John 1:15-34 ~ Deflection, Sin, and a Way Forward

What is new here? What message do we find here that speaks to us today?

This passage seems to divide in two parts easily enough since there are two days (or more) indicated—v.15-28 and v.29-34. So, that’s the way I’d preach it.

Verses 15-28: The people of Israel have been waiting for someone to come and save them since the times of Isaiah. That’s about 700 years of waiting (based on traditional dating). They have really been waiting since Abraham was called and the promise given that ‘all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you’ (Gen.12:3)...and that was some 2000 years before the time of John. Isaiah has promised “a child is born...a son is given....” (9:6). Jeremiah has proclaimed words of promise and purpose (Jer. 29). Ezekiel has preached about a resurrection of the people of God (Ezek. 37). [These are references to sermons from the previous series on the prophets.] Over and over and over, I imagine, the people have heard these words of hope and expectation...and many others. So, it’s only normal that the folks come asking John, “Are you the one?” John spends the main part of this passage denying and deflecting—“I am not...no...nope...nyet...”  John tells us—and his questioners—who he is not.

Verses 29-34: Everything changes here. We move into the ‘next day’...and focus is all on Jesus. And, what strange or odd proclamations to make. Why not say, “There is the Messiah!” or “That’s the Prophet you’re looking for.” Instead, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Well, this is odd...except. Except when we go back to the beginning, to that call of Abraham, we remember why Abraham was called in the first place. God creates the world...sin enters and messes everything up...and God determines to redeem the Creation through this heretofore unknown Mesopotamian fellow named ‘Abram’ (later, ‘Abraham.’) Abraham is called and sent precisely because of ‘sin.’ Through him all the world is to be blessed. Through him, an antidote for sin will come. “Behold the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.” (“Lamb,” of course, a reference to the sacrificial practice of the people of God....)

And, the final declaration of John, “...God’s Chosen One,” rendered in some translations as “the Son of God.” Chosen, Son, Messiah (Anointed)....the one set apart and designated for a particular, important part in the grand story of faith.

In the end, one of the main questions these passages place before us seems to be, “Who is Jesus for us?” Is Jesus one of the great teachers of the ancient world...ranked up there with Buddha, Mohammed, Lao Tzu, etc.? Is Jesus one prophet among many? Or...is Jesus the one who addresses the problem of sin in our lives?? Is Jesus and message of Jesus the very thing that can begin to repair, correct, heal, and redeem our broken lives, relationships, egos, and floundering lives?

In light of the pandemic—the loss, the fear, the uncertainties, the divisions, is Jesus the one who can console us, teach us trust, walk with us, and bring people together?

As we go into the New Year, will we walk with Jesus as we strive to do things differently or better? Who Jesus is to us and for us can greatly impact our New Year. I think I’ll follow Jesus into this new year and allow his life and light to illuminate my way. May he illuminate our way as a congregation....

Who is Jesus for you?

 

Jon A Herrin (Th.D.) is a pastor, teacher, and author living and serving in S. Texas on the
US/Mexico border. He is author of Making Sense of It All: Reflection on the Ancient Narratives of Genesis and A Journey through Suffering: A New Reading of Job in the 21st Century.

John 1: 1-14 - A New Beginning ...

I have often preached this passage around Christmas Eve...many times at that evening service, so I come to the passage with a little reluctance—is there anything new for me to preach? I can preach a well-known, well-used passage, but it’s always better if I find something new or discover a fresh approach. So, I come to John 1:1-14 hoping to find a nugget not seen before. Of course, something new is not always what’s needed. I have long argued that what we really need to do in a sermon, in a preaching moment, is respond to the world around us, provide answers to the questions people are asking (see this article). So, even if what I find is not new or fresh or clever, may it be something that speaks to the needs, fears, or hopes of the people.

We have been following the prophets of the Old Testament for the last few weeks...all the time preparing for the One who was to be born. John, I argue, is the last prophet...at least the last “Old Testament” prophet. And, as any good prophet, John comes to reveal the mind of God, to call the people of God back to faithful living, and possibly to foretell some coming event. Yet, his task is bit more focused—John comes to proclaim the arrival of the Promised One...Isaiah’s “child” (Isa.9), Jeremiah’s “hope” (Jer.29), Ezekiel’s resurrection (Ezek. 37). In this Word that John introduces in 1:1, we find the fulfillment of 700 years of prophecy.

