Observation and Principles

Todays bible reading: John 1:24-28

In John 1, there are 2 groups of religious leaders questioning John the Baptist. The first group, which we read about in the last post, were the Priests and Levites. They asked “Who are you?”

The second group of religious leaders questioning John the Baptist were the Pharisees. They asked, “Why are you acting this way?” This is interesting because the Pharisees were a sect of the Jews who focused primarily on the strict observance of religious rituals. Their religious focus was right behavior rather than the hope of the coming messiah.

v. 25 “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

In the Matthew 3 and Mark 1 accounts of this same incident, we see that John the Baptist was “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4)

In that day, this was a new idea. There were a lot of different ritual washings as a way to purify oneself, but none that were related to the repentance and forgiveness of sins. The pharisees were likely questioning what authority John the Baptist had to institute a new religious practice.

Through this questioning, John’s answers keep pointing away from himself and towards Jesus. I think he was probably trying to say, “The Christ is coming! Indeed, He is here already. Stop worrying about me and go find Him. He’s the one you are looking for.”

One remarkable thing about the life of John the Baptist is that he sought no glory or recognition for himself. Everything that he did or said was pointing towards Jesus. He had an incredible humility, but he was probably the only person on earth who truly understood the nature of Jesus.

If we really understand and know God, pride and self-conceit would be impossible.

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Today’s Bible Reading John 1: 19-23

During the life of John the Baptist, and right after his death, many people thought that he was the Messiah.  The Apostle John (the author of the gospel) recognized this and intertwined the story of John with the history of Jesus to counteract the idea that John the Baptist was the messiah.

The climax of this argument comes in John 1: 19-23:

He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely” I am not the Christ.” (v. 20)

(more questioning from priests and Levites)

John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, ” I am the voice of the one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” (v. 23)

John’s purpose was to prepare a path for the Messiah.  The words of Isaiah the prophet are found in Isaiah 40:3

A voice of one calling in the desert: “Prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”

Preparing for a Divine Messiah

In the prophecy of Isaiah, this verse uses the word YHWH (that’s why “LORD” is in all caps).  This is the name of God, but a Jewish tradition/superstition had come up against actually speaking the name of God.  John used a word that would be considered a title “God” much like we would have the title “Mister” or “Doctor” or “Your Majesty.”

Through John’s reference to the prophecy of Isaiah, John once again pointed to the divinity of Christ.  The word used by John, kyrios, was also used in the New Testament to refer to God–the Father.

What’s the significance of Elijah?

In the Priest and Levities questioning of John the Baptist, they asked him:  “Are you Elijah?  Are you The Prophet?”

There is a prophecy in Malachai 4:5-6 that Elijah will walk on the Earth and bring people back to God before the day of God’s wrath.

I suspect that the Priests who were questioning John were trying to put him into a defined box.  If this happened in modern days, they would probably ask, “Are you a pastor?  A Sunday school teacher?  Maybe you are a church planter?”

John the Baptist was squirrelly with his answers.  He didn’t give a straight answer, but probably hoped that the Priests and Levites would be curious and ask more questions.  You see, the interrogators weren’t there because they wanted to know who John the Baptist was, they were sent by the Jews of Jerusalem (v 19).  John was probably trying to lead them into a deeper understanding of the Messiah?

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Today’s Reading John 1: 14-18

v. 14 The Word became Flesh–Jesus (who is God v.1) became human and walked on the earth.

The glory of the One and Only Jesus put on the likeness of man and took off the Glory of God. One and Only can also be translated as Only Begotten

v. 15 John the Baptist is trying to explain that Jesus existed before he (John) was born and even before He( Jesus) was born. Even though Jesus’ physical birthdate was later than Johns, Jesus has existed long before John. Jesus was there in the beginning.

Why is it important that The Word (God) became flesh? v1. because in him was life. v. 12 to give us the right to become children of God. That answer means that we need to explore more what it means “in him was life” and what does it mean to be “children of God.”

v. 15 from the fullness of his (the Word, God, Jesus) grace we have recieved blessing after blessing.

What kind of blessings have we received from him? verse 17 answers this question. Grace and truth (compared to the bondage of the law). The truth is that no one can live up to God’s perfect standard. No one can keep the law all the time. The blessing of grace given to us by Jesus is that we do not have to live up tot he standard of the law because he paid for our sins.

v. 18 “No one has seen God but God the One and Only.

Before God became flesh as Jesus, God was only approachable by priests. Even then, the priests had to go through extensive purification and sanctification rituals. Jesus tore the veil away and has made God personal. We have seen God through Jesus.

