Charles Spurgeon tells how George Whitefield, the great eighteenth-century evangelist, was hounded by a group of detractors who called themselves the “Hell-fire Club.” When Whitefield would stand outside preaching, this little group of guys would stand off on the side and mimic him. They didn’t believe a word of it. The ring leader was called Thorpe. One day Thorpe was mimicking Whitefield to his cronies. As he was delivering Whitefield’s sermon, perfectly imitating his tone and facial expressions, something happened. Thorpe himself was so pierced that he sat down and was converted on the spot.[1]
The psalmist says in Psalm 19:7-8:
“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.The Word of God in itself is powerful. The Word of God of itself is life-giving. That’s why it is so important to read, study, meditate on the word again and again. We find in the Bible that conversions come from preaching and listening to the word of God. Our Bible is like a gold mine. There we find all kinds of hidden treasure. But in order to find pure gold we need to ask the following question as we study God’s word:
The statues of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.”
“What does this passage tell us about Jesus?”Jesus himself said to people, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me” (Jn 5:39 NIV). All Scriptures, both the Old Testament and the New, point us to one person – Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him, and in him we have eternal life.
We have four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Each of the Gospels presents Christ with a distinctive emphasis. Matthew emphasizes his kingship, Mark his servanthood, Luke his manhood, and John his Godhood. Though it would be impossible to describe Jesus with one word, the Apostle John chooses one summarizing title for Jesus: the “Word.” From the very beginning John declares the truth that Jesus is the Word, who is the very nature of God: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (v. 1). Jesus is eternally God. And he is eternally Creator: “All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being” (v. 3). In the Old Testament we find the phrase “the word of the Lord came” more than 3,800 times. The Word of the Lord came as he created and led his people. The Word brings life. Jesus brings life. But what is really meant by “Word”?
Jesus, the Illuminating Word (1:5-13)
In the first chapter John expounds further on what it means that Jesus is the Word. He uses three metaphors for this purpose – the Light, the Flesh, and the Lamb. First, Jesus is the illuminating Word. Jesus is the Light. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (v. 5). Here the Greek word phaino translated as “shines” is literally “shines on” or “continually shines.” In our human history the light has been continually shining – first through the prophets and saints, and finally through the true light, Jesus Christ. And this true light is continually shining and bombarding every corner of our hearts of darkness through his powerful word.
How is Jesus living and active in our lives? Through his living word! “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb 4:12 NIV). Jesus is the Light, who continually shines, continually enlightens, continually penetrates our hearts, our minds, and our conscience. This can be very painful, because it reveals the truth that we are darkness (Eph 5:8), that our heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful and wicked (Jer 17:9), and that we are not ok as we are. But this is the very first step for our salvation. Just as stars shine even more brightly in the dark, the light of Jesus Christ shines brightly in our darkness. Abraham saw this light, heard the word of God’s promise, and was glad (cf. John 8:56). Augustine saw this light and came to the light. John Wesley saw this light, heard the word and believed. Our spiritual ancestors saw the same Light, heard the same Word – Christ Jesus, and responded in faith.
Jesus, the Incarnate Word (1:14-18)
Second, Jesus – the incarnate Word. In verse 14 John proclaims one of the most amazing, magnificent truths about Jesus: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us!” This great mystery of the incarnation is the core of the Christian message, and a stumbling block to many. The Word, the very nature God, became human! In other words, not only did Jesus expose our darkness with his word of truth, but also he came to us and became one of us. The Bible says, “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:18 NLT).
Billy Graham tells us the mystery of the incarnation in this way. One time years ago he was walking with his younger son, and by mistake they stepped on an anthill. They looked down and a lot of the ants had been killed, and many of them were injured. Their little house was destroyed. He said to his son, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could go down and tell those ants we are sorry and we care about them, and then help them rebuild their house?” And the son said, “Father, we’re too big, and they’re too little. There’s no way we could help them. The only way we could talk with them is if we somehow could become ants and live with them.” Billy Graham wanted to teach his son a little lesson, so he said, “One time God – the mighty God of heaven – looked down on this little speck of dust that we call the earth and saw that we were like those little ants crawling around. And God said, ‘I want to help them; I want to save them; I want to help them rebuild their lives.’ But how could the mighty God of heaven communicate with us? You know what God did? God became a man, and that’s what Jesus Christ was. Christ was the God-man who came to show us what God is like, and to die on the cross for our sins.”[2]
That’s what God did for us. Jesus Christ our Savior really took human nature on Him in order to save sinners. Like ourselves, he was born of a woman. Like ourselves, he grew from infancy to boyhood, and from boyhood to manhood. Like ourselves, he hungered, thirsted, was wearied, wept, felt pain. He was tempted, really suffered and shed his blood, really died, really buried, really rose again, and really ascended into heaven! The Bible says, “Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested” (Heb 2:18). Jesus is the God-man, the incarnate Word.
Jesus, the Sanctifying Word (1:19-34)
Third, Jesus is the sanctifying Word. When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, he declared, “Look! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) If we go to Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain, we see this painting (on the screen) by Francisco de Zurbaran. The title is Agnus Dei, Latin for “Lamb of God.” Around the lamb’s head, barely perceptible, is a halo. We see that the lamb’s legs are tied in a sacrificial posture. We see that the animal is lying on a cross. Clearly this animal reminds us of Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God. Indeed, Jesus was the true Lamb that God had provided at Mount Moriah for Abraham (Genesis 22:8). Jesus was the true Lamb which the Israelites offered every morning and evening. Jesus was the suffering Lamb that Isaiah had prophesied – the lamb that would be led to the slaughter, but not opening his mouth (Isaiah 53:7). Jesus was the Passover lamb slain to make atonement for the firstborn. In short, collectively Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away our sins. Jesus became our sin. We became his righteousness (cf. 2 Co 5:21). William Cowper proclaims this great truth of substitutionary atonement in this way:
There is a fountain filled with bloodCome and See! (1:35-51)
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.
So it is John’s long answer to the short question: “What does this passage tell us about Jesus?” Jesus is the Word – the illuminating Word, the incarnate Word, the sanctifying Word.
But before we leave this place today, we also need to ask ourselves the second question:
“How does this passage apply to us?”In other words, Jesus is the Light. But is he our Light? Have we come and seen the Light? Is the Light continually shining every corner of our hearts of darkness, continually penetrating our hearts? Jesus is the incarnate Word, making his dwelling among us. But are we really allowing the Word to dwell in us richly and impact our life? Are we willing to be formed and shaped by the Word again and again? Jesus is the Lamb of God. But is he our Lamb? Do we really believe he died for us?
There is a poem, titled “Flower” by Korean poet, Chun-Soo Kim. This poem tells us what it means to know someone and be known by that person:
You were nothing,
a mere sign,
till I named you.
Jesus came to his own people. He called them by name. But sadly, he was rejected by many. But some received him and believed in his name. In John 1 Jesus called his first disciples – Andrew, Peter, Philip and Nathanael – with a simple invitation: “Come and see!” And they did. With humility they received, believed, and followed Jesus. And they became different people! Jesus stills calls us today, saying “Come and see!” So let us come to the Light. Let us abide in the Word. Let us follow the Lamb wherever he goes. Then, we will see his glory, the glory of God's Son, full of grace and truth. Once we see that glory, we will be different people – “children of God” who are born from above, born of the Spirit! Amen.But when I called you by name,
you came to me:
you became a flower.[3]
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