Who is Jesus? (Mission)
I am confident that I could try to mine all the nuggets of Johnâs gospel for the rest of my life and still not get it all, but my hope that is that we can discover and least some of the gold that has been presented to us by John.Â
Notes
Last week we examined a small portion of the answer to the question, âWho is Jesus - as a personâ. He is God. He is man. He is eternal. He is part of the Trinity. While there is a lot more that we could discover about the person of Jesus, that was quite a bit to chew on in one message.
This week I want to continue looking at how John, the one Jesus loved, describes Jesus. In his gospel, John does not just tell us WHO Jesus is, he is VERY CLEAR in his message about WHAT Jesus came to DO. It is not just Johnâs opinion; he actually even quotes Jesus regarding mission:
John 6:38â40 CSB
38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. 39 This is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise them up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.â
The mission of Jesus was to do the will of the Father in redeeming mankind.
Far be it from John to state something so simplistically! The entire scripture is about this mission of God redeeming his creation, and for John to capture that in the prologue of his gospel account requires that John connect the mission of the Messiah with the mission of the Creator God and the meta narrative or overarching theme of all scripture.
John uses metaphors that connect Jesus to the macro story or meta narrative of the Bible to show how Jesus fits in to the mission of Yahweh. Letâs read John 1 together, again. This morning from the Complete Jewish Bible.
John 1:1â13 CJB
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things came to be through him, and without him nothing made had being. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not suppressed it. 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was Yochanan. 7 He came to be a testimony, to bear witness concerning the light; so that through him, everyone might put his trust in God and be faithful to him. 8 He himself was not that light; no, he came to bear witness concerning the light. 9 This was the true light, which gives light to everyone entering the world. 10 He was in the worldâthe world came to be through himâ yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own homeland, yet his own people did not receive him. 12 But to as many as did receive him, to those who put their trust in his person and power, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 not because of bloodline, physical impulse or human intention, but because of God.
We already unpacked how John 1 is meant to connect us to Genesis 1. When we do that, we find two metaphors that connect us to the creation in Genesis 1: the Word and Light.
The Light
Letâs start by looking at the light.
What does John say about light in chapter 1?
The life of Jesus is the light of men.
The light shines in darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it.
John was a witness of the light.
The light was to point people to God, to believe in him.
Jesus is the true light that gives light to everyone.
John has connected these to Genesis 1 for a reason. Letâs read the creation account again and see what connections we can make with creation and mission:
Genesis 1:1â5 CSB
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, âLet there be light,â and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light âday,â and the darkness he called ânight.â There was an evening, and there was a morning: one day.
What connections might John be making?
Before creation, what was the condition of the earth? formless, empty, covered in darkness. The Hebrew term is tohu wabohu. It literally means, âempty and lifelessâ. The uncreated world was empty, lifeless and covered in darkness. Therefore, the creation process must then remove darkness so life can exist, then fill space to sustain life, and then create life. That is exactly what takes place in the Genesis creation account.
What was the first act of creation? Â
The light came into existence and dispelled the darkness. John says Jesus is the light.
The Mission of Jesus is to dispel darkness.
If light came into existence and it displaced darkness, and John connects Jesus to the light, then his mission must include displacing darkness. This is not just physical darkness, but must apply to sin and spiritual darkness as well.
WHAT LIGHT IS THIS?
There is a fundamental question about this first day of creation that seems to be absent from most discussions and commentaries. âWhat is this light?â The sun and moon and stars were not created until day four, right? So the sun was not that light.
There is an ambiguity about this light that John is actually capitalizing on. Â The light that existed on day one had to emanate directly from God. Is that a biblical concept?
Do we have other scripture references to light emanating from God? ABSOLUTELY!
Prophets - Â Ezekiel 1:27-28 â27 From what seemed to be his waist up, I saw a gleam like amber, with what looked like fire enclosing it all around. From what seemed to be his waist down, I also saw what looked like fire. There was a brilliant light all around him. 28 The appearance of the brilliant light all around was like that of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day. This was the appearance of the likeness of the Lordâs glory. When I saw it, I fell facedown and heard a voice speaking.â
Transfiguration - Matt 17:1-2 â1 After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 2 He was transfigured in front of them, and his face shone like the sun; his clothes became as white as the light.â
New Jerusalem - I mentioned that we need to look at both Genesis and Revelation to understand Jesus, right? In Revelation 21 there is an image of the new Jerusalem. Listen to part of the description: Rev 21:22-23 â22 I did not see a temple in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb.â
The glory of God is the light⊠the Lamb is the source (lamp). John the baptist called Jesus, âThe lamb of God which takes away the sins of the worldâ. The lamp of the new Jerusalem is Jesus - who is the glory of the Father.
Scripture refers to this as the radiance or glory of God. John connects the radiance of God in creation to Jesus.
It is the glory and radiance of God that the Bible authors see as that which lights up the new creation, the new Jerusalem. I believe John is also showing that he believes it was the radiance and glory of God that first dispelled the darkness in Genesis 1:3. He places Jesus (the Word, the lamb) as being there at creation dispelling the darkness.
The light that emanated from God dispelled the darkness as the beginning of creation. That light is the glory of God - it reveals God.
The mission of Jesus is to reveal light - the glory of the Father.
John 14:9 CSB
9 Jesus said to him, âHave I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, âShow us the Fatherâ?
As the Son displays the Father, as he is the icon or the image of God to mankind, the light of Jesus shines and gives life.
John 1:1â5 CSB
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.
Later in his gospel, John will quote Jesus about this topic:
John 8:12 CSB
12 Jesus spoke to them again: âI am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.â
So, John sees Jesus as the light that shone in the darkness of creation to bring about life. AND John sees Jesus as the one who is the light that dispels darkness and brings life to those who believe in him.
