01022021 – John 1. 10-18
The author of the FOURTH Gospel, whom we call “JOHN” (merely out of a sense of convenience,) provides his DOCTORAL “THESIS STATEMENT” boldly at the END (rather than at the beginning) of his gospel:
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which ARE NOT written in this book.”
“But these ARE WRITTEN so that you may COME to BELIEVE that Jesus IS the MESSIAH, the SON of LIVING God, and that through BELIEVING you may have LIFE in his name.”
From the “GIT-GO”…
…the author has informed us that he writes NOT to add to the ANNALS OF HISTORY, but rather, to “persuade us” about the IDENTITY – of Jesus and to cause an encounter (a relationship) between US and the RISEN Christ through HIS thesis.
In other words…he wants us to “BELIEVE.”
The verb “BELIEVE” actually appears 98 TIMES in the Gospel of John.
More times… than in…ANY OTHER gospel. (Belief is important, vital, necessary!)
Believing is a VERB and NOT a noun. Believing is something you either DO or DO NOT DO. It is an ACTION.
The unknown author tells us that he has “left out numerous details” but that he has provided “all that is necessary” for US to BELIEVE – that Jesus IS THE MESSIAH, the Son of God, and that believing leads to LIFE.
Abundant Life, Embodied Life, Eternal Life, Precious Life…The Good life…a blessed life…LIFE…embrace it.
The Fourth Gospel is concerned with nothing but LIFE: how we GET it, how we LOSE it, how we FIND IT again, or, better yet, how we “GET FOUND BY IT.”
I suggest to you, that is but a part of the fourth gospels’ attraction to so many people.
The beginning prologue is meant to remind us of the creation narrative in Genesis 1.
From the phrase “in [the] beginning,” to the emphasis on God’s WORD as a creative force, to the language of LIGHT and DARKNESS, Genesis is never far away in this GOSPEL.
The STUFF on earth is the STUFF of God…the stuff of HEAVEN.
Not a single thing that HAS BEEN created was created APART from God.
It ALL came from God, it ALL belongs to God, and it ALL testifies TO and REVEALS God…or it DOES NOT.
But then, you already knew this and sensed this…all along.
The author of the fourth gospel is more than just INTERESTED in creation.
He suggests a brief litmus test for what is Christian and what isn’t:
IF, it is life-giving,
IF, it promotes the flourishing of ALL creation, then it IS Christian;
IF, it is death-dealing, it may be real, but it is not ultimate and it is certainly not Christian. “The thief comes only to STEAL and KILL and DESTROY. I came that they may have LIFE and have it abundantly.”
ABUNDANT LIFE. EVERLASTING LIFE. This Gospel is about LIFE and never was a gospel about DEATH. OUR GOD is the God of the living and ALL are ALIVE IN HIM.
It almost sounds, as if, the lines of Christmas/Epiphany and Easter are all a little blurred here…in the fourth gospel.
The WORD made FLESH the INCARNATE SON OF GOD comes to us during the Christmas/Epiphany cycle of the church year…
But that same WORD made FLESH is also ALIVE and WELL at EASTER.
The beginning and the end, the alpha and the Omega and DEATH could NOT overcome or HOLD HIM.
It is a gospel about LIFE, I tell you…from beginning to the end…and beyond…
That’s why it is GOOD NEWS!
So, the pastor asked his flock, “What would you like people to say when you’re lying in your casket?”
Everyone, took a moment to think…
That’s when one guy pipes up, breaking the ice and says, “I’d like them to say I was a fine family man…you know, a good husband, and a great father.”
Another guy jumps up and says, “I’d like them to say I helped a lot of people during my lifetime and I would have given any one of them – the shirt off of my back.”
That’s when a little old lady, sitting way in the back of the church – jumps to her feet and shouts out on the top of her lungs, “I’d like them to say, ‘Look! Everybody, Come, quick, LOOK, I think she’s moving!’ “
I tell you, the Gospel, the GOOD NEWS IS about “LIFE and LIVING” – The ONE who came to us as the BABE of BETHLEHEM – came that we might have LIFE and have life abundantly.
And that IS the CHRISTMAS MESSAGE!
Amen.