Chapter 1

The opening chapter of the Gospel of John puts forward a deeper and eternal identity of Jesus. While the other gospels are written to a primarily Jewish audience and include genealogies to discuss the lineage of the man Jesus, to show He is the one they were waiting for, John looks at the eternal deity of Christ by intentionally connecting Him with all aspects of the triune God. In the words of Jesus, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” (Rev. 22:13) Many people today struggle with the identity of Jesus. It’s often hard for us to reconcile how He can be fully man and also fully God. Some will say that Jesus is just a prophet, others will say He is just a good teacher of moral truths. However, we see in John’s Gospel, that Jesus is not just a prophet, but the LAST prophet, and the living God in the flesh. He is the eternal word, through whom all things were created. He is the giver and sustainer of Life. 

C.S. Lewis once put forward an argument, that Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord. If He knew He was not God, and claimed to be one, He would be a liar. If He believed He was God, but truly was just a moral teacher and not God, He would be a lunatic. Neither of those possibilities would make Him a man worth following. If He was a liar, His teaching would not be moral. Further, I wouldn’t follow a lunatic to save my life. Thus we must arrive at the culmination, that He is who He says He is, (and who scripture says He is) HE IS LORD. 

Read John 1:1-14. What stands out to you?