OK - now Verse 18 is a statement (No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known).But it is also a statement in search of a story. A context. A larger narrative.
Otherwise, it is a statement one can simply reject out of hand. That is, John says: "Jesus is God the Son who has made known God the Father." And you could reply: "No, he isn't." "Yes, he is." "No, he isn't."
And then we are just going around in circles..
With any incredible claim, you have to take the time to figure out the context; the story behind it; the narrative, and then check that out.
And here is John's Story of the Revelation of the invisible God:
- The Story begins before Creation. (V1-5)
- The Story lands in 1st Century Palestine. (V6-9)
- And the Story spreads from Israel to the World. (V10-18) (And that's where you and I come in).
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3 comments:
Don't forget the New Creation in your story. There is so much rooted in creation--2nd Adam, the light/darkness, etc... The story of the transformation of the current, earthly, sin stained kingdom by the coming of God to dwell (bringing heaven to earth) with us and the final culmination (Revelation). It gives true meaning to the Lord's Prayer's "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done." God's kingdom is here now, just not completely. I'm sure you could wrap this up in a tidy 20 minute sermon :-)
I have really come to appreciate John over these past few months. Our pastor commented how his connections to the Old Testament were subtle (as opposed to Matthews "This fulfilled...") and the more I read, the more God allows me to see John's great literary techniques that truly make this Scripture beautiful.
Have a great week!
Thanks for your comments, Mark!
I'd say it was a tidy 15 minutes.
:)
Did I say 15? I meant 25.
Wishful thinking.
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