Jesus the Word

The book of John is full of identity statements. The first one we are looking at is Jesus as the Word of God. The book opens by giving others’ testimony about who Jesus is then shows through examples that Jesus is these things.

John the Author opens his book by stating who Jesus is. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. [He made everything and nothing was made without Him.] In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (1:1-4). By opening this book with “in the beginning” every Jewish mind would automatically go to Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...” John is saying Jesus is the Word and He was the means by which the world was created.

We also see John the Baptist declare Jesus’ identity. Jesus came from heaven and tells about what he has seen and heard. He is sent from God and “utters the words of God” (3:34). We have heard that Jesus speaks the words of God but now we get to experience this.

Chapter four opens with Jesus talking with the Samaritan woman at a well. She realizes Jesus is the long-awaited Christ and tells everyone in her town about Jesus. “[M]any believe in him because of the woman’s testimony... and many more believed because of his word” (4:39, 41). This is a transition story from the testimony of others to Jesus’ testimony about Himself. Now others are beginning to see the authority He has as the Word of God.

The next several stories focus on Jesus’ words. When He heals, John focuses on the fact that He speaks healing and restoration over people. He does not say that He touched people. It was not that Jesus was afraid of touching sick people but that John wanted to make a point about the power Jesus’ words have.

Right after the story of the woman at the well, John tells about a time when Jesus heals an official’s son. The father comes to Jesus asking him to heal his son. Instead of going to his house, Jesus just speaks healing over the son and declares that he is healed. “The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way” (4:50). The same hour that Jesus spoke healing the man’s son was healed. He and his household believed in Jesus as a result of His words.

After this Jesus goes to Jerusalem for a feast and is walking down by the pool of Bethesda. It was believed that an angel would fly over the water and his wings would touch the water. When this happened, the first person into the water would be healed. This had become the hangout spot for everyone who was sick, lame, blind and paralyzed. Jesus is walking down by the pool and talks with a man. He asks him if he wants to be healed. I can only imagine the look on the man’s face. He was down there for that very reason but had no one to help him into the pool. Jesus then tells him to stand up, grab his bed and walk.

The Jews get mad that Jesus is healing on the Sabbath. Unphased, Jesus tells them that He is sent from God and does as He sees His Father doing. God created the world and brought life into the world so Jesus is restoring life to the world. Then He says a crazy statement: “An hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to also have life in himself” (5:25-26). Jesus is saying that when the dead hear His voice, they will be raised to life. His very words and voice will restore life. That is some serious power and authority!

Later, Jesus is teaching and the people are amazed at His teaching. “How is it that this man has learning when he has never studied” (7:15). Jesus wasn’t part of the religious training system. He did not have the training the Pharisees and priest had yet He had such insight and authority in His words that it left people amazed. The priests and Pharisees send men to arrest Jesus but they marvel at Jesus’ words as well. “No one ever spoke like this man” (7:46)!

A while later the Pharisees talk with Jesus about His crazy statements. He keeps declaring who He is— the light of the world, the word, the light of life... “So the Pharisees said to him, ‘You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.’ Jesus answered, ‘Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I come from and where I am going” (8:13-14). He knows His identity. Regardless of what people keep saying, He knows that He came from heaven. He knows He is the Son of God. He knows He is the Messiah.  “[H]e who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him” (8:26).

Jesus continually shows the power of his words. He has authority in his voice. He declares something and it is, just as in the beginning where God created the world with His voice. Now, Jesus is walking on the earth and His very words spoken are creating and renewing life on earth.

Intro to the book of John

There are several pivotal moments in the book of John where the story takes a step up from the direction it was previously going. Each moment allows a new theme to spring forth and the following section shows the outworking of this truth. This first post is going to be more of an introduction to the next several posts about the book of John.

The book of John is introduced by establishing Jesus as the Word, as Light, and as Life. Immediately following this John the Baptist is introduced. The first few chapters have introduced Jesus and have given a flavor of his teaching and actions. This section is introduced by John the Baptist declaring that Jesus is the Christ and is closed by John declaring Jesus’ fame must increase and his must fade into the background (chapters 1-3). His ministry as the forerunner of Christ is coming to a close. It is at this instance that we reach the first pivotal moment.

John is still baptizing people, and some of his disciples are upset because Jesus and his disciples are baptizing more people. John reminds them that he already said he was not the Christ but he is the one who comes before him. John knows who he is. He knows his role and his identity. In ancient times, a herald would run ahead of the parade declaring that the king was coming and prepared the people for his arrival. He would raise excitement and anticipation so they would expectantly look for the king’s coming. John is the herald that runs ahead declaring the king is coming (1:23). He is the best man in the story not the groom (3:29-30). John recognized his role was to prepare the way for Jesus. Now that Jesus had arrived, his role was coming to an end.