 

What do we find in this passage?

v.1-5  – "In the beginning...." This echoes the opening words of Genesis, the beginning words of Creation. John wants us to know that God is doing something new, creative in Jesus. And, this Jesus is no ordinary person—he is the pre-existent one, he was there at Creation, he is the Creator...he is life so needed in our dying world, and he is light so craved in the darkness of this broken world. As we come through a pandemic, as we live in an increasingly shadowed world, we need life and light perhaps more than ever.

 Word. Besides being a pastor, I’m also an English teacher. I focus on teaching writing, and writing is all about words. One of the first topics I tackle with my students is, ‘What is a word?’ It’s a joyful time as the students—who use words all the time—wrestle with actually articulating what a word is. Some say a group of letters (dfslexa!?), some say a sound (pron. ‘rumflrtzy’). We all have some good laughs until I finally bring them to it or until someone in the class begins to catch on—a word is an aural or visual symbol of an idea. From there, we go on to discover that ideas function in our minds in the forms of images (when you hear or read ‘pizza’ – do you hear a sound or see letters in your mind? No—we ‘see’ a pizza pie...round, steaming, pepperoni...). Words are important. The best words allow us to visualize most clearly. So, to say that Jesus is the ‘Word’ is to say that Jesus is the visual/aural representation of God...the idea of God made real, experiential for us. I really like the way that Spanish translators of Scripture have rendered this passage. In English, we say, “In the beginning was the Word....” In Spanish, this passage goes, “En el principio ya existía el Verbo….” They use the word “Verbo”…and, yes, we actually translate that as “verb” (the Spanish for ‘word’ is ‘palabra.’) So, the translators elect to use that active word...not just any ‘word.’ I like that!

v.6-8 – John clarifies that he is NOT the One...he’s just someone announcing the One.

v.9-13 – The light coming into the world “gives light to everyone.” Even though he is co-Creator, the creation and the creatures fail to recognize him. But, for those who do recognize him and put their trust in him, they are welcomed into the family of God, made “children of God.”

v.14 – This is the message of Christmas right here. The co-Creator, the Word, the Idea of God, God...became one of us. How do we wrap our minds around that?

Imagine a watchmaker...a person who painstakingly pieces together a time-piece, getting all the ratchets, swivels, weights, springs, pins, and jewels in place to form a watch. Then, that person magically becomes a watch. They want to experience what it is like to be what they’ve created—no more arms, legs, eyes, mouth...no longer able to move on their own...strapped to someone’s wrist, tied there...bumped into furniture...covered for extended periods with a long sleeve...seemingly forgotten, taken for granted...then changed out with another watch, thrown in a drawer until the owner decides to pull this watch out again for some occasion.

Or, think of the carpenter who makes the fine pews or benches we sit on. He planes the wood, sands it...cuts and fits together the pieces with glue, screws, finishing nails...stain is carefully applied...and varnish over that. Finally, the pew is ready. The carpenter magically becomes one of his pews. Placed in a sanctuary, he sees people two or three hours a week; the rest of the time he sits in silence. He cannot move, cannot turn. Kids play under, over and around him before the service starts. Sometimes no one sits on him; sometimes Mr. Gordo and the whole Gordo family sit on him...and it strains his joints. Finally, someone stands before the congregation and decides it’s time to replace the pews with chairs...and he’s stacked in the basement until someone can figure out what to do with him and the others.

God—the Creator of all things—becomes a creature within the Creation. All is given up—unlimited freedom, incomprehensible power, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience...all given up. Suddenly, God experiences something new for the first time. Before this moment, God had never known what it was like to be a human. God does something completely new in the person of Jesus...and history is changed forever. Now, we know that God—who often seems far, distant, different, other—this God knows what it is like to wrestle with very human decisions, to deal with family and friends...and enemies, to experience hunger, exhaustion, and stress. Suddenly, we have a God who truly loves us and who truly knows us and our lives. In the coming of Jesus in the manger on that first Christmas, everything changed—everything. And, this is good news for us....

The Word became flesh ...

¹⁴The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us….

The Word became flesh…

            The Idea became Reality

                        The Promise became fulfilled

                                    Thought became Thing

Unseen became Seen

            Unreachable embraced us

                        Unimaginably distant sat down beside us

Highest become lowest

            Richest become poorest

                        Divine became ordinary

                                    God became a human – God became one of us….

                                                Merry Christmas.

Jon A Herrin (Th.D.) is a pastor, teacher, and author living and serving in S. Texas on the
US/Mexico border. He is author of Making Sense of It All: Reflection on the Ancient Narratives of Genesis and A Journey through Suffering: A New Reading of Job in the 21st Century.

