January 1/Chapter 1

        Who is Jesus really?  I found 16 names for Jesus in John 1, plus 26 descriptive statements about Him.  What can I add to that?  He is God, the Creator and Sovereign over the entire universe and everything else.  He always was and always will be.  He is.

        At the same time, He is one of us, and He is like us.  He dwelt among people like you and me and was the son of Joseph from Nazareth, a cousin and brother.  He was a man who put his sandal-clad feet down on dusty paths.  He called his friend “Rock.”  He looked people in the eye.  He ate figs with them.  They touched Him.  They heard His voice.  They knew Him.

        He was also a light shining from outside our tangible reality shedding truth on every mind and heart.  He is a bridge across the chasm between divinity and humanity.  He is the Messiah, God become human.  He is God right here with us.  And He is the sacrificial lamb who paid our blood-guilt with His own divine death.  He is our Savior.

        So how do I respond?  That seems to be one of the main themes of John 1.  A lot is also about who He is.  The passage says the world didn’t know Him when He came, even though He made it.  Many people didn’t recognize Him.  His own people, the Jewish nation, rejected Him.

        Though it mentions the rejectors, the chapter focuses on a few individuals who received Him: John the Baptist, Andrew, Peter, Philip, Nathanael.  Some were, at first, skeptical.  They received Him after persuasion.  John’s testimony was convincing.  John saw revelation fulfilled when a dove came from heaven and landed on Jesus. Something extraordinary happened at the fig tree that convinced Nathanael.  They followed after fulfilled revelation and divine persuasion.

        I wonder what I would do if Jesus came walking up to me in His human body.  Would I know it was Him?  How would I recognize Him?  What would I do?

        Jesus calls them simply to follow Him.  And they did. 

        They didn’t know where He was going, or where it would eventually take them.  We don’t know what thoughts ran through their minds.  But we know this essential thing: they followed Him.  They became disciples of Jesus.

        As we start off these weeks of reflection in the Gospel of John that will lead us to our Americas Area Conference January 24-30, that is a great question for us all to start with.  Will I follow Jesus?  Will I be His disciple?

        We’ve all said yes before.  As we prepare our hearts for five days learning from the Upper Room Discourse about developing reproducing disciple makers, I invite you to join me in saying yes to Jesus every day.  Yes, Jesus, I will follow you.  I will be your disciple today.

        Makes me wonder what it means to see the heavens opened and angels ascending and descending.  I really would like to see that.

Karry