John explains that Jesus comes from heaven and tells us about what he has seen and heard. When we believe him, we have eternal life and become ambassadors of the Word. God sends us and gives us His words and His Spirit. We tell others and the cycle starts over for as they believe, they become ambassadors speaking out the words of God that the Spirit gives us.

John the Baptist then gives this testimony about Jesus: “For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit” (3:34). In other words, God gives words to those whom He sends. He gives an unending amount of the Spirit. He isn’t going to take away the Spirit or the words He’s given to those He sends. God even promises this in Isaiah 59:21. “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord, “My Spirit that is upon you and my words that I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth or out of the mouth of your offspring or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring from this time forth and forever more.”

John is establishing who Jesus is. He is establishing his identity. Right after this, the book of John launches into a time of establishing Jesus’ authority as the Word of God.

... For the sake of brevity this is coming later...

Restoration

God is a Restorer. He loves to redeem and bring to wholeness. These past few weeks I’ve been reading the book of Ruth over and over again. I can’t seem to get enough of it. There is an overwhelming theme of restoration surging through the words of this book so I thought I’d share a few of my observations about the book.

 

The setting for the book of Ruth is in the time of the judges during a famine. In Deuteronomy we find a list of blessings for following the law and curses for breaking the law. One of the curses is God will bring famine for breaking the law and turning to other gods (Dt 28:17-18). We immediately find Naomi and her husband trying to escape the curse of famine by going to a neighboring country.

 

It is always interesting to look at the names of people in the Bible. There is a disparity between the two generations and their outlooks. We can see Naomi and Elimelech’s parents had hope by the names of their children (Naomi means My Delight and Elimelech means My God is King); however, by the time Naomi and her husband had children, they lost hope. My God is King and My Delight gave birth to Sick and Pining. They are depressed and oppressed by the famine. Soon My God is King and Sick and Pining die and My Delight takes on the name Bitter.

 

It is to this backdrop we are introduced to Ruth (friendship). Friendship stays by My Delight even when she becomes Bitter and followers her to a foreign land. Ruth gives up everything to follow Naomi to Israel. She gives up family and her culture to live as a widow and a foreigner in a country where she has no rights and no possibility of marriage (it was highly unusual for a foreigner to marry an Israelite) to survive on the generosity of others.

Once the author of Ruth establishes this, we then meet Boaz, “a worthy man” (2:1). Boaz immediately notices Ruth gleaning in his field. However, he doesn’t see her as others would see her. He sees her as a woman of worth and value. By his actions he restores to her identity and begins to free her from shame.

 

Boaz tells her to continue with his workers and glean in his fields throughout the harvest season. He tells her she can drink from the water drawn for the workers. Ruth asks why he is doing this for her and he proclaims a blessing over her: “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”

 

At mealtime he invites her to join the reapers and gives her more than enough food. Widows were allowed to glean behind the workers and pick up what they dropped. However, Boaz tells his workers not to embarrass her if she started gathering with them. He did not want to bring shame upon her and begins to restore good standing to her.

 

Toward the end of the harvest season Ruth goes down to the threshing floor at night and asks Boaz to redeem her. The next day he meets with the elders of the town and restores her from a widow to a wife. We then learn that she is the great-grandmother of King David. Ruth’s previous husband died after 10 years of marriage and without children. It was a disgrace to not have children when you were married. But now, God has restored her in the eyes of man and added her to the lineage of David and Jesus. She has gone from widow to wife, from shame to joy, from destitution to prosperity. In the matter of a harvesting season, Ruth is restored to a better standing than she had when she was married and living in Moab.

 

Stories of restoration are not just for ancient times. God wants to restore us. He wants to bring healing to our lives, rest from our past, joy for our present and dreams for our future. As he gives us rest and healing he restores to us dreams for the future. We begin to believe we are created for more. We begin to believe we change nations and cities. We begin to believe the biggest dream we have in our hearts can be a reality.

 

We begin to see the value we have. God values us so much. His love for us is so deep. He valued us so much that He paid a high price for us. We have great worth. He gave His Son Jesus to die in our place. He believes we have so much value that He gave His Son as our price. Jesus rose so we could be with Him and have peace and joy restored. He frees us from shame and guilt and anger and hate. He instead gives us love and dreams and hope.

 

Begin to ask God how He sees you; then take time to listen. You may not hear anything at first but keep asking and keep looking. He won’t leave you no matter what you’ve done. He wants to free you from the past that haunts you. He wants to give you an amazing story of restoration and hope. He wants to show you how great His love is for you. Ask Him to show you. He will answer.

 

How precious are your thoughts concerning me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you (Ps 139:17-18 NIV).

On Earth as it is in Heaven

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Ro 12:2). Restoration causes transformation. We need to rest and be restored. We need to be renewed so we can be more like God (aka be godly). We are made in His image and are His children. We represent Him here on Earth. We are spies in the enemy camp showing and displaying the goodness of God and turning people from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. We create a hunger for God through our actions. We become sheep among wolves (Mat 10:16), a tasty treat so others can taste AND see that God is good (Ps 34:8). It is the goodness of God that draws people. It is heaven in us that draws people.

