JOHN'S PROLOGUE SERIES - PART 1

CAN I HAVE A WORD WITH YOU?

There are lots of things we use every day without thinking about how useful they are, aren't there. Or what you'd do without them. Like a SPANNER. The other day trying to put a new bumper bar on the car, and I didn't have on the right size. Don't often think about how useful something like the right spanner is. But without it, I had problems.

Now have you ever stopped to think about what a useful thing WORDS are? Because they're something we use all the time without thinking about it. When I was at Bible College I was doing one of my courses with a guy called Allan; and Allan was profoundly deaf. He was training to be the pastor of a deaf church in Sydney, where they do everything in SIGN LANGUAGE. He sat in the lectures, he had someone with him to help him who was translating the lectures for him into hand movements.

Allan couldn't hear a thing. And he couldn't speak a word. Except with his hands.

You know, over the three years I was in contact with Allan, the sad thing is, we never had a single conversation. Every now and then I'd stand near where he was at morning tea time, and there were one or two people who knew a bit of sign language, and they'd try to have a conversation with him. But I didn't even know how to say gooday.

So in all that time, not a single word passed between us. We were in the same place. But we were strangers. Without words, I didn't really know whether Allan was happy or whether he was sad. I didn't find out anything about his family, or his church. And he didn't get to know me. All I could do was GUESS.

Without words, we were absolute strangers. Same room. Different planet. Without words, there's no way of KNOWING. And BEING KNOWN.

Words are powerful things, aren't they? Words are the building blocks of relationships. The bridges from person to person; the way we know and are known. The way you express yourself to me; and I express myself to you.

Now I want you to read John chapter 1 verse 1 and 2. It says this. In the beginning was THE WORD… And the WORD… WAS WITH GOD. And the word WAS GOD. He was with God in the beginning.

And go to verse 14. The Word… became FLESH. And made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

You know, as we start out on this little series on John's gospel, I want to say to you that we're going to be up against some very big ideas. We're going to be faced with some MIND STRETCHING CONCEPTS. So I want you to be prepared to try to stretch a bit. And stick with it. And let me just reassure you, if you find you have trouble getting your head round some of this stuff, JOIN THE CLUB. So does everyone else.

Don't give up. And don't put it in the too hard basket. Because these words are here for a reason. They're here to paint a BIG PICTURE of Jesus. Written by the disciple who was closest to him, who knew him best.

And he says THINK ABOUT WORDS FOR A MINUTE. He says, IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD. The word was with God, the word WAS GOD; and the thing he really wants to point us to… THE WORD BECAME FLESH, and dwelt among us, AND WE SAW HIS GLORY.

John the disciple is talking about Jesus. And he's making some HUGE CLAIMS, that we need to consider.

He's saying that the Jesus he knew, the Jesus he walked and talked with, the Jesus he ate fish and chips with, the Jesus we're going to read about in these next 21 chapters, that he was THERE IN THE BEGINNING. That he was WITH GOD. That he WAS GOD. Right from the time before there was anything that was anything. And that somehow, we need to understand him as THE WORD. God's EXPRESSION of HIMSELF. As God EXPRESSING HIMSELF to the world.

Without words, we can't know. Without words we can't be known. Without words we're strangers to one another. And it's even moreso with the invisible God who is so far above and beyond our comprehension that we can't even start to guess what he's like. Unless he expresses himself. And shows us what he's like.

I mean, people try to do it, don't they. People say, well, you're entitled to your idea of God and I'm entitled to my idea of God; they'll say I'll be a buddhist, or I'll be a Muslim. They say I reckon God's in the flowers and the trees, I reckon God wants me to meditate on a crystal, I reckon God wants me just to be a decent bloke;

You know, at our house we all take turns with the morning jobs. Like clearing the table and stacking the dishwasher, and making the lunches for school. And when I was on lunchmaking, I decided to make everyone TOMATO SANDWICHES. I kind of like slicing up tomatoes and arranging them nicely on the bread. Totally IGNORED THE FACT that Nathan CAN'T STAND tomatoes. I just imagined what I was doing was fine. Without asking. Or listening.

See, that's what people do to God. They serve stuff up and tell him that's how they reckon he likes it. Because that's what they think he's like. It's rude, isn't it. And it's even worse than that, if you think about verse 18. Because GOD IS NOT SILENT. He has spoken a WORD. And the WORD is JESUS.

