MPC
5th February 2017.February 5 - John 1:1-18, 29-39 - "The Witness"
MPC
5th February 2017.
Dan Wilton
There's been a lot of talk recently about our newest high court chief justice, Susan Kiefel - the first woman to sit in Australia's top law job.
And everyone seems to have an opinion about her.
The Brisbane Times said Susan Kiefel's appointment was "good for the justice system and for Australia."
While The Australian chose to focus on her lack of children.
We're all passing out judgement on her, but the reality is - no matter what we or the news might think of her, as the high court judge she will in fact judge us - Regardless of what we think of her.
What we think of her doesn't change her position - she's the one who judges us.
As we start our series through the Gospel of John - one of the biographies of Jesus' life - that's exactly the same attitude we'll see as people respond to Jesus.
There's no shortage of opinions about Jesus. As each episode of Jesus' life unfolds, people are quick to pass judgement about who he is. They compare him to others, they compare him to their own standards - and Jesus keeps coming up short to who they think he should be.
But the reality is what people think of Jesus, doesn't actually change who he is. Their judgements don't change who he is. And their rejection of Jesus says far more about them than it does about Jesus. Because it's far more important to know Jesus for who he really is, rather than judge him according to the standards you think are important.
Does anyone have one of those annoying friends that are always giving away the ending to movies before you can go see them?
Those people who are always adding spoilers on their Facebook pages about movies, or that person who'll tell you the score of the footy game when you desperately wanted to watch it later. It can be super frustrating!
But sometimes there can be an exception; sometimes it can be helpful to know what's going to happen right from the beginning.
When you know what's going to happen you can prepare yourself for the ending; you start seeing things in the movie that you might not have seen before; sometimes it can even add to the whole experience.
And this spoiler by John at the very beginning of his biography is one of those exceptions. John is the only Gospel in the bible that is completely upfront about who Jesus is from the very beginning. And it puts us in a privileged position - it gives us insider knowledge - because it allows us to evaluate how people respond to Jesus. John wants us to see Jesus for who he truly is - and forces us to ask how are you going to respond to Jesus?
And here's the spoiler...
Jesus is the word!
I don't know if you've ever tried to relate to someone who just doesn't talk to you. Maybe one of your neighbours? You know the ones just down the road who keep to themselves. You see them enough - but you know nothing about them.
How do you get to know someone like that? Strangers down the street.
Words are the building blocks of relationships. Words are bridges from person to person; words are the way we know and the way we're known. The way you express yourself to me; and I express myself to you.
And it's the same way that God expresses himself to us. Come with me to John chapter 1 verse 1:
In the beginning was the word... And the word... was with God. And the word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
I know it's probably too early on a Sunday morning to start being metaphysical and philosophical. But that's where John starts - at the mind expanding, mind numbing stuff.
He says: God... has expressed himself. But not just speech, but that the word was himself - The word was with God, and the word was God.
Step down to verse 14. And you'll see that "The word... became flesh. And made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
Follow that? Here's the spoiler - John's saying up front - right from the beginning of time, the word that was with God and that was God... that word became flesh.
Now we've got ways of capturing words and making them more concrete. Write it down. If it's monumental, carve it in stone. If it's sentimental, engrave it in silver.
Well God... made his word... flesh.
You want to get to know God? Well... you'll need to get to know Jesus.
John's making the incredible claim that the Jesus he knew first hand, that the Jesus he walked with and he talked with the Jesus we'll read about in these next 21 chapters - this Jesus, he was there in the beginning. Jesus was with God. Jesus was God. And as the word becomes flesh, God is expressing himself to the world. Jesus is God written into flesh. God breathed and spoken into flesh.
So the question is, are you listening?
I mean, people say, well, you're entitled to your idea of God and I'm entitled to my idea of God; they'll say I'll be a Buddhist, or I'll be a Muslim. They say I reckon God wants me to meditate on a crystal; they say, "I reckon God and me are mates, whoever he is."
It's like the guy down the road who you've never spoken to finally breaks his silence and he says, "How you going mate, I'm Barry and I love holidays by the sea, and I'm a huge Coldplay fan, and I've got a wife and three kids and a dog, and I'm lactose intolerant." And you say, "great to meet you Bruce, but I'm not interested in talking with you - you don't really fit into my neat, pre-conceived picture of who I thought you were - but here have a milkshake."
It's downright rude, isn't it?
See, verse 18 says it might have been hard to know God before. But not now. Because he's no longer hidden. He has spoken a word. And that word is Jesus.
The unseeable God, Now seen. No more guessing. Take a look at it. Verse 18.
No one has ever seen God, but God the one and only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.
See the claim? See the logic?
If you want to know God, you can't get to know him by guessing. So John says, the reason Jesus came, the reason the word became flesh, the reason that he left his Father's side for a time and dwelt among us was so we could get to know the invisible God first hand. He's God's word to us. Jesus is God making himself known to us. When Jesus speaks, God speaks. When Jesus acts, God acts.
The incredible claim John's making is that the actions and the words of Jesus are the actions and words of God himself played out in 3D, live, in our world.
In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God and the Word was God. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. God came as a flesh and bone, human being.
To make himself known. So you could know him. And find life.
Which is why you get these words in verse 4...
in him was life, and that life was the light of men.
If you want to find life... here it is. In him. In Jesus. The word became flesh.
