John 1:1-28

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Genesis 1 :26 ²⁶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

God was speaking forth the world as we know it into existence and then spoke to someone there with him…”Let US…” “in OUR image”.
Jesus was with God in the beginning.
Jesus is the Word of God.

² The same was in the beginning with God.

Eternal Jesus. When Jesus came to this earth to lay down his life for our sins, he left and existence where he was completely ageless, timeless… free in every single way possible…when he came to this earth he was subject to human things… like our need to sleep… time… age… and I’m sure many things we don’t even know about. Jesus existed before he was born of a virgin on the earth…. he was in the Beginning, with God.

³ All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made

Jesus is the WORD of God and when we read in Genesis… everything was spoken into existence…” And God said…..”followed by something that came in to existence at his spoken Word. I don’t completely understand the entire way this happened…just that Jesus and God were creating everything.

⁴ In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

John 14:6 ⁶ Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

⁵ And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

This is John the Baptist. His mother and Mary were both with child at the same time and when these two mothers came together and Mary told Elizabeth that she was with child of the Holy Spirit… John started moving around in Elizabeth’s belly. Luke 1:41-44. What comes to mind when pondering this is the verse Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” God was talking to Jeremiah about how he knew him even before he was conceived. God is that invested in each one of us… and even Baby John the Baptist could feel the presence of Jesus from inside of their mothers’ wombs.

⁷ The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

John the Baptist came preaching repentance and rebirth as he baptised those who came. God sent John first, to prepare the way for Jesus. John was different from those who dwelled in the Synagogue…John was the voice of one crying in the wilderness who ate locust and wild honey… Locust (Judgment) and Wild Honey (Blessings).

⁸ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

⁹ That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

John the Baptist was pointing the way towards Jesus who has the power to save us.

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

¹¹ He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

My pondering leads me to think this is Jesus coming to the Synagogue showing them that he is the fulfillment of the scriptures, the Messiah that was prophesied about, but they didn’t receive him. I wonder if it’s because they had an idea of what the Messiah was going to be like and how he would come and were so set on this idea they couldn’t see any other way. So, when Jesus came , they missed it, they missed all the prophetic signs being fulfilled because they thought it was going to go another way. Again, this is just my thoughts, I could be wrong.

¹² But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

¹³ Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴ And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.

Elizabeth was further along in her pregnancy than Mary… so this is John the Baptist recognizing that Jesus was in the beginning AND that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is eternal, he always was…he existed before he came here to the earth and became a man.

¹⁶ And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

Jesus overflows us with grace… and grace is not mercy, grace is forgiving you completely of the vile sins… and mercy is still holding you responsible, but not punishing you. With grace, the accountability is answered with forgiveness.

¹⁷ For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

When Moses received the Law from God… the ten commandments, sin became a recognized infraction with a definition of the offense being clearly outlined. Prior to that, there were no rules SET IN STONE….so there was no accountability and no way to obtain MERCY. When Moses gave the Law, there were clear rules and there were designated blood sacrifices to obtain mercy…all of it looking forward to a time when Jesus would come and pay the price with his blood so, then we received GRACE. With the Law, the people seeking mercy for breaking a commandment were required to sacrifice an animal…the High Priest would then go in to the Holy of Holies where the MERCY seat was and make a blood sacrifice. Then the blood was sprinkled over the Mercy Seat on the Arc of the Covenant where the Tablets of Stone with the 10 Commandments were. These 10 Commandments listed the sins mankind committed. So, in the old covenant the sprinkling of the blood of the animal sacrifices granted mercy to the person, but when Jesus came and shed his blood, we received Grace…. and all we had to do was repent of our sin and receive the payment that Jesus provided with his blood. Once we receive Jesus, then we are under GRACE.

¹⁸ No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Jesus told us about God from the point of view of a Son who knew his own father. Jesus wasn’t just relating a story he heard, he was a first hand witness of God the Father.

¹⁹ And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?

²⁰ And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.

²¹ And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.

²² Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?

²³ He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

John told them that he was the one to come and get people ready for Jesus when he comes...Isaiah 40:3 A voice of one calling:“In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord ;make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

²⁴ And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.

²⁵ And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?

They are confronting John the Baptist and asking him these question because they want to know who called him to baptize people.

²⁶ John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;

²⁷ He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

John’s answer lets them know that he isn’t the one, but the ONE is here….and this ONE is Jesus… the Son of God.

²⁸ These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.