Nothing but the real thing, hey, hey

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.  John 1:1-2

This is the set, the foundation for all that John wants to tell us about Jesus, the friend whom he knows, with whom he has walked and talked and lived for these years.  The man was in the beginning, this man was with God, this man was God.  And then one more time in case we don’t get it: He was in the beginning with God.

This is what John knows.  With every inch of his soul and being.  And he is writing this all down as an eyewitness of what he knows to be true so that we may know and understand  this Truth, that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.  He does not want us to walk away from his book thinking, “Oh what a nice, interesting story,” but he wants it to rip at the very core of who we are and how we live and think.  John wants there to be no misunderstanding- this Jesus of Nazareth was not just another prophet or good man. He is God.

It is true that a lot of people are willing to die for a cause that they believe in- strap a bomb belt around their waist and wade into a crowd at a bus stop. They might lay down their life for a friend as a lie for a friend, such as Sydney Carton inA Tale of Two Cities, “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."  But he was not dying for this lie, he was offering himself up for a truth, his love.   Here John is saying, “With reflection, and after having watched and heard and lived this “Jesus is God” stuff for all these years, I know it to be true, and I so know it is true that I am willing to die so that you, each person, know and believe and start on the path to understanding this Truth as well.  This is the Word of God.” 

And the Word.  Why does he call Jesus the Word, logos?

Jesus is God’s message to us, His beloved creation.  What he said, what he did, what he felt, this is what God wants us to know, what He wants to reveal about Himself.  This is it.  

May I have ears to hear.