting. And I want to touch on verse 20 here again. It says everyone who hates the light or everyone who practises evil hates the light. And of course this light is Jesus. Jesus is the light. So those who practise evil, therefore must hate Jesus. Is that what we see today, Christopher? SPEAKER B Definitely. There's this natural instinct that the sinful human being, before it meets God, it hates the things of God, especially because God reveals and exposes our sin. Even when Jesus was preaching, like you said in John chapter six, and you can read in verse 60 and 66, the people say, well, this is an offensive thing, what Jesus is saying. And many people deserted Jesus just because of his teachings today. It's the same many people, they hear the teachings of the christian faith or of Jesus and they say, well, I can't believe that it offends me. But truth isn't determined by the how we personally feel. If it's true, we have to pursue it, even if it makes us uncomfortable, and even if we're initially confronted and made uncomfortable by the conviction of our sin, it's worth going through that conviction because it results, hopefully, in godly repentance and in salvation. SPEAKER A Absolutely. And that's probably a great place for us to end our study today. The first 18 verses of John's gospel constitute a prologue to the rest of his gospel. They provide an unshakable, concise and compact theological statement about Christ's divinity. Christ, the word, is God and ever has been. He is the creator, the life and light giver. Yet he became a human being born of God and demonstrated his love, grace and glory before his creation. We are glad you joined us today on let God speak. Remember, all past programmes plus teachers notes are available on our website, 3abnaustralia.org dot au. You can email us on [email protected] dot au dot. Please join us again next time. God bless. SPEAKER B You have been listening to let God speak, a production of 3ABN Australia television. To catch up on past programmes, please visit 3abnaustralia.org.au. Call us in Australia on 02 4973 3456. Or email [email protected]. we'd love to hear from you.