The Word, The Witness & the Lamb

In C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, there is a interaction between Lucy and the great lion Aslan.

Aslan is, if you're familiar with it at all, he is the Jesus figure in the Narnia Chronicles.

And Lucy approaches Aslan and she gazes into his large but gentle and wise face.

And Aslan says to her, welcome child.

Lucy responds, Aslan, you're bigger.

Aslan answers, that is because you are older, little one.

She questions his response, not because you are.

I am not, he says.

But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.

Every year you grow, you will find me bigger.

That is, it's an analogy.

The bigger Jesus is to us, the more we grow in our understanding of Jesus, the bigger he is to us.

And the more central he becomes in our lives, the bigger our sense of purpose will be in our life.

Meaning and contentment and passion and the joy will grow more and more the bigger Jesus is to us.

And that's why our purpose here at St. Paul's is to treasure Jesus.

And we do it ultimately for our joy.

John's massive vision of Jesus has opened the eyes to countless, countless people over the centuries.

To the greatness of Jesus Christ.

And it has been equally profound as a gospel.

Equally profound as an impact on Christians.

And it expands their vision for the magnificence of who Jesus Christ is.

And so as we spend this term working our way through the first 12 chapters, my hope is that we, like Lucy with Aslan, would find Jesus to be bigger and bigger and bigger than we ever imagined.

To move beyond a mere religious response to him.

And the more central we see him in our lives, the more abundant our life will become.

And today, so therefore, as we come into John chapter 1, I want us to see who Jesus is, the profound change that he brings in our lives and what we need to do about it.

John 1 · chapter mention

And that's just the first chapter.

So St. Paul's app, get that open in front of you.

Got three points there.

But also your Bibles in John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

John chapter 1 is one of the most richest and also famous parts of the Bible.

John 1 · chapter mention

The first 18 verses makes the claim that the rest of the gospel of John explains, defends and supports.

John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

It's John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

It's the first 18 verses is the prologue to the whole of the gospel.

And the main claim is that the word that was in the beginning became flesh and lived amongst us so that we could bear witness to the word.

That's the main claim.

And we are told five things about the word in these verses.

The word is a person.

The word is a divine person.

The word is an eternal divine person.

And the word is the eternal divine person who's the source of all things.

And lastly, the word is Jesus Christ.

Now you could take five years to explain each of those five statements.

But I want to focus on just one of these things that he's picked out.

And that is John's use of the word word.

I want us to focus on the word.

It's a very interesting way to describe who Jesus is.

The Greek word that John uses here for word is logos.

In the beginning was the logos.

And the logos came to dwell with us.

It's a word that has an enormous amount of meaning for the first century Greco-Roman world.

The Greek philosophers looked at nature.

They saw balance.

They saw harmony.

They saw design.

They saw order.

And they concluded that there is a cosmic principle of order behind all that they observed.

And they called that principle the logos of the universe.

And the logos for Greek philosophers was an impersonal divine structure that brought forth all that we experience in the world.

And that was the foundation of the Greek worldview, which is also the foundation of Western civilization.

The Eastern worldview is built on a similar principle of purpose and reason and order behind what we observe.

And so the logos is the purpose.

It's the reason.

It's the logic, which is where we get the word logos from.

We get it from logos.

Logic.

Logos.

It's the logic behind all things.

It is what makes sense of all things.

Maybe think of it like this.

Most things that we purchase these days comes with a set of manufacturer's instructions.

The more complex, the greater the instructions that you have associated with these things.

And the instructions ask how to use and to care for that particular item.

They are the manufacturer's purpose for the item.

The guidelines how to use it within its purpose.

In other words, the instructions are the logos for the item that we have in front of us.

And the use of that item must be aligned to the instructions.

To the design.

The reason for its existence.

And if you don't use it in line with the logos, at best, you will not get your value out of that item.

At worst, it will be disaster.

If you do not plug it into a PowerPoint, but you plug it into a hose, instead, it is not going to work.

And at the very least, your warranty is going to be voided.

The Greeks concluded that if we align our lives with the logos, life would go well for us.

However, if you don't align your life with the logos, you would at very least experience an emptiness in life.

A discontentment in life.

A constant searching in life.

At the very worst, you would destroy your life.

Now, there are many different versions of what the logos was and how you would align your life to the logos.

As there are today.

Everything from living selflessly for the sake of others, for the world and for future generations.

And then along comes John.

John the Baptist.

With the earth-shattering category of the Christian faith.

The logos is not a principle.

The logos is a person.

To understand the world, to understand all things, you must understand a person.

And this person is the designer and the source of all life.

The one who we are to align our lives with.

That this person is the truth that sits behind all things.

And to live life well, we must have a relationship of love centered on a person.