Jesus prayed “on Earth as it is in Heaven”. How does this become a reality?

1. By understanding we are of the spiritual realm much more than we are of the physical realm. We are a new creation (2 Co 5:17); we worship God in spirit and in truth (Jn 4:23-24, 1 Co 6:17). We are not of this world (1 Pe 2:11). We are under a new dominion, a new kingdom (Jn 18:36). With this, comes a new way of thinking, a new way of seeing things.

2. By spending time with the Father and learning more about Him and following His example. When we spend time with someone, we become like them. I have picked up quirks from my friends. From Elise, I have learned to have the love language of awkward. I feel so loved when a friend and I have awkward eye contact and sit in silence for a few minutes. I have picked up some of Kyah’s hand gestures. I have started to smile like Amy smiles. When we spend time with people, we pick up their phraseology, their gestures, their way of viewing life.

If we want to become more like the Father, we need to spend time with Him. We need to rest in His presence and soak in His goodness. We need to be so saturated in Him that it oozes out of our pours and changes the very essence of our being, our very perception of our circumstances and our very response to those around us. It creates a hunger in us for more of God, for more of His goodness.

Moses spent so much time in God’s presence that his face shone (Ex 34:29). As a young man, Joshua would not leave the Tent of Meeting (Ex 33:11). David was called a man after God’s heart (1 Sa 13:14). These men loved spending time with God. They were changed by it. They loved God’s presence.

I love Moses’ prayer in Exodus 33: “If I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight” (13). When we love someone, we don’t want to always do what annoys that person. We learn what brings them joy and love doing that with them and for them. Moses so wanted to know God. Right after Moses asked God to know Him better and to learn what pleases Him, God responds with “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (33:14). God didn’t directly answer Moses’ question. Instead, He responded with I will be with you and will give you rest. It was not about what Moses could do for God, it was about resting and being in God’s presence. It was about growing in intimacy. As my pastor frequently says, “God is more concerned about what He is doing in you than through you.”

Spend time resting in God’s presence this week. Get to know His voice. Begin to hear His heartbeat. Knowing God changes everything.

Rest

God has been talking a lot about resting in His love. What does it mean to rest in God’s love? What does it look like to step out of our circumstances and into a place of peace and rest in the Father’s heart? This is something I'm learning.

There is a security we have in resting in God’s presence, in His love. When we are so enthralled with who God is, nothing can touch us. Fear no longer has a place. Worry no longer consumes us. When we are so consumed with our Father, we step out of time and into His heart. We can hear His heart beat. We find our identity. We learn who we are, who He is and how we are to respond out of that. He teaches us, moulds us and grows us. He gives us dreams. He comforts us. He restores us.

It is so easy to move out of that place of rest and back into the hectic schedule of our day. We need to stop resisting His love, stand still, and climb into His arms and rest. We can hear His voice so much better when we know how to step out of our circumstances and into His throne room. There is something so sweet, so intimate about a moment where we still our hearts and minds, turn our eyes upward and away from our circumstances and stare into the face of our Father. He smiles over us. He is proud of us. He deeply loves us.

God wanted to make sure Israel understood the importance of rest. Even in the first week of creation, God created a day of rest. He put it into our week for a reason. Later, the Sabbath, the day of rest, was a sign of God’s covenant. Every seventh day, the Israelites were to take a day of rest. It was a sign of the covenant between God and Israel (Ex 31:14-17, Ez 20:20). God wanted them to rest. He took this seriously. He even demonstrated it so we could follow His example (Gen 2:2).

We need to learn how to rest before we can learn how to walk or even run. If we aren’t able to rest, we won’t be very effective. God did not create us to burn out. He did not create us to be stressed out because we have taken on too much and cannot rest. Jesus came so we could have life to the full (Jn 10:10). We can rest in Him (Matt 11:28-30). Our strength is in Him. Our weaknesses are made strong because it is no longer our selves working but Christ in us (2 Co 12:9-10). Christ shines all the more clearly through us because we cannot rely on ourselves at that moment.

There is a story in the Old Testament about Israel in the wilderness (Nu 21:4-9). God sends a plague of fiery snakes and when they bit the Israelites, people died. God had Moses make a bronze serpent and put him on a pole. All they had to do to be saved was to look up at the serpent on the pole. They had to take their eyes off of the snakes biting them and look up. In John 3, Jesus shows himself as the New Testament parallel. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (Jn 3:13-14).

We need to take our eyes off our circumstances, off the snakes biting us, and look to Jesus. We are saved by looking to Jesus and not at our circumstances. We are still in the circumstance, but now we have a different focus. Now we can see into the Father’s eyes. Now we can see into His heart. We have the mind of Christ (1 Co 2 :16). He will instruct us in the way we should go (Isa 48:17).

In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. Isaiah 30:15