Who is Jesus? part 17

Before we leave the opening song to John’s Gospel, it’s good to look at the whole thing for context.

Although we are looking at poetry, and although the form is chiascic, like most of the Psalms, this is a narrative song and has a clear begining and ending. (Chiasm is a form that introduces each of the main points and then deals with them in reverse order.)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. ⁸ He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

⁹ The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

John 1:1-18

Leaving out the verses about John the Baptist, which are important as they link this introduction to the story that follows, but they can hide the flow of the poetry. To me they hide one thing more. This poem is in its start and ending about relationships. I am not talking about a relationship of ideas in a theoretical sense but of real personal relationships.

It’s about relationships. It starts with the relationship of Jesus with the Father and ends with the relationship of Jesus with us, and our relationship with the Father through Jesus.

The buzzword for how this works is grace and grace is the buzzword for Jesus. It is introduced into the song just before the big reveal that the song was about Jesus all along. The answer to ‘who is Jesus,’ cannot be answered without talking about the grace he brings, and that comes through relationship.

It is not a relationship through liturgy, or by studying the Bible, though both are great things, but it is by being in a relationship of love with Jesus and in a relationship with the Godhead through Jesus.

The big reveal that the song at the beginning was about Jesus, which comes towards the end of the song is not the end of the song. The song ends with saying that Jesus has made God known. We are being offered a relationship with the Almighty God, creator of everything that exists through Jesus Christ, God in human form.

There is a relationship through law brought by Moses. There is a relationship with God through liturgy. But that is not the relationship through Jesus. The relationship through Jesus is warm and personal.

What sort of relationship do you have?

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