Yesterday, we had Cara, Sami, and Kevin share about their trip to visit our missionary, Rachel Black, in Africa. This upcoming week, I, Pastor Todd, will be starting us off with a series on the Gospel of John. This will be a wonderful time to reflect on both the person and personality of Jesus. From John’s opening words, “In the beginning was the Word,” to his final  words, “If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written,” the Gospel of John is packed with powerful descriptors and examples of the God-Man we call Jesus. I thought this post would be a good starter to get our minds on the Gospel of John for the coming weeks. Today, I’m going to share three reflections on this unique Gospel written by John.

Jesus Is Associated Described as God

Back when I was in community college, the main philosophy professor was an adamant atheist. He got his kicks and giggles lambasting Christianity. One of the things he was continually mention was that Jesus never said he was God, so therefore other people were placing divinity status on him at a later date. I struggled with that for a while, until I began to learn how important it is to understand certain phrases that were used in that day which we have lost the meaning to. In retrospect, his claims now reveal that he didn’t know how to read ancient documents.

So where does Jesus refer to himself as God? I’ll give one example, John 8:58: “Truly, Truly  I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” To the modern reader, this is a very awkwardly phrased sentence. Was Jesus’ mind in a fog or something? It was incoherent and doesn’t really make much sense. Until…we realize “I am” is the very term the Lord God used to name himself to Moses at the burning bush. Let’s remember, that Jesus likely spoke Aramaic and Hebrew. In both of those languages, “I am,” is derived from the Hebrew term YHWH. Today we pronounce that Yahweh. It is related to the Hebrew verb “to be.”

For Jesus to say “Before Abraham was born, Yahweh/I am,” he was making a claim to divinity. And that is the best explanation for why everyone who heard him picked up stones to prepare to stone him in vs. 59. It wouldn’t make much sense for people to want to kill Jesus for babbling incoherently.  It makes clear sense to want to kill Jesus for claiming to be God, which was a capital offense.

Jesus Did Things Only God Could Do

In addition to claiming divinity himself and having been described as “The Word” followed by “The Word was God,” Jesus’ actions showed he was able to do what only God could do, namely, perform miracles, forgive sins, speak with authority like none other, and come back from the dead..

Much of what we see in the Gospels deal with a mixture of Jesus’ teaching and his miracles. Event after event, supernatural events happen at Jesus’ will. Turning water into wine, healing the sick, raising the dead, multiplying bread and fish to feed thousands, forgiving sins, opening blind eyes, and more are a testament that Jesus was no ordinary man. Only a god could do these things. In a world where every supreme ruler tried to make themselves objects of worship through religious titles (Divi Filius), legislation, and monumental statues, Jesus stood out because of his ability to do the impossible. He restored human bodies without tools and medicine. He affected nature with the command of his voice. None of these things could be done by the emperors and kings of the day.

Additionally, he could perform resurrections. From the son of the Nain widow (in Luke), to Lazarus, to his own resurrection, Jesus exhibited power over death, both in others and in himself. Only a god could do that in the ancient world.

All the actions, direct words of Jesus, and those of his followers bear witness to his divinity. No one who reads the Gospel of John with an understanding of their ancient phrases and Jesus’ actions can walk away believing the words of the Gospel don’t portray Jesus as God.

I hope you’ll consider reading the Gospel of John throughout the coming weeks as we cover different parts in our series. You may just find more insight that speaks to where you’re at today in this ancient book than you’d expect.

 

I hope this post has helped create an environment where you can experience our God’s

 

Presence. Love. Power.

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