American Loon

All Glory to God the Father and to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

Please turn to John chapter 1.
After talking to our new Pastor of First Baptist Church, Aaron, whom you met last week, he gave me a few new and interesting ideas for Bible Study. Aaron was a teacher and since Bible Study is teaching, he stated that repetition and review are very good at getting people to retain things. Of course you also have to have an interest in what you are studying and since you are sitting here with me, I’ll assume that you have an interest in this subject. I have 8 questions from the material that we have covered in the last 3 weeks and you can use your bible to help with the answers.

1. The first three words of John are the same as the first three words of Genesis. What are the three words? (John 1:1)

Answer: (John 1:1) In the beginning.

2. John says that “the Word was with God”. Then he says something else. What does he say? (John 1:1)

Answer: (John 1:1) “The Word was God.”

3. According to John, did the Word exist with God in the beginning or was God alone in the beginning? (John 1:2)

Answer: (John 1:2) He was in the beginning with God.

4. According to John, what relationship does the Word (who was God) have to everything that has ever been made? (John 1:3)

Answer: (John 1:3) All things were made by him, and without him nothing was made that ever was made.

5. What was in the Word who was with God? (John 1:4)

Answer: (John 1:4) In him was life and the life was the light of humanity.

6. When the light of Christ shone in the darkness, what was the result? How did the darkness react? (John 1:5)

Answer: (John 1:5) The darkness did not overcome it (or did not comprehend it).

7. God sent someone to bear witness of the Light. Whom did God send? (John 1:6-8)

Answer: (John 1:6-8) There was a man sent from God whose name was John… This man came to bear witness of the Light.

8. John the Baptist came to bear witness to the Light, namely Jesus Christ the Word who was in the beginning with God. What was the purpose of John’s witness? (John 1:7-8)

Answer: (John 1:7-8) This man came… to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.

The life of John the Baptist.

Luke covered the birth of John quite well, so we’ll start out with something we already went over, but it’s good to review.

Luke 1:5-7
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

6 They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.

7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.

They were old and childless and for a priest that had to be a rather uncomfortable circumstance. As a priest, people would look at you as a paragon of virtue and holiness, at least that’s the way it’s supposed to be. With his wife being childless, his fellow priests might have thought that there was some sin in his life so that God had prevented them from having children. In the minds of the people of that day, there was a very direct correlation between what you did in your life and how God chose to show his displeasure over your sins.

We know that Elizabeth was related to Mary, probably through marriage, and she came from the line of Aaron, the first priest as designated by God, who was a brother to Moses. All this we covered the last few weeks.

We also know that his birth was a prophecy way back in the Old Testament by Isaiah and Malachi, telling that a man would come out of the wilderness to herald the coming of Christ. That would be Isaiah 40 verse 3, and Malachi 3 verse 1. It was also said that he would come with the power of Elijah, that would be Malachi 4 verses 4 and 5.

The scriptures are silent as to the fate of John’s parents although there is a legend that Zacharias was slain by Herod the Great, forcing Elizabeth to flee with her babe into the wilderness area of Judea. And since the scriptures do not say anything about this, it is not important to the message that God is giving us. This historical legend is a possible answer to Luke 1:80 “And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.”

There happens to be a desert or deserted area that stretches from Jerusalem to Bethlehem Eastward some 20 miles down river and the Dead Sea. It is a barren region of rugged hills and valleys.

We also know that John was a Nazarite from birth. The angel Gabriel said to Zacharias:

Luke 1:15
“For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.”

At all times a Nazarite was to control his appetite and passions to be in harmony with God’s moral law.

The Bible speaks about being a Nazarite this way:

Numbers 6:2
“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazarite, to dedicate himself to the Lord,
3 he shall abstain from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes.”

And also:

Judges 13:5
For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”


The Bible describes John in Matthew 3 verse 4 this way, “Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.”

The hair cloak might have been rough fabric woven from camel’s hair or camel skin itself, the text doesn’t really make that clear. It was very similar to certain Old Testament prophets, particularly Elijah.

Scripture refers to that in:

Zechariah 13:4
Also it will come about in that day that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophecies, and they will not put on a hairy robe in order to deceive;

And:

2 Kings 1:8
8 They answered him, “He was a hairy man with a leather girdle bound about his loins.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

What John ate was generally consumed by the poor elements of society; he stood in bold relief to the wealthy, indulgent Jews of his day. His very presence was a sermon in itself.

