Fully God, Fully Man
I have the privilege of having known as a friend for the past 35 years Bart Larson, who co-authored Jesus, A Biblical Defense of his Deity. This book is highly recommended because it provides in a concise, orderly fashion the arguments that affirm that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine. Add Josh McDowell to the mix, and this 137 page book is loaded with references. In McDowell’s usual economical fashion, he provides a scriptural index in the back. It is interesting to note that the book of John is referenced 116 times, more than all the other gospels combined (60). It provides just one clue as to why John wrote the gospel. His focus was on the person Jesus, not so much his history as his teaching and nature.
The first century of the church was exciting yet rather chaotic. You can well imagine how difficult it was to communicate over a vast empire. The story of Jesus was primarily spread verbally, extensively using “the Bible” of that time, which ended with the book of Malachi. There was no New Testament. Instead, as Paul and others pointed out, there was the “teaching of the Apostles.” The authority of doctrine was simply based on “he said, then he said.” Paul, John, Andrew or some other apostle would enter a town, start a small house church and then move on. What they left behind was the core doctrine of the Christian faith and a history of the life of Jesus. This doctrine was placed in trust to elders in the local church.
As the good news spread throughout the Roman Empire, it was no accident that slight variations in the church doctrine evolved. Greeks, Romans, Syrians, Arabs, Jews and Egyptians all had their unique culture and languages. The translation of the emerging New Testament created variations simply because the original Greek was interpreted differently by various cultures. There were also various intellectual traditions, some cultures leaning more to the mind rather than the heart. Some cultures had strong mystical tendencies. By the time John was a very old man, some aspects of the Christian faith were under serious “attack”. Jesus, his nature in particular, was being redefined. Various heresies and cults emerged, but they all had one common theme — Jesus was not divine.
The first chapter of John has 14 verses that address the nature of Christ. There was no secret what John was attending to do with this gospel.
Probably the most pivotal verses in the doctrine of the Trinity are 1:1 and 1:14. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” It is easy to see, when adding the Holy Spirit to the discussion, how we get “one God, three persons.” Christ existed outside of time, yet he co-existed with God and while also possessing God’s nature. Yet at one point in history he came and lived amongst us. In the latter verse there is no doubt that the man, Jesus, was fully divine and obviously, as evidenced in the gospel narrative, fully human.
Born Again
John 3 is the famous text where Jesus talked of being “born again.” The other gospels have no reference to this encounter with Nicodemus, nor with this phrase of being “born again.” Yet in the first chapter, verse 12, God demonstrates the intimacy of the relationship he seeks with us by stating “Yet to all who received 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 relationship is based on one simple thing — belief in the name of Jesus. Do you believe the story? Do you trust the testimony to be true? One of the things that I am sure grieves the heart of God is when he sees Christians, often out of misguided zeal, exclude other Christians because belief is not enough. Yet here it is in John 1:12. And this simple belief gives us a “right” to be called children of God. A right!
What is this new beginning? Simply, a life based on grace and truth. Follow the narrative. In verse 16, “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law of Moses was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
John the Baptist
It becomes quite evident that John was a follower of John the Baptist, as was Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip and Nathaniel. But in no other gospel is as much space devoted to John the Baptist, especially his role in helping Jesus develop the first set of men who would eventually be known as the twelve disciples. John the Baptist clearly presents Jesus as the “Lamb of God,” mentioned in verse 29 and not mentioned in the other gospels, clearly laying out that the Messiah was to be a suffering Messiah, a sacrifice for our sins. (See Isaiah 53).
“The Next Day”
This was rather troubling, because reading the narrative into Chapter Two, there is no break in the action for Jesus to roam into the wilderness, as is recorded in the other gospels. John refers to a conversation between the Baptist and the Pharisees, followed by “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God.” Then there is a reference to the water baptism of Jesus, followed by “The next day” in verse 35, then a “next day” in verse 43 when Jesus decides to return to Galilee and then three days later they are at the wedding in Cana.
The solution to this riddle is to realize that the Baptist did not know who Jesus was until after he was baptized. It was only when he saw the Spirit rest on him like a dove that he had baptized Jesus. (verse 33). So John was referring to an event that had already happened before verse 29 when the Baptist pointed out Jesus to John. More than likely, this was when Jesus had just returned from his 40 day journey in the wilderness.
Humor
Filmmakers have typically made Jesus into a mystical sage who is somber, gracious and kind. But witty and even teasing? Here is Nathaniel, alone with Philip, saying “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” (v. 46). A few minutes later, Jesus yells out to Nathaniel “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” Then he tells Nathaniel he saw him standing under the fig tree before Philip had ever approached him. Nathaniel’s response was awe, calling him the King of Israel, the Son of God. (v.49). Have we come full circle?
