The Message of God?

It's Jesus. The message of God is a person.

With Christmastide over, we begin ordinary time in earnest.¹ We’ll be digging deeply into the gospel of John from here on through the beginning of Lent (March 5th). Here we go!
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Part of what makes John’s gospel much different than Matthew, Mark, or Luke is seen in how miracles are handled. For one, that word - miracle - is not found in John. He instead uses the word, sign.

Jesus did not come to perform miracles. For sure, he does perform miracles. But they are not the point.

Think about a sign you see while driving. The sign’s existence is solely about something else. When you look at a sign, you don’t think about the metal post stuck in the ground with a rectangular piece of metal on top. You simply look at it to see where it is pointing or the message it’s conveying.

We will come to the first sign in John tomorrow, but I wanted to point this out today because Jesus apparently does this “neat” little thing where he refers to something only Nathanael would have known about. Nathanael is impressed. And Jesus responds saying that there will be much more to come.

But the “more” isn’t about neat things Jesus can do, miracles, or even the signs. Jesus says that Nathanael will see the messengers of God (angels) moving in and out of heaven, opening it all up and bringing it to earth.

That is the role of Jesus we receive in John - he is the message of God (the Word from verse 1:1). The word made flesh. And Jesus is still bringing the message of the heavens to earth. To us. Through us. In and throughout creation.

However, just like signs on the road are not about either the things they’re made of or even the words or symbols we see on them, God’s message isn’t about words.

It’s Jesus.

This is why we can’t really completely or easily sum up the message of God. We have four gospels. Sixty-six biblical books. All sorts of commentary about Jesus for some 2000 years now. But Jesus is a person. And we discover and then live according to a person and his character.

That is the message of God. This has all sorts of implications for how we go about studying, understanding, and living out the Word (=Jesus) of God.

John 1:43-51

The next day Jesus wanted to go into Galilee, and he found Philip. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law and the Prophets: Jesus, Joseph’s son, from Nazareth.”

Nathanael responded, “Can anything from Nazareth be good?”

Philip said, “Come and see.”

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Here is a genuine Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?”

Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”

Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are God’s Son. You are the king of Israel.”

Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these! I assure you that you will see heaven open and God’s angels going up to heaven and down to earth on the Human One.”

Psalm 19:1-4a

Heaven is declaring God’s glory;
the sky is proclaiming his handiwork.
One day gushes the news to the next,
and one night informs another what needs to be known.
Of course, there’s no speech, no words—
their voices can’t be heard—
but their sound extends throughout the world;
their words reach the ends of the earth.

Prayer

God,

Thank you for the signs that point us to you—the heavens declaring your glory, the works of your hands speaking of your greatness, and above all, the life and presence of Jesus Christ, your Word made flesh. Teach me to see and understand these signs, not as ends in themselves, but as invitations to know you all the more to be able to truly live all the more.

As Nathanael recognized Jesus, help me to recognize the ways you are moving in and through the world around me. Let my life be open to your message, that I might live in awe of your truth and respond with faithful action.

Lead me in the way of Jesus, who brings the fullness of heaven to earth. May my words, my actions, and my being testify to the love and grace revealed in him, so that others may also come and see the goodness of your kingdom.

By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.

1. Have you ever noticed that the colors used in Jesus Daily correspond with the seasons of the church year? So today, as we get back into ordinary time, the logo is green. It’s the little things. :-)