The Gospel of John

Word and Light

1. Who does John say Jesus is?
The Messiah, or Christ. Both words mean "Anointed One," which means one who, like a priest, had been separated from the rest of the people and marked out for God's service. Priests were anointed with oil to show that they were in God's service.


Describe what it means to you that He is the Beginning, the Word, and the Light.
The beginning: Jesus lived before the universe was made. He made it. He'll be here after the physical universe ends. I think he'll be able to handle whatever I can come up with.

The Word:
Jesus is God's life spoken into our world. He was spoken as the way for people to relate to God. Jesus also spoke our world into being: words into rock, water and living things. He's creative. He makes things. He remakes people, which is hopeful for us broken and burdened human beings.

The Light:
Jesus shows us the way. He lived before us, did everything we do, and did do perfectly yet he also knows what life is like. He was here. I can trust that the light he shows me is true and not put there just to make me stumble, or to show how stupid I am. He is light, and light leads to life.

2. Who was John the Baptist?
A man, born by a miracle, to make people ready to listen to Jesus. John was there to introduce the new idea: salvation directly from God, with direct contact by anyone who believed. John's water baptism was a symbol of what Jesus would do. John was the first, as far as I can tell, to announce to the world that Jesus was the Messiah, the one the Jews had been awaiting.

3. Who were the first disciples?
Two men who'd been John's disciples, or followers. They saw Jesus walking and decided to leave John and go with Jesus. They asked Jesus where he was staying, and were told "Come and see." Quite an invitation. Come and take a look. Not "None of your business," or "You're not good enough to know," or "Only after a long, arduous and expensive training camp." No, it was very simple: "Come and see."

Describe the person Nathaniel.
One of the other disciples ran into Nathanael and told him about Jesus. Nate decided to come and take a look, although he had a low opinion of anything to do with Nazareth. I guess the place had a bad reputation. Jesus told Nathanael that there was no dishonesty in him, the first time in history a big-time religious figure praised someone for telling the truth. Which means Jesus wasn't into religion.

posted by Larry @ 8:32 AM