John: Introducing Jesus

Faith never exists in isolation - it is always faith in Christ because we know something of him. John is concerned to show that 'Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God' so that we may have life through his name. Accordingly he presents him to us - who he is, and what he does. He also considers how people react to Jesus. Jesus deity is emphasised from the start. There are huge implications in the description 'Word'. If we know him we have light on our place in the world and our relationship with God and who God is. Yet he is very near to us, as John's reference to the particular significance of John the Baptist shows. Light excludes darkness, but darkness cannot exclude light unless it is the darkness of being blind. Thus, 'his own did not receive him'. But some did, and the explanation can only be that they are 'born of God'. That leads to a relationship that others cannot even imagine - children of God.