gospel of john

There have been many times in my life when I’ve been incredulous, especially about the skills of someone I know. Yes, I realize this makes me sound like a bit of a jerk. But, every now and then, I find myself saying: “Really? Can anything good possibly come out of this?” When Philip tells his buddy Nathanael about Jesus the son of Joseph from Nazareth, Nathanael’s response is similar to mine.

In a modern world, it is all too easy to allow our reliance on empirical data and facts to govern how we see and understand the world. This is why, as a Christian, I often feel it is helpful to adopt a postmodern, bordering on deconstructionist, view of the world. What we see is not always what we get, and the easiest, most straightforward interpretation is not always the best. We live in a world where Occam’s Razor cannot be trusted. John the Baptist’s response to the Pharisees is a case of “what you want is not always what you get.”

God has revealed himself to us in so many ways. The most meaningful and most important revelation, however, was Jesus Christ himself. In John 1:14, we are told that “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The Almighty humbled himself and planted his feet firmly on the Earth.

Previously, I looked at John 1:1–5, the very beginning of the prologue. Now, I’d like to go to the next chunk of the gospel which raises some interesting insights about God’s plan. Hebert Translation Nestle-Aland 27 There was a human, sent from God, by the name of John. This one came as a witness so [...]