John 1:1-5: What Makes Jesus So Unique?

John 1:1-5: What Makes Jesus So Unique?

This morning, we’re going to begin a series of sermons that will take us verse by verse through the Gospel of John. John is one of my favorite books of the Bible because it highlights the teachings of Jesus in particular—the things Jesus said about himself and about life and about salvation. Because I think we often assume we know what Jesus was like and the kinds of things he taught. But sometimes, our perceptions can be less than accurate. Sometimes, I think people can create a Jesus in their mind that’s basically a mere reflection of themselves—kind of like a mirror that just reflects their own values and ideals and preconceived notions—rather than embracing the Jesus that’s revealed in the Bible. So in the end, what they have isn’t Jesus as he is but rather Jesus as they’ve reconfigured him to be. That’s why, for the next season of our church’s life, I’m really excited about diving into John and reading eyewitness accounts of Jesus and, of course, letting Jesus speak for himself. 

And chapter one of John is a wonderful chapter for us to work through as we anticipate the Christmas holiday next week because it talks about Jesus coming into this world. And the first few verses of chapter one that we’ll look at today answer the question, Who is Jesus? Who was this baby born in a manger we celebrate on Christmas? What made him so unique? If you didn’t know any better, the fact that there was a baby born in a feeding trough in the backwater town of Bethlehem would seem like pretty unremarkable news. I mean, there are probably dozens of babies born every day at Magee Women’s hospital, not to mention the billions and billions of other babies that have been born up to this point in history. So what makes this baby born in Bethlehem so unique?

Please turn with me in your Bibles to John 1. If you’re using the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 735. John 1:1-5: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Now if you have trouble wrapping your mind around exactly what this is saying, that’s okay—because you’re not alone. These verses sound a bit cryptic to a lot of people the first time they encounter them. But the message of the passage is actually incredibly simple. First, it’s talking about Jesus. Notice how that phrase “the Word” in verse 1 has a capital “W.” It’s referring to Jesus, as we’ll understand more in a minute. And the central idea of this passage is that because Jesus is God, he’s the source of life and light for everyone. Because Jesus is God, he’s the source of light and life for everyone. So first let’s talk about Jesus being God in verses 1-3; then let’s talk about him being life and light in verses 4-5. 

Jesus is God

Look again at verses 1-3 where it talks about Jesus being God: “In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” So…”the Word.” Why does John use that phrase? We said he’s talking about Jesus, but why use that phrase to talk about him? And to be honest, there are different theories about that. The original Greek term used for “Word”—logos—is a very broad term that can mean a lot of different things depending on its context. For example, back in the day, a lot of pagan philosophers used logos in a very abstract way to refer to a kind of rational principle of the universe. They saw that things were rational and orderly—that the sun would rise and set predictably every day, that the stars moved in a predictable orbit, that the seasons faithfully arrived in the same order and around the same time every year, and they believed things functioned in that orderly way because of the logos. It undergirded everything. It was this force—I guess kind of like in Star Wars or something—that caused the universe to behave that way. So one possibility for verse 1 is that John’s borrowing that term logos and applying it to Jesus. Another possibility that’s closer to the way we typically think is that logos refers to God’s communication. Words are symbols we use to communicate. And just like God communicates truths about himself through written words in the Bible, he sent his Son Jesus to this earth as the ultimate “Word” that communicates divine truths. That’s another very legitimate interpretation, and I believe is most likely. But regardless, there’s no question that logos refers to Jesus. 

And notice how John says that “the Word” is not only “with God” but actually “is God.” That’s kind of hard to wrap your mind around. It goes back to the Trinity. In one sense, the Son is “with” God the Father, but in another sense he also shares the Father’s identity as “God.” So John’s saying that Jesus isn’t merely like God or almost God or very close to God.  He’s saying that Jesus is God. And that’s very important, because many people don’t like to say that.

A few years ago, I had a friend named J B who I think is typical of many people in our society. J B and I’s friendship actually went back to high school, and we tried to keep in touch with each other the best we could after that. And we would regularly dialogue about a variety of different things, especially things related to Christianity and Christian history. And even though J B was pretty skeptical about the church and traditional Christian beliefs, he always expressed profound admiration for Jesus and the morality of Jesus and the moral teachings of Jesus. He loved talking about Jesus. He even had a favorite Bible verse that he would quote to me on occasion. But he didn’t believe that Jesus was God. He viewed Jesus merely as a great moral teacher—and perhaps the greatest moral teacher—but not as God in the flesh. And I think that’s probably the most common perception of Jesus in our society today. 

