Primary Passage
John 1:1-14
Who is Jesus?
Most people have some version of Jesus in their minds.
For some, He is a gentle figure from childhood stories. He is kind, soft-spoken, and safely predictable. For others, He is a moral teacher, offering good advice but making few real demands. Still others see Him as distant, severe, or irrelevant to everyday life.
The Jesus revealed in Scripture refuses to be reduced to a story, a symbol, or a simplified idea.
John opens his Gospel not with a manger or a miracle, but with eternity:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
-John 1:1
Before Jesus walked the roads of Galilee, before He healed the sick or taught the crowds, He WAS. He did not come into existence at Bethlehem. He stepped into the world from eternity. John tells us that Jesus is the eternal Word. He tells us that Jesus is fully God and that all things were made through Him. Jesus is not a supporting character in God’s story. This IS God Himself.
The fact the Jesus was with God and was God isn’t all of the story either. The most astonishing truth comes just a few verses later:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
-John 1:14
The eternal God chose to come to earth to be near to His people!
Jesus didn’t shout instructions from heaven or remain distant from human suffering. He entered our world fully. He chose to enter into weakness, into pain, into limitation and temptation. He experienced hunger, rejection, grief, weariness and sorrow. He chose to step into His creation to endure all of these things and chose to do so, not as a king demanding allegiance, but as a servant offering grace.
John says, in verse 14, that Jesus “dwelt” among us. This word “dwelt” literally means to pitch tents, to tabernacle. He tabernacled with us. Just as God once dwelled among Israel in the wilderness, He now comes even closer, taking on flesh and living among His people. This is not a detached God. This is Emmanuel, God with us.
Why Did He Come?
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”
-John 1:12
Jesus came to restore relationship. He came to bring light into darkness. He came to offer grace instead of condemnation. He came to make a way for us not just to know about God, but to belong to Him.
What Is This Series About?
This series, Jesus in the Gospels: Who He Really Is, is an invitation to encounter Jesus as He truly is. Not the softened version we may have grown comfortable with, nor the distorted version shaped by culture or assumption. The Gospels show us a Jesus who is holy and compassionate, authoritative and gentle, powerful and humble. A Savior who comforts the broken and confronts the proud. A King who serves. A Shepherd who seeks the lost.
As we begin this journey, the question is not simply “What do you know about Jesus?” The deeper question is, “Do you truly know Him?”
Jesus is more than a story. He is the living Word and He invites us to come, see, and follow Him.
Reflection Questions
- How have I tended to view Jesus, either personally and/or culturally?
- Have I ever reduced Him to a comfortable version to make myself feel better about things?
- What would it look like to truly encounter Jesus as He reveals Himself in Scripture?
Prayer for the Week
Dear God,
Help me to see You clearly. Remove the assumptions, the distractions, and the misconceptions that keep me from truly knowing You. As I open Your Word, open my heart. I want to know You, not just as a story, but as my Savior and King.
Amen.
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