John 1:14-15
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.
This sounds pretty intense. At first it threw me off a little because I was thinking , "How can a word be flesh?" Then I rememebered that in verse 1 this book calls Jesus the "Word." This is pretty new to me. It is saying then that this One who was there from the beginning, made everything, was God Himself, with God, now has became flesh. This is really different than the way I had thought of Jesus! I never have thought of Him as existing "in the beginning."
We always see him as a little baby in the manger. We talk about his messages of "love" that always are made to sound like you're ony a good person if you let people walk all over you. But this, this is saying that He was around long before the baby at Bethlehem and the Oh Holy Night. Then, he became flesh, or became a man. That is pretty powerful stuff. Now I know why the Catholics say that he was God. I never have really thought or heard about it this way, though. Whenever I have heard about this, Mary is usually the focus and how God favored her and she didn't have to have sex to get pregnant with Jesus.
This is cool. It gives a perspective of the Christmas story that doesn't even include the donkeys ... or Mary or Joseph. It is like - he just did it all on his own - became flesh! Cool.
15John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' "
Back to John the Baptist. OK, so he must have said something about someone coming after him who is more important than him. Maybe that is recorded somewhere else in the Bible what he said. I do remember in verse 7 and 8 that it spoke of how John was not the main guy, but that his mission was to point out someone else. It is kinda cool how he says "he was before me." If I remember right, John the Baptist was born before Jesus ... so we are seeing that idea that Jesus was the "in the beginning" person. Neat.
I wonder why in Catholic school we never hear about this. This is pretty powerful and it might make their ideas about Jesus being God seem more real to us young people.
This sounds pretty intense. At first it threw me off a little because I was thinking , "How can a word be flesh?" Then I rememebered that in verse 1 this book calls Jesus the "Word." This is pretty new to me. It is saying then that this One who was there from the beginning, made everything, was God Himself, with God, now has became flesh. This is really different than the way I had thought of Jesus! I never have thought of Him as existing "in the beginning."
We always see him as a little baby in the manger. We talk about his messages of "love" that always are made to sound like you're ony a good person if you let people walk all over you. But this, this is saying that He was around long before the baby at Bethlehem and the Oh Holy Night. Then, he became flesh, or became a man. That is pretty powerful stuff. Now I know why the Catholics say that he was God. I never have really thought or heard about it this way, though. Whenever I have heard about this, Mary is usually the focus and how God favored her and she didn't have to have sex to get pregnant with Jesus.
This is cool. It gives a perspective of the Christmas story that doesn't even include the donkeys ... or Mary or Joseph. It is like - he just did it all on his own - became flesh! Cool.
15John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' "
Back to John the Baptist. OK, so he must have said something about someone coming after him who is more important than him. Maybe that is recorded somewhere else in the Bible what he said. I do remember in verse 7 and 8 that it spoke of how John was not the main guy, but that his mission was to point out someone else. It is kinda cool how he says "he was before me." If I remember right, John the Baptist was born before Jesus ... so we are seeing that idea that Jesus was the "in the beginning" person. Neat.
I wonder why in Catholic school we never hear about this. This is pretty powerful and it might make their ideas about Jesus being God seem more real to us young people.
posted by Rose~ at 7:31 AM
5 Comments:
Yes, Miss Roseie, Jesus is God, God the Son. It is interesting that throughout history, the devil has cleverly introduced other people and things into the story in an attempt to take our eyes off of Jesus, even if only partially. As you read your Bible you will see that Jesus is actually the spirit of prophesy-Rev.19:10. That means the entire Bible revolves around Him and His Person. HE is to be the object of our gaze. HE is the fulfillment of prophesy.
With some, Mary is the tool that the devil uses to divert people's gaze away from Jesus. With others, it is the nation of Israel itself, or Bible prophesy. They watch and watch the news to see if predictions are coming true, instead of gazing at the King in all of His glory. Gazing at Jesus, we will be doing that for all of eternity when He comes to bring His people home with Him. Why not start now?
My father grew up in a Catholic family. At church and at Catholic school he never heard the book of John read. It was always the other gospels.
I think the reason is that John does not fit in with the way the Roman Catholic church understands getting saved.
The Catholic Church says 'do this', 'do that', 'say Hail Mary 20 times' and you might get to heaven.
As you will come to see if you keep on reading, the Gospel of John promises that whoever believes in Jesus Christ for eternal life will receive eternal life and never loose it.
God Bless
Matthew
Bluecollar,
Wow, that sort of rings true, now that I think of it. I think I really like getting from you and DF - your protestant perspective. Mary is really "all the rage" in the church that I am in ... and the school.
Well, now that I am reading the book of John, I suppose I will see how emphasized she is in the Bible. I will compare. I will see. You have given me a lot to think about.
Thank you, Mr. Bluecollar
DF,
WOw, so your dad was a Catholic and now he is not? That is rare, isn't it? I have not heard of anyone like that.
What you say about the book of John as compared to the other "gospels" - I am not aware of that. I don't pay real close attention to what I hear in church. There is no Bible at school. At church, they have read the same readings over and over again every year for my whole life so that I couldn't even tell you what book they came from: Matthew, Mark, Luke - I don't know. It all seems so flavorless to me around here, so dull. I am numb to it.
This book of John though - I tell you, I have never heard this! I guess that is what I could say - I know what I HAVEN"T HEARD. This is it. I have not heard these teachings emphasized. I am only 15 verses into it - I wonder what surprises are left to come!
You are right about the Catholic church with the penance and repeating prayers. That is another thing that makes me feel numb.
Thanks for your thoughts, both of you. I like protestants. I wonder why the Catholic church wants to keep us away from them.
Miss Rosie,
I have a book that covers the history of the town I live in, Greece, a suburb of Roch.,NY. In one of the chapters they cover a sermon that was heard one day at a nearby church in the 1850's. The sermon was entitled " Mary, The Blessed Mother of God". I thought, "How clever the enemy is, all these people gathered together at church, and the focus is on Mary--Hmmm?!"
Bluecollar,
I never thought of "the enemy" as using religious teaching. I assume by "the enemy" you mean the devil. I never thought of him as being interested in religion. I guess I have a lot to learn.
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