May 1, 2024
“I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” (John 1:31 ESV). John the Baptist and Jesus were cousins born six months apart. Both births were miraculous, foretold by the prophets and announced by the angel Gabriel. Yet, John said that he
April 30, 2024
‘And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”’ (John 1:19 ESV). Although he was the son of the Levite priest, Zechariah, in the line of Abijah, one of the twenty-four orders of priests in the line of Eleazar, son of Aaron,
April 30, 2023
“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1 NLT). John began his gospel as Moses began the Torah, with the words, “In the beginning…” This signaled the lofty aspect of John’s gospel that clearly proclaimed Jesus as God’s Son. Using the Greek λόγος (logos
December 11, 2022 | John 1:1-18 |
Do you have sense of mystery this Christmas season? Or have you lost the sense of mystery you had as a child? Wouldn’t you like to rediscover the sense of mystery this Christmas?
Some of life’s greatest mysteries have to do with origins. Like the origin of the universe, or the origin of life, or of intelligence. But why would we consider such mysteries at Christmas? The gospel according to John opens up with one of the most amazing and mysterious prologues in the Bible. For in John’s gospel, he revealed the mystery that Jesus Christ was the Son of God come in the flesh. We can rediscover the mystery of Christmas by considering what John revealed about Jesus.
April 30, 2022
THE ONE WHO CAME AFTER YET LONG BEFORE John the Baptist was born three months before Jesus (see Luke 1:36). So, in that sense, Jesus came “after” John. Yet the Spirit had revealed to John that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, therefore He had existed “long before” John and had preference or
April 30, 2021
THE WORD THAT WALKED John began his gospel as Moses began the Torah, with the words, “In the beginning…” This signaled the lofty aspect of John’s gospel that clearly proclaimed Jesus as God’s Son. Using the Greek λόγος (logos – word), John proclaimed Jesus as not only equal to God in every way (essence, preexistence,
December 13, 2020 | John 1:1-18 |
Do you ever feel alone? Christmas is just around the corner, and for many people that means family, fun, and a few days spent in the company of the people we love. Except that, for some of us, Christmas time represents none of these things. For some, it will be a time of loneliness, trauma and great anguish. Many of us will spend this Christmas grieving for the people we’ve said goodbye to since last year. The parents we’ve lost. The friends. The children. Others may be reminded of insurmountable fractures in their familial relationships – the people we no longer speak to, the parties we can no longer in good conscience attend.
How can we experience the true light of Christmas this year? A light that overcomes our broken hearts and broken relationships? The apostle John tells us that Jesus came to light up our lives, so that we might know and be made right with God the Father. Jesus offers to be the Light of your life!
April 30, 2020
THE MYSTERY OF THE ONE WHO CAME AFTER AND BEFORE John the Baptist was born six months before Jesus (see Luke 1:36). So, in that sense, Jesus came “after” John. Yet the Spirit had revealed to John that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, therefore He had existed “before” John and had preference
April 30, 2019
THE WORD THAT WALKED AMONG US John began his gospel as Moses began the Torah, “In the beginning…” This signals the lofty aspect of John’s gospel that clearly proclaims Jesus as God’s Son. Using the Greek for “word” (λόγος, logos), John proclaims Jesus as not only equal to God in every way (essence, preexistence, eternality,
May 1, 2018
HOW WELL DID JOHN KNOW JESUS?
John the Baptist and Jesus were cousins born six months apart. Both births were miraculous, foretold by the prophets and announced by the angel Gabriel. Yet, John said that he “did not recognize” Jesus as the Messiah until after His baptism. Some suggest that since John grew up in Hebron and Jesus in Nazareth, they had never met before. But this seems unlikely. Mary and Elizabeth were apparently close before their sons were born, but they were no doubt bound together even closer after the spiritual experience they had together during their pregnancies (See Luke 1:39-56). In addition, the gospel of Matthew reported that John recognized Jesus before His baptism and felt unworthy to baptize Him (Matt. 3:14).
So what did John mean by saying he didn’t “recognize” Jesus, if he already knew Him and already considered Him to be greater than himself? Perhaps John did recognize Jesus as his cousin, and as one who was well known in their families as being announced as the long awaited Messiah. But that was thirty years ago and John had seen no confirmation as of yet. So, it was on the day of Christ’s baptism that the Lord spoke to John and revealed to him that Jesus was indeed the Messiah by the appearance of the Spirit descending like a dove upon Jesus. What his mother, Elizabeth, had told him was true. Jesus was the Messiah. John finally saw Him with spiritual eyes and proclaimed Jesus as the Lamb of God, the Messiah, as he had been born to do.