Verse 18 highlights the problem. And it tells us God's solution. "No one has ever seen God… God is spirit. God's UNSEEABLE. That's the problem. If you have to guess what he's like, it's almost impossible; but here's the solution. No one has ever seen God, but God the one and only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known."

See what he's saying? He's saying the reason Jesus came, the reason the WORD became flesh, the reason that he left his Father's side for a time and dwelt among us was so WE COULD GET TO KNOW GOD.

That's what John means when he calls Jesus GOD'S WORD. Jesus is God's way of SHOWING HIMSELF. God's way of MAKING HIMSELF KNOWN TO US. When Jesus speaks, GOD SPEAKS. When Jesus acts, GOD ACTS.

The incredible claim John's making is that the deeds and words of Jesus are the deeds and words of GOD.

In the beginning was the Word, and the word was WITH GOD and the Word WAS GOD. The WORD BECAME FLESH and dwelt for a while among us. God came as a flesh and bone human being.

And he did that TO MAKE HIMSELF KNOWN.

Now each week as we work through this series on John, I want to look at a key idea like this in these first 18 verses and then trace our way through the rest of the gospel and see how the ideas are expanded and explained. This little section we read this morning is the introduction to the whole of John's gospel, and it condenses a lot of the key ideas. Technically, it's called the PROLOGUE… the introduction. And it's packed full of the ideas that John's going to unpack in the rest of his gospel. So each week we're going to grab an idea here in the prologue and follow it through.

And as we do that this morning, we're going to see what it actually means in practise; what it means that Jesus is the WORD BECOME FLESH. And we'll try to turn it from an abstract sort of idea into something we can get hold of.

Let's take a look. First of all, turn over a couple of pages in your bible to chapter 5, verse 17 to 19. We're only 5 chapters into the story, and already, Jesus is in big trouble. He's in trouble with the Jews, particularly with the Pharisees and the Law Teachers and the religious officials. Particularly this time because he's just healed a bloke who's been paralysed for 38 years. And he's done it on the Sabbath day, Saturday, when their rules say you're not allowed to do any work. And not only that, he tells the guy he's healed to pick up the mat he's been lying on for 38 years and carry it home.

Now according to these Jews, that's a TERRIBLE THING. I mean, bad enough healing someone on the day of rest, let along telling him to carry a mat. So they're onto Jesus straight away. And it says in verse 16, they persecuted him.

But I want you to look at what Jesus says. And start to build up a picture. The question is, what's it actually mean in a concrete way that Jesus is THE WORD OF GOD?

Well, read it. From verse 17. Here's what he says. He says, "My Father is ALWAYS at HIS work - he doesn’t just knock off holding the universe together on the Sabbath - and Jesus says, I'M THE SAME. "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working." In other words, I do what my Father does. Keep reading. "For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him. Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God HIS OWN FATHER, making himself EQUAL WITH GOD. And in verse 19, Jesus gives them this answer. He says to them "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself - he can only do what he sees his Father doing, BECAUSE WHATEVER THE FATHER DOES, the SON ALSO DOES."

Hear what he's saying? Do you want to know what God's like? Look at Jesus - cause he'll show you exactly. Want to know what God thinks of people like those Jews who are stone dead in their hearts and want to worry about their petty little laws about carrying mats on the Sabbath? Watch Jesus. Because he does EXACTLY WHAT GOD DOES. He's THE WORD - here's a good definition. Jesus is GOD'S EXPRESSION OF HIMSELF IN FLESH AND BLOOD. What God does, HE DOES. God's attitude is HIS ATTITUDE.

Turn over to chapter 7 verse 16. And I just want to mention in our home groups we're encouraging everyone to read right through John in the next five weeks. Here on a Sunday we're just going to be flipping through following threads. You need to read the rest for yourself.

It's halfway through a special Jewish Feast week; Jesus has gone up to the temple courts, and he's teaching there. And again, the Jewish big names are up in arms about it. But they're amazed by how much he seems to know. And they say WHAT COLLEGE DID THIS GUY STUDY AT?

To which Jesus says this. Chapter 7 verse 16. "My teaching is not my own. IT COMES FROM HIM WHO SENT ME."

Not only does Jesus do what God does. He TEACHES WHAT GOD TEACHES. So they'd better make sure they listen.