That is the radical claim of Christianity throughout the centuries.

But verses 5 to 11 tell us it's a claim that has faced rejection right from the very beginning.

Verse 9.

Have a look at that.

The true light that gives light to everyone has come into the world.

He was in the world.

And though the world was made through him, the world, that's the people, did not recognize him.

He came to those which was his own.

But his own did not receive him.

Verse 5 is the key to understanding the rejection.

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

Other translations, for those who are familiar with different translations, say that the darkness has not understood it.

In his commentary on this verse, Don Carson says,

This verse is a masterpiece of planned ambiguity.

That is, the word that John uses here, and he's very careful with all his words,

the word he uses here can mean both overcome or understand.

In the same way we might ask, what does it mean to master something?

What does it mean when we say, I've mastered that?

It may mean that I've overpowered it.

Or it may mean, oh, I finally get it.

It may mean both of those things at the same time.

I finally get it.

I figured it out.

And that is, if you like, the ambiguity of this word is that there are two broad categories of rejecting the claims of Jesus Christ.

One is an overly hostile.

The other is just simply not to get him.

Not to understand him.

And either way, you've rejected him.

In the post-Christian era that we find ourselves in now,

some people are hostile to the idea that Jesus Christ is the truth

that sits behind the universe.

Our secular society is increasingly hostile to any idea that there is any form of absolute truth behind the universe.

And in some quarters, there is an attempt to overcome Jesus.

Another way to reject Jesus as the logos is the religious approach, the moralistic approach.

It is not to understand Jesus.

The religious approach is to see Jesus as laying down a set of rules for life

where I need to obey in order to work for his approval.

That is to misunderstand the logos.

To misunderstand who Jesus is.

Relativism and moralism are both forms of rejection of Jesus.

Both leave us looking ultimately to ourselves

and the consistency of our own lives for truth and meaning and hope.

And that is why we are living in a world with so many fragile egos

because it puts me, moralism and relativism, put me at the centre of the universe.

As the truth of the universe.

And it's an oppressive weight to bear.

On the other hand, what John puts in front of us here is so liberating.

There are hardly more beautiful words in the entire Bible

than verses 12 to 14, or 12 and 14.

To all who did receive him, to those who believe in his name,

he gave the right to become children of God.

Verse 14, the word became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us.

And we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son

who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The right to become children of God.

That's what's at stake here in understanding who Jesus is.

The relationship of a parent to a child is not based on the child's performance.

It's not a consumeristic relationship.

It's not a cost-benefit relationship.

It's a covenant relationship based on unconditional faithfulness and commitment and love

from the parent to the child.

And in Jesus understanding him, we have the right to become children of God.

In other words, this claim that Jesus is the truth

is a non-oppressive truth claim.

And Jesus Christ declares it's possible to have that kind of relationship with the God of the universe.

How?

Because the logos, the word, became flesh and dwelt amongst us.

The logos of the universe came to us.

He hasn't left us to our own devices to navigate life,

to try and align ourselves with the manufacturer's purposes.

The word that John uses for dwelt here is the word tabernacled amongst us.

It's another name for templed amongst us.

And all around this world, through every culture, there are temples.

Temples have been built throughout history

because people, human beings from every culture

have instinctively sensed that there is a God,

there is a logos, there is a purpose, there is a being,

but there is a gap.

There is a big gap.

He is great and we are small.

And temples were built in every culture in an attempt to bridge that gap.

Sacrifices were offered.

Rituals were performed.

And holy people were engaged to bridge the gap for us.

And John tells us that the Lord of the universe

has now tabernacled with us.

He has bridged the gap himself.

Dwelt in our presence.

So that we might know who he is.

That's the beauty of the claim that Jesus is the word

and why we'd want to see and savour him and treasure him for who he is.

The heart of the universe is a person.

Now one person who saw Jesus, who witnessed Jesus for who he is

as the eternal creator God, the source of all life, was John the Baptist.

The first witness to the glory of Jesus Christ as the truth.

Now John was a guy who in the first century drew a lot of attention to himself

about his preaching and calling people to repent for their sin.

From the servants in the fields to King Herod himself in his palace.

From the religious elite to the Roman soldiers.

People everywhere were talking about John.

He had more Twitter followers than anyone.

Anyone on the face of the earth.

Lots of rumours went around about who John was.

That maybe John was the Logos.

Could he be the long awaited Jewish Messiah

who would rescue God's people from slavery?

Is he in fact the hope of humanity?

The saver of the nation?

Verse 20, he said, not me.

Well maybe he's the great Elijah, the prophet that Malachi predicted

that was going to come just before the Messiah.

Is John the Elijah figure from Malachi?

Nope, I'm not him either.

Well what about the prophet?

