Portraits of Jesus
“He who says the Torah is not from Heaven is a heretic, a despiser of the Word of God, one who has no share in the world to come” (Sanh. xi. 1; ib. Gemara, 99a)
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
This passage started to describe what there wasn’t a word for.
Deut. 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Word was with God. The Word was God.
Why WORD?
We communicate through words
John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
Psalm 33:6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
Psalm 107:20 He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.
The Word is God’s active, living communication
God came to earth
John 1:3-4 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
The builder of the house is greater than the house. Jesus is greater than entire universe.
“The complexity of the simplest known type of cell is so great that it is impossible to accept that such an object could have been thrown together suddenly by some kind of freakish, vastly improbable, event. Such an occurrence would be indistinguishable from a miracle.” Michael Denton, Evolution, a Theory in Crisis
“Many investigators feel uneasy stating in public that the origin of life is a mystery, even though behind closed doors they admit they are baffled.”
Paul Davies, The Fifth Miracle: The Search for the Origin and Meaning of Life
Jesus is the initiator of all life, because life originates in Jesus
There are no exceptions. Every living thing is because of Jesus. He is the source of all life. (Schnackenburg)
God came to earth to recreate life
John 1:6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.
John 20:30-31 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 1:9-11 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.
God is here. But people reject him.
John 1:12- Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
Believing in his name?
“The name is inextricably bound up with the person.”
“To believe in Jesus’ name implies the acceptance of Jesus to the full extent of his self-revelation. (Schnackenburg)
Whatever you tell me, I’m in.
John 1:14 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.
Jesus is God that changes everything