Scripture also says that John was somewhat reclusive. Jesus said in Matthew 11 verse 18 “John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon.”

Eating and drinking stood for socializing – the prophet was not a socialite. His aesthetic lifestyle appeared almost demonic, like those possessed of evil spirits who apparently frequented the desolate areas. There are references in scripture of Jesus having to deal with demonic people in remote areas. Mark 5 talks of Jesus meeting a Gerasene man with a legion of demons in him.

When John the Baptist started his ministry, he did not seek out the multitudes, rather he attracted them.

Matthew 3:5-12
Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan;

6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

And this is my favorite part coming up in verse 7, continuing:

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

8 Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;

9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.

10 The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

12 His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

We will stop right here and pick it up where we left off, next week.

Romans 15:5-6 – May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

All glory to God the Father and our Savior Jesus Christ

Please turn to the book of John and we will explore verses 7 and 8.

Before we start, let us review what we have learned so far in this book of John. We know that John was among the 12, with his brother James, chosen as Disciples of Jesus Christ. These two were chosen while in their father’s boat, and this disciple was known simply as the one whom Jesus loved. He wrote this book while a very old man and also wrote John 1, John 2 and John 3 along with the book of Revelation.

The first 5 verses are;
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 came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

So, we know this speaks of Christ, of our Savior being eternal and being the agent of creation. He is the Light of men, and that Light overcomes darkness, the darkness of men’s souls before they are drawn to the Light.

Last week we discovered the other John in the Bible. John the Baptist, whose birth was foretold in a prophecy by Isaiah 600 years before his coming.

John, son of Zacharias and Elizabeth was destined, by the hand of God, to be the herald of the coming of the Messiah, and apart from Christ himself, is probably the most theologically significant figure in the Gospels. And you may ask, why is that? Jesus said of him in Luke 7:28, “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John.”

His birth was meticulously recorded ( Luke 1:5-25 ). His entrance into the world was marked by angelic proclamation and divine intervention ( Luke 1:57-80 ). John’s birth not only parallels that of Jesus, but echoes the momentous occasion of the birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah ( Gen 17:15-22 ; 21:1-7 ).

Although his formative years were lived in obscurity in the desert, this is found in Luke 1:80, And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

His public ministry ended nearly four hundred years of prophetic silence. John was that voice crying in the wilderness preparing the way for the coming Messiah, referred to in
Isaiah 40:3, A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.

In this sense his message and ministry marked the culmination of the law and the prophets, but heralded the coming of the kingdom of God. So John was truly a transitional figure, forming the link between the Old and New Testaments.

Today’s discussion, verses 7 and 8 reads as follows.

John 1:7-8
7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.
8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

So this man was foretold by Isaiah hundreds of years before his birth. He came as a witness of the coming of the Lamb of God. John was an end-times prophet. The original end time prophet. An image comes to mind of a scruffy man in a beard standing near a busy highway, shaking a cardboard sign at cars, with the words Repent Now For The End Is Nigh. John the Baptist is who they are emulating. He conducted his ministry with divine authority that demanded immediate action. He taught that judgment is at hand. The axe is laid to the roots and God will thoroughly purge his threshing floor

Matt 3:10-12
10 The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
12 His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Luke 3:9
9 Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Luke 3:17
17 His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

And the true repentance was evidenced in very practical terms: share with those in need, eliminate graft, and prohibit extortion.

Luke 3:11-14
11 And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.”
12 And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.”
14 Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”

But today’s verses deal with witnessing of the Light, not clearing the threshing room floor or burning the chaff, although that is much needed in today’s society as it was back then.

The terms “witness” or “to testify” receive special attention in the gospel, reflecting the courtroom language of the Old Testament where the truth of a matter was to be established on the basis of multiple witnesses

Here are a few examples of witness in the scripture.

The Samaritan woman: John 4:29 Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?”
She witnessed to the headmen of her village as to this amazing man she just met.

The works of Jesus: John 10:25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me.
Jesus is witnessing to his people, the Jews, who incredibly, do not believe him.

The Father: John 5:32-37 There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.

Witness of John:
John 5:33-35 You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth.
34 But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.
35 He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

Witness of Works:
John 5:36 But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.

Witness again of the Father:
John 5:37 And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.

