©Michael Player
Chapter 1:9-14 (ESV) - The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Question to consider: According to John, how does someone become a child of God?
In today’s culture, there is a growing number of people who believe that everyone is a child of God and that Jesus was a good and moral teacher, but certainly not divine. They believe that everyone who dies (except maybe Hitler or Osama Bin Laden) goes to heaven because deep down in their hearts, people are basically good-natured. They believe that all religions have some element of truth, but none have a right to claim absolute truth, and anyone who does is arrogant and hateful.
In today’s passage, John connected the Logos, the divine spark that the people of his generation believed was the source of all life and goodness, to Jesus who John proclaimed was the one and only Son of God. In case anyone still thought there was room for the theology of the Nicolaitans, John made it crystal clear that the Logos became flesh and dwelt among us.
Even though Christ created the world and everything in it, John wrote that the world did not recognize Him. Even though Jesus was a Jew, John wrote that His own people did not receive Him. John wrote that since Jesus was the only Son of God, it was only those who believed in His name who could be adopted into the family of God as His children.
In case anyone still thought that all religions profess truth, John wrote that he and the other disciples were eye-witnesses of Jesus’ glory, and that Christ alone was full of grace and truth. These are men who were willing to endure poverty, torture, and death for the sake of their eye-witness testimony.
These statements by John were as counter-cultural and offensive when he wrote them as they are now. The question is whether we can get past our anger long enough to consider John’s words. John didn’t leave us with a blind faith. The coming chapters are filled with miraculous signs only God could accomplish, and they culminate with John’s eye-witness testimony of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Either John was telling the truth, or he wasn’t.
Dear heavenly Father, open up our eyes and ears to receive these words from John. Help us to deal honestly with the coming chapters and especially with our own hearts. Above all may the name of Jesus be glorified. Amen.