Hey Truth Seeker! — The identity of Jesus of Nazareth has been examined and debated by the world for 2000 years now.
No other person in history, or even in fiction, has had a larger impact on the entire world as Jesus has had. Not one person. Music, art, literature, philosophy, government, and even science has had significant influences under the character and teachings of Jesus.
Yet, even so, His identity is argued over and over and over. This is true of the early church as well, and one of the followers of Jesus, a disciple named John, wrote his gospel with the intention of setting the record straight.
John was a man who was there. He has first-hand accounts of not only what Jesus did, but who He was! He wrote His gospel to explain exactly who Jesus is, and he does so in the very first sentence.
Many have tried to destroy these first sentences of John, and have butchered the translation to confuse people. “Oh, it’s a mis-translation,” they exclaim. But even in the Greek it is very plain, and very clear. There is no confusion as to whom John writes his gospel.
John wanted to be clear. He wanted to be accurate. His goal was to be as clear as he possibly could, because there were heresies being spread among the early church, and he didn’t want them to miss the truth.
Let’s dive into it.
The Word
This is one of the more debated verses in the Bible. John speaks of Jesus from Nazareth throughout his gospel, and here he calls Him “the Word”, or in Greek, the logos.
Logos is a Greek concept you are free to study and research on your own, as I cannot unpack all of that here. But I will say another word for this is also “utterance”.
If you gave a speech in front of people about who you were, that speech would be a presentation, or an “utterance”, of your character.
Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the Bible tells us. He is the Utterance, or the Word, of God.
John considers Jesus and God so close in these verses, as though they are One, yet some have changed this translation to drive a wedge between them.
John 1:1 Examined Further
I want to take a moment to examine this text further, because there are those who have attacked this verse.
As an example, Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW.org) translate John 1:1 a little differently:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.”
They insert “a” to make a separation. However, when you examine the original Greek, it is literally:
I agree with JW that John 1:1 is not clear in English, but they have confused it further by adding unnecessary words.
The original Greek clearly says “the Word was with the God, and God was the Word“.
Wow!
If you are aware how sentences work, then you know that a sentence, in any language, has a “subject” and an “object”. If we say “a cat is stuck in a tree”, “the cat” is our subject, and “the tree” is our object.
John is very careful in how he writes John 1:1. He starts out saying “the Word” is the subject, “God” is the object.
But then John switches. “God” is the subject, and “the Word” is the object.
If Jesus is not God, then John would not have worded it this way at all. He would have been much more careful, otherwise all he would have done is cause more confusion.
If you do not believe Jesus is God, then this is a difficult verse, and you have to change it to fit what you believe, just as the JW have done.
Yet, his gospel is worded so carefully to set things straight, and clear up confusions. Not create more.
Continuing on in John 1 we find…
The Word in Creation
The author John deliberately opens with the same words that Genesis 1:1 opens: “In the beginning”.
He is deliberately painting an image in your mind of creation, and saying “At the moment that time began, the Word was already in existence”.
This is a bold claim when you hold it up to Genesis 1:1, because the only One who was there already was God Himself. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
And now John says the Word was involved in this creation process. Not only that, but outside of the Word there is nothing made.
It doesn’t say ‘God created the Word, and then everything was made.’ No, there is no beginning to the Word. He is the I AM.
The Word of Life and Light
The Gospel of John speaks of the identity of Jesus on nearly every page. Jesus Himself says later in John 14, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
Being “the life” is an easy thing to accept if Jesus is God, and if Jesus is central to creation. The One who created all things can easily claim to be “life”.
John takes this idea further to state that the life is the “light of men”.
If you feel lost, alone, hurting, or in despair, it can feel like death. There is a light and a life that Jesus wants to shine into your heart. He will overcome the darkness, and the despair and hurt will not prevail.
The Word Became Flesh
When we were born we did not “become flesh”. We have always been flesh. Our parents were flesh, and gave birth to us in flesh. We have always been flesh.
This verse is again pointing back to Jesus’ pre-existence. He already existed, and then became one like us, and dwelt among us. There is something personal here, that God the Son would step into time, and dwell with us, to show us His glory.
The disciples have seen His glory, and learned of His identity, and then wrote the gospels for us to learn and understand this glory of the Son. The Bible connects us to something greater than ourselves, and we can experience second-hand what they experienced first-hand.
God has not changed, however, and wants you to experience Him and see His glory first-hand as well.
Conclusion
John wrote his gospel with the intention of you knowing the identity of Jesus, and that you would go on believing Him.
John says He is the Word and is with God, and God is the Word.
Jesus said, “I and the Father are One”. Deuteronomy says “The LORD is One”.
The True Identity of Jesus is simply this:
- He is the Word of God
- The Word is the life and light of men
- He became flesh and dwelt among us
- He is the Son of God
Follow Jesus. He is trustworthy and good. He is the life, and the light of men.
Amen!
The Kingdom of God is Coming
If you desire to follow Jesus, and to know what that means to enter into His kingdom, click this link, and read it carefully.
I pray and hope you learn the identity of Jesus in a personal way, and that the knowledge of Him blesses you!
God Bless You,
Ken
