What Greatness Looks Like

Today’s passage is John 1:14-28.  I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

John 1:14 (NIV)
¹⁴  The 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.

On verse 14:  Verses 14-18 conclude what is known as the Prologue in John 1.  The Prologue summarizes some of the central truths about Jesus from the Gospel of John.  Just from verse 14 alone we learn that:

–        Jesus (the Word) “became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (v14a).  In other words, God became a man when Jesus entered this world and lived among people.  This is known as the Incarnation.

–        Jesus is the Son of God who came from the Father (v14b).

–        Jesus is “full of grace and truth” (v14b).  Jesus is not just all grace, nor is he all truth.  He is full of both.

–        For all these reasons, Jesus is unique and unlike anyone else.  That is why John calls Jesus “the One and Only”.

John 1:15 (NIV)
¹⁵  John 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.'”

On verse 15: John the Baptist was approximately 6 months older than Jesus.  The Baptist is saying that although Jesus was born into this world after him, Jesus is still greater than him because Jesus is the eternal Son of God who existed long before the Baptist existed.

John 1:16 (NIV)
¹⁶  From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.

On verse 16:  Every single blessing we experience in life is “from the fullness of his grace” (v16).  Whose grace?  Jesus.  Don’t take God’s blessings for granted but realize that from the fullness of Jesus’ grace we have received one blessing after another.

John 1:17 (NIV)
¹⁷  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

On verse 17:  Before Jesus came, people were aware of God’s law (i.e. His moral standards), which God gave through Moses (for example, the 10 commandments).  But when Jesus came, Jesus personally exemplified God’s grace (undeserved kindness) and truth.

John 1:18 (NIV)
¹⁸  No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

On verse 18:  Who is “God the One and Only”?  Jesus.  Notice that over and over Jesus is referred to in the first 18 verses of John’s Gospel as God (see verse 1, 14 and 18).  Jesus is not just an ordinary man.  He is God.  If it weren’t for the incarnation (God becoming human in the form of Jesus) we would have very little idea what God is like, since “No one has ever seen God”.  But “God the One and Only…has made him known.”  Because of Jesus we can know who God is and what He is like.  As Hebrews 1:3 tells us, Jesus is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being”.

John 1:19-23 (NIV)
¹⁹  Now this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was.
²⁰  He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Christ.”
²¹  They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”
²²  Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
²³  John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.'”

On verses 19-23:  People weren’t sure what to make of John the Baptist.  Some thought he was the Messiah (the Christ), but he denied it (v20).  Some thought he was the return of the great prophet Elijah or another great prophet (perhaps a reference to a Moses-like prophet from Deuteronomy 18:15), but he denied it (v21).  Instead John referred to himself using the words of Isaiah 40:3 as “the voice of one calling in the desert: make straight the way for the LORD” (v23).  In other words, John the Baptist saw his calling as preparing the way for God’s Messiah.  He found a Scriptural basis for his mission in Isaiah 40:3.

John 1:24-28 (NIV)
²⁴  Now some Pharisees who had been sent
²⁵  questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
²⁶  “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know.
²⁷  He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
²⁸  This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

On verses 24-28:  The Pharisees question John the Baptist on why he baptizes people despite not being the Messiah, nor Elijah or the Prophet.   In responding to their question, John effectively points the Pharisees to Jesus, saying that someone whom the Pharisees don’t know will be much greater than him.  In a way, John is suggesting that “if you don’t get what I’m doing, you’re definitely not going to get who’s coming after me.”

What can we learn from this?   John the Baptist was so secure in who he was and in what God called him to do.  So he had no problems putting Jesus over as being greater than him.

I pray that we would be like John the Baptist – secure in who we are, confident in what God has called us to do, not worried about how we compare to others, just happy to serve Jesus and point people to Him.

Later on Jesus would say that John the Baptist is among the greatest men who ever lived.  It’s because the road to true greatness is humility: serving others, all the while being secure in who you are.

Jesus, You are God’s One and Only Son, full of grace and full of truth, and from the fullness of Your grace we have received one blessing after another.  I pray that like John the Baptist I would be humble, that is, willing to serve others, all the while being secure in who You made me to be.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!