According to John 1:1-14 and Colossians 1:26--2:3, we do know precisely these things, if we truly accept Jesus for who he claims to be.
But what kinds of things can keep us from fully realizing this? What kinds of things could prevent the effect this should have on us?
2 comments:
I found this difficult to get my head around. I am still thinking about it and am not sure how to apply this or file it away in my head. I always thought Word - capital W - refered to Jesus, but yesterday after Church I was thinking it meant everything God is because of the word, Logos. I want to know more so I can have a clearer picture in my mind. Is there a resource that I can use? Thank you.
I think you clarify a lot in the way you word your question. The "Word" (or Logos) is Jesus, and Jesus is everything God is. This is why the concept of the Trinity is important; it holds that Jesus is not ranked below the Father, but is part of the same whole. That's what's so overwhelming about the point in John 1:14--that God himself has "become flesh and made his dwelling among us" in the person of Jesus.
Maybe I should have clarified one thing more in the sermon: The ancient concept of the Logos was a Greek concept, which wasn't necessarily aligned with concept of the personal God of the Old Testament. The gospel of John was not written primarily for a Jewish audience, so many may not have understood a lot about the personal God of the Old Testament, but likely would have understood the idea of Logos. In contrast, Matthew's gospel is much more focused on a Jewish audience and explains more how Jesus is the fulfillment of the OT.
There are two important points of application I see in the passage John 1:1-14.
1) That God has revealed himself in the person of Jesus, so if we commit to authentically following Jesus, we will live an enlightened life, knowing exactly how God wants us to live. To make an imperfect analogy, imagine being horribly lost on a long road trip: It's like the difference between stopping every two miles of curvy wooded road to ask for directions from people who don't speak English, or having a super sophisticated GPS that tells you just where to go.
2) God seeks us as a father seeks his children--he invites us to be in his own family. See John 1:12-13. This fulfills one of the deepest human longings--to belong and to be loved.
As for resources, I can't locate any specific articles on this passage off hand, but the first thing I suggest is to look up the word Logos in a Greek dictionary/lexicon. There is also a lot of light shed on the nature of Jesus in the first two chapters of Colossians. (Which, in many ways, is a parallel passage to John 1:1-14). Try too to find a good commentary on the passage from John. As always it's good to reference more than one. Also, the following is a list of contemporary NT scholars I believe to be very trustworthy and insightful:
Ben Witherington
Richard Hays
Craig Blomberg
Thanks so much for the thoughtful post.
MM
Post a Comment