Because he, and he alone... makes known the unseen father.
And life. Is knowing. The one true God.
Now of course, here's the thing.
You might expect that when God speaks, everyone will sit up and listen. You might expect when God shows himself, when God makes himself known... when the lights go on that there'd be some kind of party.
But if you thought that, verses 5 and 10 and 11 paint a very different picture. Verse 5:
The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
Verse 10:
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him.
Verse 11:
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Do you see how it plays out?
God revealed. But...
Not understood.
Not recognised.
Not received.
For the simple reason, as we're going to see, that the leaders of Israel, and that the world in general, somehow prefer darkness.
And you can see it every day - there seems to be a preference for darkness; there's a mockery of anything that's good and right and true.
And it's a pattern that we'll see time and time again! The word has become flesh; the God of the universe becomes a man and walks with us and yet people chose to ignore him; people choose to remain in the dark; They choose to judge Jesus on their own terms. And it's the same scene that gets repeated again and again through John - as people meet Jesus they judge him; they can't see who Jesus truly is - they don't recognise him; they reject him.
But look, in spite of that, in John's gospel we're going to meet witnesses that ask us to consider the evidence. To look closer.
And the first of them is a famous preacher at the time who was known as John the Baptist.
John the Baptist rocks up on the scene and is keen to make sure no one misses Jesus; he wants people to see Jesus clearly Have a look with me at verse 6:
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him all might believe.
I don't profess to have a law degree - but I think I'm an avid student of the law. And according to my extensive research from TV shows like The Practice and Suits, there are at least three different types of witnesses who are called to the stand (there's probably more, but here are the most common):
eye witness - those who have witnessed something with their own eyes;
character witness - those who can attest to the defendants character;
and lastly an expert witness - someone who's an expert in a particular field and can give some insight into that specialty.
John appears as a witness to testify who Jesus truly is - and he's the trifecta: he sees Jesus; he knows Jesus; and he recognises who Jesus is.
John wants us to clearly see Jesus. Because it's only when we see him clearly that we can know how to respond to him.
Now John's an unusual character - he lives in the wilderness. He's got some strange eating habits and an even stranger fashion sense. And by verse 19 he's become a tourist attraction - people are flocking to him, and his influence is massive. So big that some of the authorities from the religious head office are sent down to sus him out: they ask who he is.
They even offer him a few options in verse 21: Are you the Messiah; are you Elijah; are you the Prophet?
John says this is what's happening - I'm not the one you're waiting for - I'm just the sign-post getting you ready for God to turn up. Verse 26:
he says there's one coming after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.
Here's John, a celebrity in his own right in his day - people coming from everywhere to hear him and see him. And he says guys you're coming to me and thinking I'm a big thing - but there's someone so much bigger coming; so much more important - I'm not even worthy to undo his shoelaces.
And as Jesus turns up in verse 29 - John points and says this is him. He says look this is the guy that I was talking about. This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
We live in a culture that has so much speculation, so many opinions about who Jesus is.
Marilyn Manson says: "If I found Jesus I don't think he'd be all that different to me".
Or my favourite theologian; the great philosopher of our day - Pamela Anderson says,
Christians say you need a personal relationship with the Lord, well I do - Jesus is my home boy. I'm not ashamed to tell the world that even though I find Christians intolerant and boring, I find Jesus cool in a trendy sort of way.
Lots of different views about who Jesus is, but when John looks at Jesus he says without hesitation - this is the Lamb of God. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
It's a reference to the Old Testament. Where lambs are presented as sacrifices, to take away sins; And John flags right from the start - here's the lamb that will be sacrificed, to take away the sins of the whole world!
That's who John the Baptist wants us to see right upfront - Jesus, the one who can take away the sins of the world. This is the lamb who is graciously going to give his life for the forgiveness of humanity's biggest problem - our sin.
And it's important that we see things clearly!
When you see Jesus, who do you see?
Simply a man? A home boy? Someone you don't want to waste time on?
While we spend our time forming our own judgement of Jesus, Jesus actually is judging us - but you might be surprised to know what he concludes - if you chose to actually see Jesus for who he is, God become man, the word of God, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world - then you will in fact find that he judges you not guilty, he takes away your sin, grants you forgiveness - what grace from God!
Behold this man! Because if you do - it will change you - you'll be wanting more.
As the chapter continues, we see the pattern from the opening verses emerge - some people reject Jesus.
For many people they were more interested in the support act, than the main event. John the Baptist was a popular figure - the masses swarmed to him. But they missed who it was that John was pointing to; they didn't see Jesus clearly. Jesus didn't live up to their expectations; he didn't live up to their idea of what God should be like.
The world so often judges Jesus for not being who they want him to be. But God has revealed himself clearly through Jesus.
But there were some who did see Jesus clearly. Who chose to follow him.
You can see it there in verse 35:
When John saw Jesus passing by, he said "look, the Lamb of God!" When the two disciples heard him, they followed Jesus.
They see who Jesus is and they start to follow him. They leave their old leader and they begin to follow Jesus; they leave their old way of life and begin following a new way. They wanted more of this man Jesus.
Do you see Jesus clearly?
Stop judging Jesus for who you think he is. But spend some time investing in who he says he is! As we make our way through this account of Jesus' life, why not commit to putting your own preconceptions of Jesus to one side. Be committed to taking the time this term to see who Jesus says he is.