Will The Real Jesus Please Stand Up?
I find the apostle John to be an intriguing character. The Bible holds five of his writings (the Gospel of John, his letters creatively titled 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and the book of Revelation), most of which serve as some of the most interesting books of their type found in the Scriptures. What I like about John is mostly learned in his Gospel account (gospel means "good news", so in essence it is Johns account of the good news of Jesus Christ). John lovingly refers to himself as "the one Jesus loved" or as the guy who is faster than Peter. I like that. It's real. It's arrogant. What I also love is that John is an artist. You see, I am not an artist. I like art, but creation does not come naturally to me. When you read his writings everything is not chronological and orderly, rather things seem to be placed more poetically or artistically. Sometimes I'm not quite sure what John is saying, kind of like when I read poetry.That's cool. I like that.
With all that said, lets jump into 1st John (it's the letter near the back of the Bible on page 743 if you've got our Renovatus black Bibles). This letter was written when John was very old. I imagine him sitting at some old rustic wood desk with a quill and parchment leaning awkwardly on the table because of the pain in his back. With all his years of mission work, of leadership, of imprisonments, of service for his beloved friend Jesus fresh in his mind he has sat to write to his church in Ephesus. He has spent many years in this city as their elder and now people have begun to teach things that question the very foundation of John's life. These people (or "false prophets" as John calls them) are callled Gnostics. Gnosticism doubts the true nature of Jesus. Because, in thisbelief system, nature and humanity were at it's core flawed and corrupt. The Absolute Supreme Being (God) is unknowable. Jesus, therefore, could not be God in flesh, because matter is evil. Therefore, Gnostic's, believe that when the man Jesus was baptized, the spirit Jesus descended on him and lived and worked through him until shortly before the man Jesus was killed. This is, by far, an oversimplification, but it will due for now.
This was what John's most loved church in Ephesus was beginning to accept as truth, a 'truth' that John vehemently disagreed with.
With all that said, let's interact with John's words:
John 1:1-4
The one who existed from the beginning is the one we have heard and seen.
We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is Jesus
Christ, the Word of life. This one who is life from God was shown to us, and we
have seen him. And now we testify and announce to you that he is the one who is
eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was shown to us. We are
telling you about what we ourselves have actually seen and heard, so that you
may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his
Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy will be
complete.
Here is our goal:
- What connections can we make between the way John started his letter and what we know about its recipients?
- What are you first impressions of John's words? Knee jerk reactions?
- If you have knowledge or insight please share them
- If this reading brings up thoughts or questions please share them
- And let's never forget the application. If we don't let God's words change our behavior we'll make baby Jesus cry. What does application look like? How? Why?
Please comment freely.
7 comments:
The first words from First John reminded me of the first words from the Gospel of John: "In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,and the Word was God." Joh seems to be VERY impressed with the eternal nature of Christ.
How does one have fellowship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit?
1. Excellent. I love the way John doesn't let people just make these "spiritual" experiences, but instead stresses the "physical" nature of these events.
b. Just for the sake of terminology, Gnostacism, as such, does not make an appearance for at least a century after John's death, but you are dealing with the grandfather of Gnostacism: Platonism. Plato (and almost all classical philosophies) had stressed the value of "spiritual" reality above physical reality, these people too believed that for God to come in physical form would somehow diminish God.
Incidently, they also thought that women were naturally evil.
Man, I can see where you picture John as an old dude sitting at a rustic table and writing by candle light; he WAS, in fact, an Old Dude in Biblical times. However I tend to see him wearing a party hat and throwing confetti while writing this! I mean, this seems to be about 10% chastizement ("you guys are missing the point here!") and 90% joy ("and the point is amazing!!"). John is so thrilled that he knew Jesus, and knew him for what he was! I think my tone would be about the same if the response I got from my friends was "Cool, you met an older rock star" if I told them I'd met David Bowie in person. "It's David Bowie!!" I'd say, "I mean,dude: DAVID BOWIE!!!" How amazing that John saw the Truth in Jesus' being and was still so excited after years had passed!
My intent is to make this a practical part of my life, as John seems to have done. It's easy to hear the stories about how Jesus was God incarnate as well as totally human like us, but quite another to REMEBER that every day. This is God making Himself something tangible that we can touch and see and relate to and (most importantly) can relate to us on all levels. I think we should all celebrate that every day like John.
I love everyones responses so far. 'Cause, to be honest, my intention was to flesh out this post more before I made it public. As it was/is, I thought it didn't quite lend itself for great discussion...with that said...
What would it look like, what would my/your life look like if we lived for JC with the same excitement that we would if we met Aerosmith (sorry, I just can't do David Bowie. Meeting him actually scares me). Chris, I like what you said about making that a practical part of your daily experience...but what does that look like in a practical sense? I mean, in very real and practical terms what does someone look like today who carries John's enthusiasm? And finally, how many times can I say "what does it look like" in one comment?
And does anyone have a good response to Anonymous' question?
"We are telling you about what we ourselves have actually seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ."
That's the easy answer on how to live with John's enthusiasm. I have seen and heard (and continue to see and hear) Jesus acting in my life, so it's my job and joy to try to convey some of that to others: especially the ones who have no idea that a relationship like that with Jesus is possible for everyone. We know what God does in our personal lives, and I think John would want us telling everyone we can reach how awesome that is. :)
I'm gonna take a swing at anon's question. it's probably too basic, and sounds like a fluffy saturday morning PSA to some but here it is. I look at fellowship as good old social interaction with a metaphysical twist. whether it be having a good time with people you share a spiritual connection with or realizing you're experiencing something that cannot be proven or explained by science. and in that lies the explanation. fellowship, in my perspective, is realizing that when something good happens to me and there is no earthly, material or scientific explanation as to why it happens... that my friend is God almighty reminding me that having the diety who created the universe leading me is a warm feeling indeed.
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