However, John 1 clearly teaches that “the Word was God.” Not only that, but Jesus himself claimed to be God. We can see that over and over again just in this one book of John, not to mention the other books of the Bible that record Jesus’ ministry. In John 5:18, the Jewish religious leaders who were trained in theology conclude that Jesus was making himself “equal with God.” A few chapters later, in John 10:33, the Jews are again ready to execute Jesus because, as they say to him, “you, a mere man, make yourself God.” And in John 20:29, when Thomas comes out of a period of doubt and refers to Jesus as “my Lord and my God,” Jesus actually rebukes him for not coming to that conclusion earlier. And that only scratches the surface. In fact, as we work our way through John, you’re probably going to find it somewhat repetitious as we encounter example after example of Jesus claiming to be God. 

That’s why I love what C. S. Lewis writes with regard to this issue in his book Mere Christianity. He writes, “People often say, ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’  That is the one thing we must not say.  A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.  He would either be a lunatic…or else He would be the Devil of Hell.  You must make your choice.  Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a mad-man or something worse.  You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon, or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.  But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher.  He has not left that open to us.  He did not intend to.” So, Lewis says, Jesus is either a lunatic who genuinely thought he was God and made that claim with all sincerity, or he was a liar who knew full well that he wasn’t God but made that claim anyway, or he really was and is God. Those are our only three options. Jesus can’t be merely a great moral teacher. 

Now at this point, you may be wondering, “Why make such a big deal about this? Why does this have to be such an important issue?” Well, think about it. The main message of Christianity is that Jesus died on the cross to pay of our sins. We were sinful—we had offended a holy God by rebelling against him and were therefore entirely deserving of punishment in hell—but Jesus died on the cross in order to suffer that punishment in our place. That’s the gospel. That’s the main thing Christianity teaches. But here’s the thing: if Jesus wasn’t really God, how could his blood have sufficient value to pay for our sins? Let’s say he was just a moral person. How could the blood of a mere human—even an incredibly moral human—pay for the sins of the rest of humanity? You know, if I write a check in order to pay for something, that check will only pay for the thing I’m purchasing if there’s actually money in my checking account. And if there’s not money in my checking account, that’s not good. That’s called writing a bad check, and those checks don’t have any value. And in a similar way, if Jesus wasn’t truly God in the flesh, then the blood he shed on the cross would not have sufficient value to pay for our sins. So this isn’t some peripheral issue that doesn’t really matter one way or the other. There are plenty of issues in theology that are secondary or even tertiary, but this isn’t one of them. This is foundational. Two people cannot disagree about this issue and both be true Christians. 

Also, the fact that Jesus is God leads us to view his teachings about how to live in an entirely new way, as authoritative teachings. It’s what makes his teachings different from someone like Gandhi. Gandhi taught a lot of things about how we should live and interact with others and respond to different situations, but his teachings don’t carry any inherent authority. At the end of the day, there isn’t really any basis for viewing Gandhi’s teachings as anything more than mere suggestions. But Jesus’ teachings have authority. When he speaks, God speaks. You might compare it to the United States president issuing an executive order. If you or I tried to issue an executive order, it wouldn’t work because we don’t have any authority. Only the president can issue a binding executive order. Or even think about kids trying to boss each other around. That’s something my 4-year-old son Caleb frequently tries to do. He’ll try to boss around kids in our home daycare or boss around his little brother Silas. And we have to remind him, “Caleb, you don’t have the authority to tell them what to do.” It was really funny: not too long ago we heard him in his bedroom during naptime actually trying to boss his stuffed animals around. He was giving them some lecture about the importance of doing something—I forget what it was, but he was really giving them a good talking to. And I thought to myself, “That is one power-hungry little man. We won’t let him exert authority over kids so he has to resort to his stuffed animals.” But the fact remains that parents, not children, have authority in the house. And in the same way, God is the one who has authority over this universe. He alone created the universe, he alone sustains the universe, and he alone rules the universe—him and no one else. 

And since Jesus is God, that means his teachings carry the authority of God. They’re commands, not suggestions. Of course, they’re commands that ultimately lead to our own prosperity and are intended for our own good, but they’re commands nonetheless. I think many times we forget that, even as Christians. We often have a tendency to pass over the teachings of Jesus that are less convenient for us to observe—teachings about forgiving others and practicing radical generosity and being set apart from the corrupting influences of the world. But when Jesus tells us to do those things, it’s really God telling us to do those things. His teachings carry God’s authority because he is God. 

Jesus is Life & Light

Now, if you look back at our main text in John 1, you see not only that Jesus is God in verses 1-3 but also that because he’s God, Jesus is life and light. And that’s in verses 4-5. Read with me: “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” So first it says that Jesus possessed “life”: “in him was life.” And apparently, the kind of life that John’s talking about is somehow different from the kind of life that you and I possess, otherwise it wouldn’t be worth mentioning. So John must be talking about life in a higher sense. 