The promised prophet from Deuteronomy

who would lead God's people to a new day of dawn?

Nope, I'm not him either.

Who are you John?

What are we going to say about you?

How do you explain you John?

In all of your greatness and your millions of tweets

who are you?

I'm a voice.

Nothing special at all.

I'm a voice.

And yet you read Matthew chapter 11

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

and we get a very different picture of who John is

according to Jesus Christ.

This is Jesus' assessment of John.

Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John.

What did you go out to see?

A prophet?

Yes, I tell you.

And more than a prophet.

This is the one to whom it is written.

This is Malachi.

I will send my messenger ahead of you

who will prepare your way before you.

I tell you.

I tell you.

Among those born of women,

there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.

That's Jesus' assessment of John.

He's worthy of all these millions of Twitter followers.

Jesus' assessment of John is profoundly different

than John's assessment of John.

After the arrival of Jesus,

this is what Jesus says,

among those born of women,

which is quite a lot of people as it turns out,

there has not been anyone greater than John.

No one greater than John.

Jesus says he is, in fact,

the Elijah figure that Malachi predicted.

So how do you reconcile those two perspectives?

Is John just someone that we might call in our modern day

someone with low self-esteem?

Or maybe someone who's got a false humility.

Yeah, not really about me.

Well, this is not at all.

It's not at all the case

because as we go through John's gospel,

we will see that someone with low self-esteem

and false humility would be incredibly fearful

and would lack an element of confidence.

And John, therefore,

would not be calling the religious elite

to the Roman soldiers

to herod himself in his palace

to repent and to follow Jesus Christ.

That is not someone of low self-esteem

who would have that kind of boldness and brashness.

What's happening here is that John,

who bears witness to the Logos,

sees himself against Jesus and says,

I am nothing.

I may be the greatest human being

who's ever walked the face of the earth up to Jesus,

but I am nothing.

Compared to Jesus.

He's saying to the crowd,

you've missed the point.

It's not about me.

You've missed the point.

It's not about me.

I am merely a voice announcing a greater one.

I've seen the Logos.

The great one is verse 23,

the Lord.

And here John uses the covenant name

of Israel's God, Yahweh.

Verse 27 is the key to understanding

John's understanding of himself

in the presence of Jesus.

He is the one who comes after me,

the straps of whose sandals

I'm not worthy to untie.

First century Palestine

was a hot, dusty, dirty,

mucky place.

By the end of the day,

your feet would stink

bad.

I actually put originally in my text,

really bad,

but Microsoft wanted to correct that

for being bad grammar.

But I want to say really,

really, really bad.

Really bad.

And there were, in fact,

Jewish laws

that said you could not demand

a servant

or a worker

or a disciple

to untie your sandals

unless

they were a Gentile dog.

They weren't allowed

to untie your sandals.

It was seen as so

disgusting

in first century.

And every culture's got their things

which we would describe as

disgusting.

And it was so disgusting

in first century Palestine.

They had laws against it.

And notice what John

says here.

Notice what he doesn't say.

He doesn't say,

I am only worthy

to untie his sandal.

He actually says,

I'm not even worthy

to untie his sandal.

He's saying to his audience here,

I am lower

than even the Gentile dogs

in the face of Jesus Christ.

He's saying,

you,

my Twitter account

serves

his glory.

That's why I'm here.

I'm below the lowest

of the Gentiles.

I understand

the greatness

of Jesus Christ.

Don't try and understand

my greatness.

My life

is to draw attention

to him.

My purpose

is to bring him glory,

not myself.

He is the logos.

He is the purpose.

He is the meaning,

the reason

for the universe.

He is the meaning.

But John also bears witness

to Jesus Christ,

not just as the logos

of the universe

who has come to dwell

amongst his creation,

but he also bears witness

to how the logos

has come to his creation

and why he's come

to his creation.

He doesn't come

as a devouring

great lion

that needs to be appeased,

but as a lamb.

Now the relativist

rejects the idea

of a powerful

divine designer.

The moralist

misunderstands

that the powerful

designer

behind the universe

is in fact

a lamb.

The logos

is not just great

but also good.

Verse 29,

he points to Jesus

and says,

look,

this is John,

look,

the lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world.

Exclamation mark

in the original

Greek text,

look.

Other versions

have got,

behold.

John's Jewish audience

knew exactly

what he was saying

when he said that.

Centuries earlier

when they were slaves

in Egypt,

Moses went to Pharaoh

and said,

let my people go

and Pharaoh

refused to let

them go

and God sent

a bunch of plagues

to convince Pharaoh

and all of Egypt

and the final plague

on Egypt

because of their

oppression

and their rebellion

and their injustice

was an angel

of death

to strike down

the firstborn son

in every home.

that was

devastating

for the hopes

of a patriarchal

society

who pinned

their hopes

on the firstborn son

and God

also said

to his people

Israel,

don't forget

your sinners

too.