Very quickly to chapter 12. And verse 44 to 45. Flip over a couple of pages and you'll find it. Even after Jesus has done miracle after miracle, the Jewish leaders won't believe him. Some do; except they're afraid to speak up. Peer pressure.

And then Jesus says this. Verse 44 in chapter 12. When a man believes in me, he doesn't believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he SEES THE ONE WHO SENT ME. And down to verse 59 and 60 in the same chapter; For I didn't speak of my own accord, but the father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. SO WHATEVER I SAY IS JUST WHAT THE FATHER HAS TOLD ME TO SAY.

Get the drift. He says LOOK AT ME, you see GOD. Listen to me; you hear to words of God. So when you believe in me, when you TRUST ME… you're not just trusting in me - you're trusting in GOD HIMSELF.

Which is the point that even the disciples don't cotton onto for a while. And maybe you haven't either.

You don't just sit around and figure out your own way to get to God. That's not how it works. Chapter 14 verse 6, and we've nearly made it. Jesus is talking to the disciples, and he says this. "I am the way, and the truth and the life. NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME.

You can't just make it up. You can't just dream up a few rituals and hope they work. You can't just DO YOUR BEST and hope it all pans out. And you can't even just sincerely follow Buddha or Mohammed or the latest New Age Guru; or you can't even do what some well meaning people do and say, I'll just leave it all up to the HOLY SPIRIT. And see what I FEEL GOD IS LIKE.

Because it's JESUS who shows us the Father. He walks the WALK OF GOD and talks the TALK OF GOD. And we need to watch and listen. Keep reading in verse 7. Jesus says IF YOU REALLY KNEW ME, you'd KNOW MY FATHER AS WELL. From now on YOU DO KNOW HIM - and YOU'VE SEEN HIM."

And then stupid dumb Philip who I'm unlucky enough to be named after says "Lord, SHOW US THE FATHER - and that'll be enough for us."

And Jesus says WHAT DO YOU RECKON I'VE BEEN DOING?

Verse 9, he says, "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I've been among you such a long time? Haven't you figured it out? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say SHOW US THE FATHER? Don't you believe that I'm in the Father and the Father is in me. The words I say to you are not just my own; rather, it's the Father LIVING IN ME who is doing his work."

And he says to him, if you haven't woken up to it now, if you don't believe it from what I've said, have a look at the miracles; the water into wine; the sick healed; the lame walking. THE DEAD RAISED.

GOD HAS SPOKEN - ARE YOU LISTENING?

I am the way. No one comes to the Father but through me. I do what the Father does. I say what the Father says. If you want to see what GOD'S LIKE, Jesus says, LOOK AT ME.

Now here's the simple point I want to leave you with.

And that is, have you made the same mistake that Philip's made. Which is, to think there's SOME OTHER WAY you can get to know God.

And of course, there's a second mistake. And that's to think that maybe you can't get to know God at all. That he's so distant, so mysterious, that he's so unknowable.

GOD HAS SPOKEN. He's sent his SON, specifically so people like you and me can KNOW HIM FIRST HAND.

Don't say you can't know what God's like. Just look at Jesus.

And don't say there's ANOTHER WAY. Don't say you'll just figure it out for yourself. Let me tell you, I'd much rather you LISTEN when I tell you how I like my coffee than you just MAKE IT UP. I'd much rather you LISTEN when I tell you who I am, how I think, what I like… I'd much rather you'd listen when I reveal myself to you… that have you think you can just make it up. And God's the same. God has SPOKEN. He's told us how to approach him. And that's by PUTTING OUR FAITH IN JESUS. Making it a life commitment. Anything else… is idolatry.

And if you've done that, if you've taken that step, the obvious thing you'll want to do to get to know God better is to get to know Jesus better. Which we can do by digging ourselves into God's written word. Watching Jesus in action. Looking how he deals with the situations he was faced with. Looking at his attitudes, listening to his words. It's all here for us in our Bibles… in words.

Don't listen to that postmodern rubbish going around that says WORDS MEAN WHATEVER YOU WANT THEM TO MEAN. And everything's ambiguous. It downplays the value of the richest gift God's given us. Real words. About THE WORD THAT BECAME FLESH. And dwelt among us. So we wouldn't have to IMAGINE GOD. We wouldn't have to DREAM HIM UP. God is God. And God has spoken. And the word that he's spoken is JESUS.