Black Church

Rebecca’s Well: He Has Dwelt Among Us – Pt. I ©

“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 (KJV)

Bible scholars generally agree that the Apostle John, honored as the “disciple whom Jesus Loved” is the author of this Gospel.

John writes as a denial of the popular heresy of Corinthus and others who held that Jesus was a mere man, a morally good homosapien who became “The Christ” at his baptism.

John does not lay again the foundation of the Synoptic Gospels but he goes to the heart of the matter and he writes a universal, spiritual gospel for all people and for all times. He takes advantage of the question – What does it mean to me that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us?

John writes for the believer, for the Christian who abides in Christ and strives to become like him. John writes for the potential convert. He writes for teaching and worship within the church community.

Yes, John even writes for the validation of those who have experienced Jesus in their bodily sense perceptions.

Here in this Gospel, John builds upon the Synoptics, the external facts, the history of our Lord’s birth. John doesn’t bother us with dates, and time and places. He cuts across genealogy, situations, traditions, and customs.

John helps us in our search for the meaning of the mystery of God in man. He is bringing up the rear, he’s the “gathering host” adding what was omitted by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John leads us further into the veil, into an understanding of our divine birth-right – who we are and why we are here.

To obtain the research on the birth of Jesus, John heads straight for Heaven because that’s where the record is. There are three that bear record in Heaven according to I John 5:7: “the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” The 8th verse states, there are three that bear record in earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.”

John sees so clearly the divine and heavenly matter because he was up there in heaven where the record was. You know the ancients say that in John’s vision of the throne of God, when the door was opened in Heaven, that John was one of the four creatures around the throne. The four creatures were regarded as the four evangelists – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. John was that flying eagle.

Every time the voice sounded like a trumpet bidding John to “come up hither and I will show you things,” Eagle John just soared higher and higher until the Spirit told him to write: “In the beginning was the Word …” (John 1:1-2)