We now see what it means to witness, according to God’s word. How do we bring that lesson back here to July 1st 2020? How do you witness or testify to somebody? Your family, your friends, people you meet. Maybe on a street corner with a cardboard sign?

I am doing that right now, to you, as to the truth and inerrancy of the Bible. It is a frightening concept to step out of your comfort zone. John was able to do it in a forthright manner, because the Holy Spirit was within him while in the womb. True believers also have the Holy Spirit within them. My question to you is do you feel the Holy Spirit within you? If you are a believer, one drawn to the Light, you have that same capability of testifying that John did. Ours is not a timid God. Use the gifts that God has given you.

John knew that he was not the Light ( John 1:8 ) but he was sent to bear witness of that Light, and you too can and should bear witness of that Light. That Light that has changed your life. Being a believer should show. Not in a splashy prosperity preacher style, but in gentleness of spirit, in hospitality, in a kind word and most importantly obedience to His word. Those are the works of the spirit.

There is so much fear in this world, but what is fear to a child of the God who created all? And that God loves you and has your back. How do we know this? Because He sent his only begotten Son to die on the cross and be raised again on the third day that we may live. Go forth and be witnesses of the Light.

Now while you are mentally chewing on that, I will give you another thing to chew on. I ran across Pastor John Piper’s quote on the Covid virus and really liked it. “This is not a season for sentimental views of God. It is a bitter season. And God ordained it. God governs it. He will end it. No part of it is outside his sway. Life and death are in his hand.”
You see, there is simply no room for “I have Faith, but..”.

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance, through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” 2 Pet. 1:2

All glory to God the Father and to our Savior Jesus Christ

Turn to John chapter 1. Today we will studying verse 6.

6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.

It is at this point I need to make a very clear distinction. To my knowledge, there are only three Johns in the Bible. The first would be John Mark or the Apostle Mark. The Apostle Mark was rarely called by his first name John. The second would be the Apostle John son of Zebedee. The Apostle John who wrote the Book of John, First John, Second John and Third John and the Book of Revelation. And the last would be John the Baptist, who is the topic of our discussion in verse 6. So to be clear, John the Baptist is not John the Apostle, son of Zacharias. John the Baptist never wrote anything in the bible; his job was to herald the coming of the Lamb of God.. So let’s find out who John the Baptist was and what he did.

We turn to Luke 1 and find out the unusual circumstances of John the Baptist’s birth. Luke is where we get most, if not all of our information about John the Baptist’s birth.

Luke 1
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

6 They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.

7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.

8 Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division,

9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

10 And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering.

11 And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.

12 Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him.

13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.

14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.

15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.

16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.

17 It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

18 Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.”

19 The angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

20 And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

21 The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple.

22 But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained mute.

23 When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home.

24 After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying,

25 “This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men.”

A couple thoughts on this. First, how God uses attributes of us as unmistakable signs to all. It is well known that people of advanced age do not have babies, yet Abraham and Sarah did and now Zacharias and Elizabeth have also been used as a mighty symbol by our God to show them and us that he is Sovereign Over All. We need to remember this in these days of panic and uncertainty. Both couples were of an advanced age and had a child, by the Grace of God. Both children ushered in something new and wonderful. Isaac fulfilled the prophecy of the Jews and the lineage of Jesus and John foretold of the coming of Christ and our salvation.

Next thought would be Elijah. The angel Gabriel spoke of this in Verse 17 of Luke 1.

17 It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

We now turn to Malachi.
Malachi 4:5-6
5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.

6 He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

Also in Isaiah 40:3
A voice is calling,
“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.

So we find that Elijah will come before the Lamb of God comes, to restore the hearts of the children to their fathers so that God would not come and smite their land with a curse. The Pharisees knew this and that is why they asked John “who are you?” That part is coming in a later part of this chapter.

In the time of Jesus, messianic expectation was never far from the surface, and speculation was that both John the Baptist and Jesus were the reappearances of ancient biblical figures.

In Matthew 16:13–16
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

We come now to the angel Gabriel. At first I thought he had not been given a sense of irony or humor, but now I think Zacharias’ silence was to be used as another mighty sign.

We continue with John’s story.

Luke 1:57-80
57 Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son.

58 Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.

