John's gospel was written in view of a single critical goal. And it wasn't to be a historical record of Jesus' days here or to prove that he fulfilled prophesy. Here's what John said about the "why" of this gospel:
Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:30-31
As simple and as important as showing that Jesus was the Son of God so that we may have life. The signs, the sermons, the actions recorded here are here only to show us who Jesus was and is from one who knew him better than anyone. So what do we know about Jesus from Chapter 1?
John 1:1-3; John 1:10-14 (New International Version)
The Word Became Flesh
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.
3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
14The 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.
So what do we know...
Jesus is the Word, and the Word is
Eternal-he was with God in the beginning, a part of God.
Creator-nothing is made except that he made it
Incarnate-the Word came to the world as a man
Personal-he came as a man to save his own people and then made it possible for anyone who believes to become a child of God
Singular-this Word, this man, is the One and Only. There is no other who comes from the Father.
This may be the hardest part of Jesus to understand. The historical Jesus is a little easier because the 33 years he was actually here in the form of a man are easier to imagine. We have words here, accounts from the people who lived with him, but the eternal aspect or the "God" part of Jesus is difficult to grasp. Even the idea of being the Son of God is easier to understand for me. For some reason, it seems OK for God to be a mystery but I want to be able to wrap my mind around this man called Jesus.
John didn't seem to have the same trouble. I wonder how long it took John to understand it all. It does not seem that the disciples automatically comprehended the true power of Jesus. It seems that would have been trembling puddles if they had.
Other important pieces of Chapter 1:
John the Baptist as witness. John the Baptist was preaching the coming Messiah and he baptised Jesus and recognized him as the one. John had a sign to confirm it: the dove that came down during the baptism.
And 2 of his disciples: Andrew and John (the Gospel writer) left him to follow Jesus.
How'd you like to be Andrew? The first of the disciples to follow and bring his brother...good ol' Simon Peter...to Jesus.
How many names do you see? Where do they come from? Prophecy, the religious understanding of the day, the unique being of Jesus, each one shows a piece of the character of Jesus.
Word, light, life, Rabbi, Teacher, Messiah, the Christ, Lamb of God, Son of God, King of Israel, Son of Man
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