Introducing John

 Find below the introduction to my book on John coming in 2022. As we begin a new cycle of preaching John, I will be posting snippets of my book that apply to the coming preaching topic. My hope is that my colleagues in ministry may find something useful or inspiring among the words I push about on the page. Cheers!

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Introduction

      John is not my favorite Gospel. I know, I know ... this is the Gospel that has “John 3:16”, the story of the water turning into wine, the encounter with the Samaritan woman, all the “I am” statements and much more. But, John as Gospel generally had not ‘worked’ for me. I mean, there is too much dialogue and too little action.

      So, I probably have had an affinity for the Gospels, from greatest to least, in this order: Luke, Matthew, Mark, and finally John. Yes, John is in last place.

Perhaps it is because we also find in John those “hard sayings” of Jesus that leave me feeling a little 'meh' (to say the least). Like that of 'eating his flesh' in John 6; And what about his seemingly endless speeches included in John 12-17? I don't know, maybe I simply like a good narrative, and John simply lacks a lot of narratives and stories while Matthew, Mark and Luke include them in spades. John doesn't even have a good story of the birth or baptism of Jesus! What's up with that?

      In any case, the year 2018 arrived, and I was following the “Narrative Lectionary^[1]” in my preaching at that time. From the moment the cycle had started in the fall of 2017, I knew that John was on the horizon, and I honestly did not want to preach through that Gospel. But having to preach to John was a good thing. Let me explain.

      One of the benefits of following a lectionary (i.e. : 'a reading list for the church year'^[2]) is that it “forces” preachers away from their favorite passages. John is not a Gospel that I have often preached from or about. But because I was following the Narrative Lectionary (many others in my tradition follow the Revised Common Lectionary), I was now faced with having to preach something that I was not comfortable with or very enthusiastic about.

      But this is good!

      I need to be pulled out of my comfort zone from time to time and face the challenge of preaching something that is not easy for me. A lectionary often forces us preachers to grapple with something we prefer to postpone or avoid. So now I was facing the ‘Gospel of the year.’ I would fight with John; I would endeavor to “suck the marrow” out of the bones in this book ... even if only reluctantly.

      I was also just starting to become a bit excited to preach this Gospel. Just before this time arrived in the lectionary season, I was reading J. Philip Newell's book, Listening to the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Spirituality (Paulist Press)^[3], in which the author indicates over and over again that John is the Gospel of the Celts (or those seeking a Celtic worldview). I should mention here that my roots are from Scotland, and I have an interest in all things Celtic. Well, Newell argues that John is more in tune with the God who speaks through nature, the God who is for everyone, and I was excited to see if I could find traces of the ideas Newell put forth. This gave me a little more interest as I dove into my studies and sermon preparation.

      Also, as an exercise that I did not normally practice, I prepared the sermons by writing entire manuscripts before preaching them (I usually prepare only an outline). This collection of essays that follows arises from that process of search, study, writing, preaching, and reflection. The essays that form the following chapters are now far more than the sermons I preached some years ago—in many cases, the layout has been re-ordered, new examples have been brought in, and new ideas that have come along since have been woven into the fabric of thought.

      Allow me to be very clear here as to the purpose and structure of the pieces in this work: I simply want to share what I found, what I discovered in my studies, the things that God revealed to me in this process, those things that were new or surprising to me. And, I present them as essays for the reader's reflection and as fuel for their devotional fires. Perhaps my thoughts may even contribute to some pastor’s future sermons or to a teacher’s future lectures. I hope my ideas may be useful and helpful to those who love John ... or who want to know more about this Gospel.

      At the beginning of this great effort, I was clearly in the second of these two groups—I just wanted to know more, to see if there was anything salvageable. I really hoped that studying, reading, and preaching through the Gospel would give me an understanding, an appreciation and, yes, a completely new love for the Gospel of John.

      I’ll let you know it went. Let's get started....

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^[1] The Narrative Lectionary serves as an alternative to the Revised Common Lectionary, and in addition it provides a more contiguous narrative of Scripture, something many find desperately necessary in an increasingly biblical-illiterate culture, even within the Church.

See more here: http://www.workingpreacher.org/narrative_faqs.aspx

^[2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lectionary

^[3] Philip Newell. Listening for the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Spirituality. New York, Paulist Press, 1997.

 

Jon A Herrin (Th.D.) is a pastor, teacher, and author living and serving in S. Texas on the US/Mexico border. He is author of Making Sense of It All: Reflection on the Ancient Narratives of Genesis and A Journey through Suffering: A New Reading of Job in the 21st Century.