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Bible Study Reading John 1:10-13

V. 11–The Jews are God’s chosen people. In spite of God speaking to them through prophets and telling them to watch for the Savior, the Jews did not recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah.

Do you ever think about what it would have been like to live in Jesus’ day? What would it be like to see Him performing miracles and hear Him preaching.

The Jews were all waiting for the messiah; they were looking for a king like David to crush the Roman empire and restore the nation of Israel. This was the way they read the prophecies.

As God’s chosen people, the Jews should have recognized Jesus as the promised Messiah and as God walking among them. They did not recognize Him, so they mocked Him, scorned Him, and eventually crucified Him. During all three years of Jesus’ ministry, the Jews were trying to find a reason to kill him.

Jesus could have handed out miracles to every Jew. He could have forced them to recognize and believe that He is the promised Messiah. When Jesus walked on earth, He didn’t force anyone to believe, and Got still won’t force anyone now.

V 12. “all who received him” is a statement that includes Gentiles. Even before Jesus walked on the earth, non-Jews could have faith, and be saved by their faith. Rahab, Job, Abraham, and Isaac are all examples of this. If belief in the coming of a Savior could save, how much more can belief in the Savior who came save Gentiles now?

v. 13 juxtaposes being born of man to being born of God.

• our human birth has made us physically alive, but sinful by nature (Romans 5:12)
• Jesus is God’s first born Son.
• Jesus lived a sinless life.
• Through belief in Jesus we become spiritually alive and gain eternal life.

Being born of God requires belief in Jesus. Our physical bodies (born of man) are passing away, but being born of God means to become spiritually alive and to have eternal life. Being born of God means that you can fit back into God’s ideal plan for human beings (constant fellowship as described in Genesis before sin entered the world).

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Bible Study Reading: John 1:5-9

John 1: 4 says “In him was life and that life was the light of men.”

I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what that means, “the light of men.”

Verse 5 shows an interesting battle between light and darkness. Since we know that Jesus is life and light, darkness must be the evil forces in the world that are in opposition to life and light. There are two interpretations for this verse:

1. “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”
2. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome.”

• Light and dark cannot co-exist. Darkness is, by definition, the absence of light.
• Satan tried, unsuccessfully, to destroy (overcome) Jesus’ rescue mission.
• Satan likely does not understand God’s love for sinful human beings.

Either interpretation makes sense in the context.

John 1:6 transitions into the story of John the Baptist who:

• was sent from God
• purposed to testify concerning that light
• was not the light himself.

The word “that” in verse 7 “he came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe” suggests that John was testifying about specifics, not just about the promised messiah in general.

During his lifetime, many people thought that John the Baptist was the Messiah. John (the Author) probably gave the story of JTB such prominence in this gospel to demonstrate that Jesus, not John the Baptist, is the Messiah. Even John the Baptist denied being the Messiah, while Jesus did not deny it

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Today’s Reading: John 1:1-4

The key message in the book of John is that Jesus is the son of God and that eternal life is only found through believing in Him.

Why is eternal life so important?

Death did not enter the world until sin entered the world. It was not God’s ideal for humans to die. Rather, God’s perfect plan was for humans to live forever in constant fellowship with Him.

I draw that conclusion from the Genesis account of creation.

1. Adam walked with God in the garden during the cool of the afternoon
2. God had put the tree of life in the garden, and it was only after the fall of man that humans were no longer allowed to eat from the tree of life and live forever.

John 1 begins by announcing that “the Word” was with God during creation.

The first obvious question is: Who is the Word?

• Holds life in him (v4)
• Created all things (v3)
• Was there at creation (v1)
• was God in the beginning (v 1)
• was the light of men (v4)

Verses 1-4 describe the Word, and they are all written in the past tense. Looking forward in John 1, you can piece together that the Word is Jesus (which we will get to on a later day).

I wonder if John 1:1-4 is describing who Jesus was in the beginning, at creation? John starts his book by saying, “This is who Jesus was before He walked on the earth.” The logical thought progression would be to follow with who Jesus is while he lived on the earth and who He will be when He returns. Who was, and is, and is to come.

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When a new believer or a non-believer want to start reading the Bible, I’ve always heard, “Start with the book of John.”

I am neither a new believer nor a non-believer. I have been a follower of Christ for at least 21 of my 25 years. I honestly cannot remember a time when I was not a Christian.

It is wonderful to have faith that stretches back into my childhood, but I find myself being complacent in my zeal for the gospel.

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Hebrews 5:11-14

I don’t feel as mature as I should be. On the one hand, I think I am acquainted with the teaching about righteousness, but the same way a sick person may prefer juice and milk-toast, I have a spiritual illness, called apathy, that draws me back to living on the milk of the word when I should be ready for solid food

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