Daily Devotions
John
"In the beginning was the Word..."
Text: John 1:1-18
PROCLAIMING THE WORD OF GOD WITH DISTINCTIVE AUTHORITY
Multitudes had heard Jesus expound the Word of God. It did not take very long before the crowds knew that there was a distinct difference in the way Jesus taught. The Synoptic Gospel writers recorded this fact.
“And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings,
that the people were astonished at His teaching,
for He taught them as one having authority,
and not as the scribes.
Matthew 7:28-29
“Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately
on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.
And they were astonished at His teaching,
For He taught them as one having authority,
And not as the scribes.”
Mark 1:21-22
“Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves,
saying, ‘What a word this is! For with authority and power
He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.’ ”
Luke 4:36
Jesus astonished the multitudes because of His vast knowledge of the Scriptures and because of the deep insights He was able to display. Thus the crowds kept returning not only to see Him heal many, but also to hear Him teach God’s Word.
THE IDENTITY OF JESUS
As the multitudes gasped in astonishment at the authoritative manner in which Jesus taught, they grappled with fathoming just who Jesus really was. There were those who knew Him. They were puzzled, and thus they asked themselves,
“Is this not Joseph’s son?”
Luke 4:22
Matthew wrote a more complete statement on this matter.
“When He had come to His own country,
He taught them in their synagogue,
So that they were astonished and said,
‘Where did this Man get this wisdom
and these mighty works?
Is this not the carpenter’s son?
Is not His mother called Mary?
And His brothers James, Joses,
Simon, and Judas?
And His sisters, are they not all with us?
Where then did this Man get all these things?
So they were offended at Him.”
Matthew 13:54-57
John knew far better than the multitudes just why Jesus was able to proclaim the Word of God with such a tremendous sense of authority. He knew just why Jesus was able to expound the Scriptures the way He did. Right at the beginning of his Gospel, John openly proclaimed his personal faith in Jesus – as the very Word of God! But of course Jesus was able to teach the Word as He did. Yes, He was only the humble son of Joseph and Mary. Yes, He was indeed the carpenter’s Son. But there was much more to Jesus that the multitudes did not know! He was both fully Man and fully God. John felt deeply constrained to proclaim and prove that Jesus was not only a great Teacher of the Word, He was the very Word of God.
A PROFOUND PROLOGUE
Matthew and Luke took the time and trouble to trace the ancestry of Jesus. Thus they both wrote down the genealogy of Jesus (Cf. Matthew1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38). Their task was to present Jesus as the rightful, greater Son of David, the promised Messiah of the Old Testament prophets. They went on to prove in their Gospel accounts that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the King of the Jews.
John knew only too well just how few really fully understood Jesus for who he really was. We must expect that he knew about the existence of the works of the Synoptic Gospels. One could not but know about the existence of such sacred literature being read and circulated in the churches.
He also wanted to write a Gospel account of the life of Jesus. However, he did not see much point in merely coming up with another Gospel account similar to that written by the Synoptic writers.
John must have decided that he would take a totally different approach. Without doubt, without apology, and with no hesitation, he would present his theological understanding of Jesus as he knew Him – and that intimately!
Right from the beginning, John revealed his theological understanding of who Jesus was, as far as he was concerned. He wrote,
“In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.”
John 1:1
With these opening words, John began an awesome task. He would attempt to prove that Jesus was more than just the son of the carpenter. He was the more than just a great preacher of the Word. He was the very Word of God. He was God Himself.