And at this point, I think it’s helpful to bring in Jesus’ own words in John 5:26. Jesus says, “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” So Jesus claims to have what he calls “life in himself” just like God the Father does. In other words, he’s not dependent on any source outside of himself for life. We are, but he’s not. He’s self-existent and self-sustaining—just like God the Father. Come to think of it, that’s another claim to being God like we were talking about earlier. So, going back to our main text, I think part of what it means for Jesus to have life means he’s self-existent and self-sustaining. 

But I also think it goes beyond that. I believe Jesus possessing “life” means he has a higher, fuller, richer dynamic of life than anyone else. When I worked in hospice, we would frequently use the phrase “quality of life” when talking about our patients. If a patient was able to get around pretty well and didn’t have any pain and had the ability to do a lot of things they liked to do, we would say they had a high “quality of life.” But if they were confined to their bed and suffered uncontrolled pain and had lots of bedsores and felt sad and alone, then we would say they had a low quality of life. And it was very sad sometimes to see how low a quality of life some patients had. Some of them were so limited and near a vegetative state that some might even say—figuratively, of course—that they weren’t truly living—at least compared to the way the rest of us are able to live. Our quality of life is so much higher than theirs. And it’s very similar with Jesus and us. He possesses a quality of life that’s infinitely higher than the quality of life we enjoy.  It’s so much higher that you could even say that Jesus is the only one who possesses true life. He’s the only one who’s truly alive in the fullest sense of that word. 

And the thing that’s so amazing is that Jesus offers that life to us. His life is full and rich and abundant, and he offers it to us.  That’s why verse 4 states not only “in him was life” but also “the life was the light of men.” That is, the life functions as a light that’s available for everyone. It’s a beacon offering hope, a beacon offering rescue, a beacon offering blessing and joy and grace and salvation. It offers us a quality of existence that’s infinitely higher and better than anything we’re able to imagine. The life Jesus offers is our light. And as verse 5 says, “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it”—and, we might add, the darkness cannot overcome it because that light and life come from Jesus, and Jesus rules over everything. 

Conclusion

And yet, it’s amazing how often we ignore the life Jesus offers and run after other things as if they could give us true life. We throw ourselves into advancing in our career thinking that maybe that will give us life. Or perhaps we focus our efforts on accumulating lots of material possessions—even going deep into debt to do it—thinking that maybe that will give us the life we seek. Or perhaps it’s a relationship we look to—an unhealthy relationship in which we think, “maybe this person will give me fullness and vitality and life.” We look for life in so many different places. And sometimes, we even look for life in religion—that is, in man-made religion that’s only concerned about external morality and looking good in front of others. Maybe if we just throw ourselves into doing the right things and checking off the right boxes and spending enough time helping people—maybe that will give us true life. 

And to be honest, that was me before being saved. I had a great religious resume if you only paid attention to externals. And yet, I couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that I was missing something—not only in my religious efforts but in my life in general. I enjoyed many different things, but none of them brought me the fullness and life I was looking for. Every one of them, ultimately, was a letdown. And I think that describes a lot of people: searching for something that truly satisfies, but coming up short time after time. Why is that? In the words of John 1, it’s because true life is found only in Jesus. “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Maybe you’ve tried religion, but have you tried Jesus himself? Have you really embraced him and devoted yourself to him and put your trust in him to save you?

And perhaps you have done that already, but over time you’ve slowly drifted away from Jesus and from the beautiful simplicity of living life in close fellowship with him. Perhaps you’ve slowly lost the joy that’s found in him and only experience the “life” he offers in a very minimal way. How sad for you. How sad for us—when we possess infinite riches and treasures in Christ and so seldom enjoy them. I don’t know about you, but I want to enjoy the “life” I have in Christ. And the way we do that is, number one, by remembering the gospel. Instead of taking it for granted that Jesus endured the agonies of the cross to pay for our sins, we need to go back to that gospel message again and again. Don’t lose sight of it. And another way we enjoy the “life” Jesus offers is by making our lives all about him. Because the more our lives are all about him, the closer to him we become, and the more of his “life” we enjoy. So just ask yourself, “What in my life is not all about Jesus? Is it my finances—do they not reflect priorities that are consistent with Jesus’ priorities in this world? Is it my goals in parenting—do they not reflect Jesus’ goals for my children and what they should focus on for their future? Is it the way I spend my time—does that not reflect how Jesus would have me spend my time? Is it my conversations—do they not reflect a heart that beats only for Jesus? Is my life really all about Jesus?” After all, Jesus is God. He’s supremely worthy of all allegiance and all devotion. And it’s as we give him our allegiance and devotion and make our lives all about him that we’re able to enjoy the “life” he offers in its fullness.