It's not because

you're better.

The only way

that they could

escape

the same fate

was if they

were to kill

a lamb

and have

its blood

spread

on the doorposts

of their homes

and when the

angel of death

sees the blood

he will pass

over the house

and they will

not be slain

for their sin.

In other words

the lamb

died

so that the family

didn't have to

and from that

very night

year after

year

century after

century

Israel celebrated

the Passover

meal

and remembered

the night

that they didn't

have to pay

for their sin

but how

is it possible

that a little

lamb

could possibly

atone

for the

sin

of an individual

or of a nation

of a world

how is that

possible?

You see

John and his

Jewish heroes

would have also

been quite familiar

with another

figure in the

Old Testament

that the book

of Isaiah

calls the

suffering servant

and Isaiah

says this

about the

suffering servant

we all like

sheep have

gone astray

each of us

has turned

to our own

way

and the

Lord has

laid on

him

the iniquity

of us

all

he was

oppressed

and afflicted

yet he did

not open

his mouth

he was

led like

a lamb

to the

slaughter

and John

goes

both of

those images

come together

in the

person of

Jesus

I'm

channeling

together

in the

person

of Jesus

the

suffering

servant

is the

sacrificial

lamb

for sin

the

logos

of the

universe

is the

suffering

servant

and he

says

behold

look

get it

understand

it

the

reason

why

our

firstborn

sons

didn't

die

in

Egypt

and

you

don't

need

to

now

is

because

God

has

offered

his

own

son

as

the

sacrificial

lamb

and

as

he

says

to

his

hearers

in

the

first

century

so

he

says

to

us

now

in

the

21st

look

behold

gaze

think

ponder

understand

get it

who

Jesus

is

he

is

the

logos

and

the

lamb

for

your

joy

the

logos

of the

universe

has

sacrificed

himself

so

that

we

can

be

free

and

loved

and

known

and

approved

get

it

and

get

abundant

life

you

see

this

news

is

news

that

humbles

you

that

Jesus

is

the

truth

that

he

is

the

lamb

it

humbles

you

because

that's

what

it

took

for

God

to

deal

with

our

rejection

of

him

but

it

also

lifts

you

up

because

his

love

for

us

is

so

great

that

he

was

in

fact

willing

to

do

it

in

Jesus

Christ

for

all

of

us

fragile

egocentric

people

trying to

find the

truth

in

ourselves

Jesus

Christ

in

him

we

receive

the

praise

of the

praise

worthy

we

receive

the

love

of

the

lovable

and

that

fills

you

up

on

the

inside

it's

the

source

of

abundant

life

it's

the

reason

John

is

so

bold

and

so

confident

and

yet

so

deeply

humble

it's

why

the

whole

trajectory

of

his

life

has

shifted

to

him

being

just

a

voice

the

greatest

priority

in

his

life

is

to

be

a

voice

a

voice

to

Jesus

Christ

when

Jesus

said

that

John

is

the

greatest

one

born

of

women

until

now

he

added

something

that

I

didn't

include

the

first

time

around

let me

include

it

the

second

time

among

those

born

of

women

there

had

not

risen

anyone

greater

than

John

the

Baptist

yet

whoever

is

least

in

the

kingdom

of

heaven

is

greater

than

he

the

greatest

in the

world

up to

Jesus

was

John

the

Baptist

but

those

who

trust

in

Jesus

on

his

terms

are

in

fact

greater

than

John

the

Baptist

how can

that

be

well

ask

yourself

the question

why was

John

so

great

why was

he

great

it's

because

he

was

a

voice

he

was

the

first

to

grasp

the

greatness

of

Jesus

Christ

and

he

did

it

better

than

anyone

else

up to

that

point

but

every

single

Christian

sits

on

this

side

of

the

death

and

resurrection

of

Jesus

and

it

means

that

we

have

a

greater

capacity

right

now

to

understand

to

grasp

who

Jesus

is

for

our

joy

and

to

experience

the boldness

of the

confidence

and the

humility

of

John

the

Baptist

to

the

degree

that

we

behold

who

Jesus

is

we

look

to

Jesus

understand

Jesus

is

the

degree

to

which

we

will

align

our

lives

with

him

and

it

will

be

the

degree

to

which

we

experience

joy

in

this

life

right

now

to

the

degree

that

we

grow

in

the

abundant

life

is

the

degree

also

that

we

will

be

a

voice

to

the

greatness

and

the

goodness

of

the

life

that

is

in

Jesus

going

to

to

the

heaven

him

it

his

oh

glory

to

the

motherfuck

to

the

another

gem