John: Week 1

Hello Friends,

I just got back from camping down near Houston with a great group of men. We had great conversations, great community, and great food! What more could you ask for? I must say that even the simplest foods taste better when they are cooked over an open fire. Do you agree?

Anyways, like I said I have started my journey of getting to know Jesus better through the Gospel of John. This week I will be looking at John 1:1-15. Over the past year or two these verses have become some of my favorite. The book of John is not written as a biography of Jesus' life, rather it is written to show the divinity of Jesus, which means Jesus is God. It is written by the apostle John and his audience was new Christians and those who where searching for Truth. Each chapter in this book shows the divinity of Jesus.

The book of John starts with, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning" (John 1:1-2). This statement holds a lot of significance to it, but can be awkward to understand. After reading a bit I learned that the word "Word" holds a lot of authority and weight to it's reader at the time it was written. In Hebrew scripture "Word" means the way in which God created creation (Psalm 33:6). It is also was how God revealed him self to his people through his prophets (Hosea 1:2) and how he revealed his commands to his people (Psalm 119:11). In the Greek philosophy "Word" was the principle of reason that governed the world. In Hebrew thought, "Word" was another expression used for God. I also find it interesting that "Word" is capitalized making it a name.

John 1:14 says, "The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." So, my take on the opening is this (Mind you, I am no theologian), "In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God. Jesus was with God in the beginning." Right out of the gates John is making it clear that Jesus is more than a man, he is God in the form of a man. To the Jews of the time this was blasphemy and to our culture today this is not widely accepted.

Many people today will agree and even support that Jesus was a great guy. He probably was a pretty spiritual dude and some how did some great things that where amazing. What he taught was good. Who doesn't think that poor people should be taken care of, that being nice to people is better than being mean. Social justice is something that is becoming more and more important to young people today, so Jesus' teaching can ring a chord of truth to many people today. But, many of those ideas and agreements stop when some one says, no, Jesus was much more. Jesus was and still is God. From my experiences this is a stumbling block for many people today just as it was two thousand years ago.

As I was reading this passage over and over the last few days I was trying to find some crazy deep meaning, but God showed me that the most important thing we need to first understand is that Jesus is in fact God. There are many people in this world that do amazing things such as Mother Theresa, Bono, the guy on the street that helps the old lady across the street, they are all great, but they are not worth putting my hope and trust into. They are simply humans. But Jesus was and is much more, he is God.

Something that I remember being challenged with in late high school was to use the name of Jesus more often. The word "god" is thrown around a lot in the world and is not challenged a whole lot. It has become very ambiguous and vanilla. But what about Jesus? When someone asks you about your faith, instead of saying I believe in God why don't we say I believe and trust in Jesus. It is hard. People will look at us weird like we have a third leg growing out of our head. People, including ourselves, may get uncomfortable. But Jesus is God. Jesus is the reason we are alive, Jesus is the reason we are free from our sin. Jesus paid our price in full and has made us right with the Father. Jesus is God.

As I write this hundreds of questions are storming into my head. Even if you do not agree with what I am saying I pray that it gives you something to chew on and wrestle with. Hopefully it will invite you to open up John and read it for yourself. I do not have all the answers by any means. Please share with me your thoughts. In the might name of our God, Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior.

Eternity Matters Most,

A

Bible Challenge Time

I am currently reading through the book of John. I was at Rock Harbor in Costa Mesa several weeks ago before I moved to Texas where the pastor, Mike Erre, challenged us to read one of the four gospels. There was a catch though; he challenged us to read it so we could get to know Jesus better, that's it. As college students or church workers or church members it is so easy to read the Bible because "we have to." We either have a theology class we have to study for, or a message we have to prepare for, or a Bible study, or a small group discussion... the list can go on forever. How often do we sit down to read the Bible with the intentions of simply wanting to know Jesus better. Not just facts, but his character, his heart, his motivations for saying and doing what he said and did. I know I can say that I don't think I have ever carved out the time to do this.

So, I took Mr. Erre up on his challenge. I must say, it has been challenging. I have read through the Gospels many times for many classes. I have memorized many facts and dates (that where all erased after I spilled them onto my scantron). This has all been good, but I can't say that it has necessarily changed my heart in a significant way. I can spout off what Jesus did, or some of the historical background behind it all, but does that really mean I know Jesus in a more real and passionate way? Or, does that just make him like any other historical figure I have read about in countless history text books? Please, don't get me wrong, I love all the facts and history in the Bible and it can be very helpful, even necessary to fully get the bigger picture of what is going on in Scripture, but lets not stop there. Lets not read Scripture as only a text book that we check off our list after we have memorized the big names, dates and events.

I now pass on Erre's challenge to you, or rather invite you to join me in this challenge. For the next several weeks I hope to work my way through the book of John and each week write a blog about what I have read. These will probably include some "text book" stuff, but my bigger desire is to know Jesus in a deeper way. I pray that the Holy Spirit brings God's word alive to all of us in a new way. I would love for you to all join me and post your thoughts, to challenge my thoughts, even correct my thoughts (as I am no theologian). So, lets get reading. Feel free to invite your friends to this challenge. I pray that this can be an open place where we can share our thoughts and struggles while encouraging and supporting each other.

Eternity Matters Most,

A

Music I am currently enjoying:

Wilco
Fleet Fox
Radio Head
Sigur Ros
Cold Play
Ben Kweller