This light appeared to all mankind, and the reaction was not always positive.
John 1:10â11 CSB
10 He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
The light came to the world, and though the world was created through him, it it did not recognize/know him.
RECOGNIZE does not necessarily mean to physically see him. Like when you are looking around the room and recognize and old friend. To recognize, even in English, can also mean to give respect to. As when an important person enters the room and is recognized by a greeting, introduction or title - some form of respect. I think the translations that choose the word âknowâ him capture that idea better.
The world (cosmos) created by Messiah did not RECOGNIZE him - they did not acknowledge WHO Jesus was and respond accordingly.
The light came to his own (people), and they also did not receive/accept him.
The people of God (Jews) did not RECEIVE him. They might have been looking for Messiah, but they refused to accept Jesus as that Messiah. They refused to âwelcomeâ him and embrace him or, as some translations put it, âaccept himâ - which I like. The opposite of âreceiveâ is to ârejectâ, and that is what they did. They rejected him.
We mentioned throughout our study in Matthewâs gospel that the problem with Jesus is that you cannot remain neutral about him. Once you hear the truth about Jesus you need to make a decision. Will you ACCEPT Jesus and believe in him, or will you REJECT Jesus?
Failure to accept Jesus will lead to judgement.
John 3:19â20 CSB
19 This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed.
Those that reject Jesus face judgement. BUT, that is NOT why Jesus came into the world. Â The mission of Jesus was NOT judgement.Â
John 3:16â17 CSB
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
The mission of Jesus is to rescue people.Â
John 1:12â13 CSB
12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, 13 who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.
Those who DID/DO ACCEPT Jesus -> they become children (Jews)
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Those who DID/DO KNOW Jesus -> become born of God (World)
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They are born again.Â
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They are not part of Godâs family because of their heritage, nor because of their own will or enabling, but because of God and his mission of redeeming people through his Son.Â
John 3:5 CSB
5 Jesus answered, âTruly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
The mission of Jesus is new birth, a new creation if you will. Just as Jesus created the heavens and earth, he has the mission of ânew creationâ ->Â
2 Corinthians 5:17 CSB
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!
The mission of Jesus is re-creation.Â
THAT is a great lead-in to our next metaphor.Â
The Word
John 1:1 says that in the beginning, the WORD⊠ This is a unique term used by John to describe Jesus. No other gospel author, or NT author for that matter, refers to Jesus as the âWordâ. I mentioned last week that Matthew and Mark start right our introducing Jesus; yet John in his prologue (vs 1-6) does not use the name of Jesus to talk about Jesus. It isn't until vs 17 that John actually names Jesus.Â
So WHY would John choose the word, âwordâ, to describe the person of Jesus?
If I were to ask you, âHow did God create the heavens and the earth and all that is in it according to Genesis?â, what would be your answer? âGod saidâ. Yes, that phrase appears 11 times in chapter 1. 5 times God âcalledâ something by its name, and 2 times God blessed (once the animals and then human) with a verbal blessing. That is at least 18 references to the words of God in the creation narrative.
The WORD of God was very active in creation! Creation was spoken into existence. The WORD of God created life. While some believe this is not literal, there is no reason to believe otherwise. As a matter of fact, the Writings of the OT affirm that it was the very Word of God that enacted creation.Â
Psalm 33:6 CSB
6 The heavens were made by the word of the Lord, and all the stars, by the breath of his mouth.Psalm 33:9 CSB
9 For he spoke, and it came into being;Â he commanded, and it came into existence.
âThe Psalmist believes in a very literal interpretation of Genesis 1. It was the WORD of God what was busy in creation. John connected Jesus to creation, and creation was accomplished through the WORD of God. Â
John 1:1â3 CSB
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.
Some of the possible applications of this statement are:
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he was the living version of the voice of God
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he was the power of God for creation as well as NEW creation
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In the beginning, it was the words of God that spoke creation into existence. The words of God carried the power and authority and were able to enact the very will of God on the earth and all in it.Â
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To ascribe to Jesus the title, âthe Wordâ is possibly to say to that Jesus carried the power and authority of God and exacted the will of God upon all of creation. We know that is the case when it comes to saving us from our sins.Â
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John Explanation of the Text
In Genesis âin the beginningâ introduces the story of the âoldâ creation; in John it introduces the story of the ânew creation.â
â⊠and in Revelation it will be the Word of God that will carry out the re-creation of the heavens and the earth as well as all of mankind.Â
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By using the metaphor of WORD, we are drawn to the creative authority and power of God that first displaced darkness, created light and created life. This same power and authority to displace spiritual darkness, provide true light and life and enact re-creation of humans is given to Jesus as the WORD.Â
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Through the metaphors of LIGHT and the WORD, we better understand that the mission of Jesus was and is to:Â
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dispel darkness
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the darkness did not (and cannot) overcome Jesus
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provide light
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reveal God to people and create life
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author new creation
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redeeming people back to God
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REMOVE SIN (dispel darkness)
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REVEAL GOD (provide light)
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RESCUE PEOPLE (re-creation)
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The mission of Jesus was to do the will of the Father in redeeming mankind. â
That WAS and STILL IS the mission of Jesus. And for those that receive the light, they become the children of God.Â
1 John 1:5â7 CSB
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him. 6 If we say, âWe have fellowship with him,â and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. 7 If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
If you have heard about Jesus but never received or recognized him, today is a great day to do that. Jesus is still in the re-creation business and you can become a new creation through him if you will just believe he is the son of God and surrender your life to him.Â