Younger Yet Older

“John bare witness of him, and cried, saying,
‘This was He of whom I spake,
He that cometh after me is preferred before me:
for He was before me.’”
John 1:15

The apostle John has started his gospel about Jesus of Nazareth by making the claim that He is eternal God. When God the Father sent His eternal Son into the world, He sent a witness ahead of Him: John the Baptist. John the Baptist was not the Messiah, but he came as a witness to the True Light, Jesus Christ.
This is exactly what John the Baptist told people. Actually, his message was arresting because it went against what most people thought. Quite the opposite of our culture where youth is the ideal, Ancient Near Eastern cultures (and Eastern cultures today) venerate the elderly. The older one is, the more respect he has and influence he carries. John the Baptist was older than his cousin, Jesus, by six months or so, but John said that Jesus was actually greater! Even though Jesus “came after” John, He was of greater rank and importance. How could someone younger be greater?
John the Baptist’s answer to that question goes back to what John wrote earlier in this chapter. Jesus, although “younger,” was greater because He existed before John the Baptist. This is because Jesus Christ has always existed. He did not begin to exist at His conception in Mary’s womb—He has existed with God from eternity past.
John spends so much time dealing with the person of Jesus Christ because He is not just a man. He is the God-man, come to earth to deal finally and completely with sin. As God, He came to reveal God to the people He had created. As a man, He came to die for sinners. Apart from Him, man has no hope of salvation.

The Word Became Flesh

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only Begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth.”
John 1:14

John has been very clear about who Jesus of Nazareth is: He is eternal God. He has always existed as God. He created the world and gave life to every human being. He came to that world to give life, but he was rejected by the people He had made. However, God will make those who believe in His Son His children. But Jesus of Nazareth was a man, observed by eyewitnesses and recorded in history. How could this man claim to be God?
In this verse, John describes the incarnation, which means “the process of becoming flesh.” John says that the Eternal Son of God, the Word, “was made flesh.” Without sacrificing His divine nature, Jesus took on a human nature. This one person was both fully God and fully man. In this way, John says, the Eternal Word took on human flesh and lived with us.
But Jesus was not just a man. John takes pains to say that although He took on flesh, those who saw Him and knew Him realized He was not just a man. No, they saw His glory. They observed His surpassing excellency and greatness, the glory that proved He was God’s unique and beloved Son.
Jesus’ life and actions proved He was who He claimed to be: God’s Son. His life demonstrated a perfect example of “grace and truth.” In His dealings with sinful men (the majority of whom rejected Him), He displayed the love and mercy of God. In His teaching, He displayed absolute truth, total conformity to the nature of God in all things. Jesus was God come in the flesh.

Becoming a Part of God’s Family

“Which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God.”
John 1:13

Let’s review: Jesus, who is and always has been God, created the world and everything in it. That world rebelled against God and fell into sin. Jesus came to his world to redeem it and bring His life-giving light into it, but the world rejected Him. However, those who put their faith in Jesus and receive Him can be right with God. In fact, God will make them part of His family. Verse thirteen talks about how a person becomes a child of God.
Becoming part of your physical family was automatic: your physical birth made you a part of the family. However, being born into God’s family requires a spiritual re-birth. A person is not a child of God simply because of his parents or his ancestry. The kind of birth that brings us into God’s family is not “of blood” or a physical birth.
Furthermore, John says, this spiritual birth is not even initiated or actualized by man. Because of his sin, he is spiritually dead. He does not respond to God. He is completely unable (and unwilling!) to do so. Spiritual re-birth into the family of God does not take place because man wills it to happen. Man does not simply require extra spiritual strength or even spiritual healing. He needs spiritual life.
John says that becoming a part of God’s family happens by the will of God. It is God who energizes this spiritual birth. He initiates the process of giving life to spiritually dead men and women and giving them the right to be His sons and daughters.
This brings us full circle: the same God who created us and gave us the life we enjoy each day also offers us spiritual life and the right to be His children because of the finished work of Jesus Christ.