John 1:6-14
Before Jesus
We have noted that John’s gospel is very unique. So far, John has
not even begun the narrative of the life of Jesus. In fact, he has
not even mentioned the name of Jesus! Instead, he had given us
titles or descriptions of the One he is introducing to us. So far,
John has given us five titles.
1. \\#1\\ John called Him "the Word."
2. \\#1\\ John said that He was God.
3. \\#3\\ John described Him as the Creator.
4. \\#4\\ John called Him "the life."
5. \\#4\\ John called Him "the light."
Why? Perhaps to help us understand that long before God the Son came
to be called by the name Jesus, He was. Jesus is the Son’s earthly
name, but the person of Jesus far exceeds the length of the use of
that name.
In fact, John the Apostle may be giving us some of the terms by which
John the Baptist referred to the Son of God BEFORE Jesus was
identified. While John the Baptist may have heard from his parents
that Jesus was the Messiah, it was not confirmed to him by God until
John saw the Holy Ghost light on Jesus, presumably at Jesus’ baptism.
Yet John’s ministry began long before that for John had disciples and
a ministry before Jesus began His own. By what name did John refer
to the coming One? I think it could have been the Word, the Life,
the Light, God, and the Creator!
John the Apostle is presenting Jesus as the person of God and God was
long before the name Jesus was used. So John begins his book quite
differently. He begins it by referring to God’s Son by the kind of
names that were ascribed to Him before He took the name Jesus.
At \\#6\\, John makes another statement but not about the Word. He
will come back to talking about the Word for that is his main topic,
but in this verse, John the Apostle speaks of John the Baptist.
I. \\#John 1:1-5\\ Declarations about Jesus.
II. \\#John 1:6-7\\ Declaration about John the Baptist.
A. "There was a man sent from God whose name was John."
1. That is another of those amazing statements.
a. John has been talking about God. Now he begins to
speak of man that God will use.
b. That must be some kind of man.
(1) Indeed, John was.
(2) Jesus will make the statement that there had
never been a greater man born than John the
Baptist \\#Luke 7:28, Matt 11:11\\.
(3) For God to say that, that is some kind of man!
(4) Yet, we know that this man was human with human
frailties.
(a) I would not diminish John the Baptist in the
least.
i. I would say that John the most
separated from the world man that
ever lived.
ii. I would say that John had faith like
no other. (He was the first to
believe in Jesus and the first to
proclaim Him as Messiah.)
iii. John willingly gave his life in the
service for his Savior.
(b) \\#Luke 7:19-20\\ tells us that John began to
wonder while he perished in the prison.
Lu 7:19 And John calling unto him two of his
disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou
he that should come? or look we for another?
i. The only reason I mention this at all
is to say, "To be a great man before
God does not mean that you do not
have some struggles."
ii. I suspect that a great man is not
measured by his deeds alone but by
the surrender of his heart.
2. \\#7\\ John came to bear witness of the Light.
a. That means he came to tell us Who the Light is. That
was John’s calling and purpose.
b. Remember, Whoever the Light is, He is all of the other
titles as well!
(1) He is the Word, God, Creator, and the Life.
(2) I am still not certain why John choose to start
his gospel this way, but he did.
3. \\#8\\ John was NOT the Light.
a. John wanted to be certain that no one confused him
with the coming One.
b. \\#1:17-23\\ He will mention it again in his sermons.
4. \\#5-13\\ John lists the responses to the Light.
a. \\#5\\ Some did not comprehend Him.
(1) How deep and endless that darkness must be!
(2) These people are so far into darkness that they
do not even know what Light is!
b. \\#11\\ Some rejected Him.
(1) The rejection of Jesus will be a repeated thought
by John \\#John 5:38, 42, 44\\.
(2) These are identified as "His own." It seems to
be the Jews.
(3) If anyone recognized Jesus, it should have been
the Jews!
(4) There is a reason the Jews have been so tormented
these last 2,000 years.
(5) They had so much opportunity and failed so
miserably to use it.
c. \\#12\\ Some accepted Him.
(1) That would be the Christians. Anyone who
accepts Jesus, Jew or Gentile, is a Christian.
(2) To become a Christian, John tells us that two
things must happen.
(a) \\#12\\ From man’s side, the Light must be
received by believing on His name.
i. I find that phrase a little odd for
John since John has not even mentioned
the name of Jesus in this book so far!
ii. He won’t until \\#John 1:17\\.
iii. The Greek word for name is translated
name 207 in the Bible.
iv. But 4x it is translated "called."
v. I think John is saying that to accept
Jesus, we must believe that He is the
One John has been describing for John
has called Him the Word, God, the
Creator, Life, and Light.
(b) \\#13\\ On God’s side, it must be God’s will
for that person to receive Jesus.
i. Myself, I believe that it is God’s
will for every sinner to be saved.
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his
promise, as some men count slackness; but is
longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to
repentance.
ii. That seems to put more of the
responsibility on man believing than
on God be willing for God has already
declared His will on the subject.
5. \\#15-18\\ A Summary of John’s Witness
a. \\#15\\ The Light (Life, Word, God, Creator) is before
John because He both was before John and is preferred
by the Father above John.
b. \\#16\\ We have all been blessed by Him.
(1) We have received of His abundance.
(a) This is a reference to what we have received
from Jesus just because Jesus is so good,
loving, and kind.
(b) You might call this the undirected blessings
of God.
(2) And His grace.
(a) Grace is God working, directly working, to
do good in our lives.
(b) Just as every person has received of God’s
indirect blessings, so every person has
received of His direct blessings.
(3) \\#17\\ Specifically, John tells us that Jesus
came to give to us truth and grace.
(a) We had the Law which was some knowledge and
a lot of penalty.
(b) Jesus gave us far more truth (knowledge).
(c) And Jesus began a work of God to save each
and every human being who would believe.
c. \\#18\\ No one has seen the Father but the Son and He
is declaring Him to us.
(1) John was sent to bear witness of the Son.
(2) The Son was sent to bear witness of the Father.
(3) This is the first time that John used the titles
Son and Father.
(4) So now are told that the Word, God, the Creator,
the Life, and the Light is the Son of God.
(5) At the beginning of John’s gospel he started
laying a carnal truth - the only way to get to
the Father is through the Son.
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