59 And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father.

60 But his mother answered and said, “No indeed; but he shall be called John.”

61 And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name.”

62 And they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called.

63 And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they were all astonished.

64 And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God.

65 Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea.

66 All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him.

And Zacharias praised the Lord for the birth of his son and has a prophecy.

67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:

68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,

69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of David His servant—

70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—

71 Salvation from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;

72 To show mercy toward our fathers,
And to remember His holy covenant,

73 The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
74 To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,

75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

76 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways;

77 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins,

78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,

79 To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

80 And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

I call this a good start to understanding this man sent from God, whose name was John.

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance, through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” 2 Pet. 1:2

All Glory to God the Father and to our Savior Jesus Christ

Let us turn to John 1

John 1: 1-5
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 came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The Apostle John – known simply as the disciple whom Jesus loved. John never refers to himself in his own gospel, except as the one whom Jesus loved. Early Church fathers consistently identify him as John. In fact, Polycarp, an early Church father, was an actual disciple of John. Polycarp lived from 70 to 160 AD and testified that John wrote his gospel in the city of Ephesus, which is in Asia Minor, when John was at an advanced age. John was aware of what was written in the other gospels, and the Holy Spirit compelled him to write a spiritual gospel. They believe John to have died around 100 AD and to the best of my knowledge, he did not die a martyr, which would make him the only one of the disciples not to have been a martyr.

We find an interesting reference to this in John 21.
Our Lord is calling Peter to task. Peter, as Peter always does, is being a bit rebellious, but had finally accepted what Jesus had been asking him, which was “Tend my Sheep” and “Follow Me!”
Jesus then tells Peter that his path to follow would be a hard one. I think that maybe there might be a bit of tension between John and Peter. This was before the Holy Spirit was sent to indwell them (Acts 2:3), when all lessons by Christ were understood and the Love that Christ commanded them to have for each other took hold.

John 13:34-35

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Getting back to our Peter story, we find this in John 21:20-23

20 Peter, turning around, *saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?”

21 So Peter seeing him *said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?”

22 Jesus *said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”

23 Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”

(I find I share a lot of the mule-headedness that Peter had.)

Jesus met John and his brother James, while they were in their father’s boat, mending nets. They both immediately got up and followed Jesus.

Matthew 4:21-22

21 Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them.

22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Both of them were called the Sons of Thunder by Jesus. And we can see perhaps an example of this.

Luke 9:51-55

51 When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem;

52 And He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him.

53 But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem.

54 When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”

55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of;

56 for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went on to another village.

They were a tad zealous in how they approached things. We also know that John and his brother came from an ambitious family. Their Mother approached Jesus and asked of Him something He could not grant.

Matthew 20:20-28

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him.

21 And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She *said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.”

22 But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They *said to Him, “We are able.”

23 He *said to them, “My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.”

24 And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers.

25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.

26 It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,

27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;

28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

All of the disciples were wrangling for more honor and glory in what they perceived to be Jesus’s mission here on earth. It was of their nature, because they were born of sin, as we ourselves are.

Review:

This first chapter of John starts out in something that causes awe in me.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

There is no reference in the Bible as to Jesus being called the Word of God, but we do find in John 1:14 The 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 the Bible ends up explaining itself. Jesus was there in the beginning, with God and also being God. Our Trinity is one God with 3 persons. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Sometimes hard to wrap our head around it, but that’s where Faith comes in.

2 He was in the beginning with God.

Again to reinforce the concept, Jesus was there, in the beginning, before time and the universe as we understand it, began. The Word, as Jesus, enjoyed all the splendors of heaven and eternity with the Father, yet He came down to earth in the form of man and died on the cross, emptying Himself, so that we who believe might live. A gift too awesome to really understand.

3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

Jesus Christ was God the Father’s agent in creating everything in the universe.

Colossians 1:16-17

For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.

17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Hebrews 1:2,4

2 In these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

Light and life are qualities of the Word that are shared not only among the Godhead as found in John 5:26 For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;

But also by those that respond to the gospel message regarding Jesus Christ.
Found in John 8:12, 9:5, 10:28, 11:25, 14:6. John uses the word “life” 36 times in his gospel. More than any other gospel.

5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Proverbs 4:19 The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know over what they stumble.

Just as a single candle can overcome a room full of darkness, the powers of darkness are overcome by the work of the Son, through his death on the cross.

Numbers 6:22-26 “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”