Scripture Passages

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

• John 1:1-18

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

• Luke 1:1-4

Chronological Study Bible Notes

The Word Becomes Flesh (John 1:14)

John’s Gospel describes Jesus’ preexistence by identifying Him as the divine “Word” (John 1:1), or, as expressed in the Greek language, the Logos. Many Greek philosophers spoke of the Logos as universal Reason. People familiar with Greek thought could have understood John to be proclaiming Jesus as the organizing principle or ‘Reason’ behind the universe.
Some Jewish people adapted the Greek idea of Logos to fit the traditional Jewish idea of the Word. But more thought of the Word in traditionally Jewish categories. They identified God’s creative Word with divine Wisdom, which they also identified with God’s Law (the Torah). They brought various ideas together: that God created all things through the Law or Wisdom (John 1:3), that the Word was life and light (1:4), and that Wisdom had been with God from the beginning (1:2).
In the prologue of his Gospel, John declares something that neither the Greek philosophers nor the Jewish teachers conceived: the Word became flesh and dwelt among His people. To the Greeks Logos was invisible reason, not part of the material world. To the Jewish teachers Wisdom was a divine attribute of Yahweh. But to John the Word was the divine Christ who became a human being. The Word’s glory was “full of grace and truth,” revealing to us the full character of God (John 1:14, 17, 18).

• Timothy B. Cargal, et al., The Chronological Study Bible

Other Commentary

Gnosticism (John 1:4)

Gnosticism, a dualistic heresy that reached its full strength in the second and third centuries AD, regarded the spiritual as being inherently good and the earthly (i.e., the created world) as inherently evil. Asceticism is another response to this concept that the created order is inherently evil. John may have emphasized Christ’s humanity in his gospel in order to combat the beginnings of the philosophical-spiritual ideology called Gnosticism. Gnostics believed that the spirit world contained many different levels of knowledge and that everyone must ascend through them to achieve gnosis (Gk.), a secret inner knowledge resulting in salvation and available only to those who had their consciousness raised to such a level. Gnostics argued that through Christ they had experienced a spiritual resurrection and had arrived at knowledge (Gk. gnōsis). Therefore, since the sins of the body were totally unconnected with the spiritual life, they were free on a spiritual plane to worship God through Christ Jesus and on a physical plane to do as they pleased. Paul strongly taught against this viewpoint, as did the early church fathers (2Co 7:1; Eph 4:17–24). First Timothy 1:3–7 and Jude 3–19 may also refer to teachers of incipient (or developing) Gnosticism. Since Gnostics believed the flesh is always evil, they taught that a sinless Christ could not have become truly human. Gnostics were divided over the incarnation. The Docetic Gnostics claimed that Christ’s human body was only an illusion, while Cerinthian Gnostics taught that God’s divine spirit filled the human Jesus at his baptism but fled before his death. Like all other tenets of Gnostic belief, Scripture refutes both of these positions (Col 1:15–18; Heb 2:14; 1Jn 4:2–6).

• Dorothy Kelley Patterson, General Editor, NIV Woman’s Study Bible (Ann W. Bowman, Gospels and Acts contributor)

Eyewitnesses and other Ministers of the Word (Luke 1:3)

Luke’s primary sources were the apostles themselves, who delivered facts about Jesus’ life and teaching—both orally and by means of recorded memoirs in written documents made available to Luke. In any case, Luke made no pretense of being an eyewitness himself, but explained that these were facts supported by careful research.

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

My Thoughts

John’s Prehistory (John 1:1-18)

I think that the beginning of John 1 is often quoted due to its poetic style, but the words are powerful.

John was fighting the emergence of Gnosticism and other heresies.

In the first few verses, he refers to Jesus as the Word (Gr. Logos), meaning knowledge.  Later in John 14, John speaks of Jesus identifying Himself as The Way, The Truth, and The Life.  Thus, the Word fits with what Jesus taught.

John clearly establishes Jesus as being eternal, existing before time began.  Nothing was made without Jesus.  The Trinity created all things.  Genesis 1 speaks of the Spirit hovering over the waters.  God often refers to God the Father.  And here Jesus is identified as being both with God and being God.  This introduces One God in multiple persons.  There are three persons, but the Holy Spirit is not discussed in this passage.  John was stating clearly, although poetically, that Jesus was God, and then in the fourteenth verse, Jesus is God who becomes flesh.  This flies in the face of those who said Jesus was fully God, but not man, and those that said that Jesus was man and not God.  And Jesus was alive, fully man, which some say He was spirit only.

Then John introduces the metaphor of Jesus being the Light, and the darkness of this world cannot overtake it.  John the Baptist (or Baptizer) was sent by God to be a witness to the Light, pointing people to Jesus.

Jesus created the world, but the world did not recognize Him.  But whoever trusts in Jesus will become children of God.  We are not all children of God.  But to be a child of God, we are born of God, believing and trusting in God – not natural descent, human decision, or a husband’s will.

So, we cannot dictate to God for Him to enter our heart.  Others cannot dictate God into us.  We cannot ride upon someone else’s coattails.  As I have written into some of my fictional stories, the salvation prayer is an affirmation and acceptance of what God has already done.  God does not barge through the door, He gently knocks, but He enters when we have stopped fighting and we set down our weapons of rebellion.  John 1:13 is saying that any action taken by us to “be saved” is not what saved us.  But those actions are important in that we affirm that Jesus is in our heart.  We believe in our heart and confess with our mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord.

And the second half of verse 14 carries weight in that John is speaking of himself and others who were witnesses to the person of Jesus and His teachings and miracles and especially the resurrection.  Thus, it is not the ravings and ranting of an old man.  John had eyewitnesses to back what he is saying in this book.

But the fourteenth verse defines the personhood difference in the Father and the Son in that Jesus came from the Father.  Mary provided the side that is 100% human, and God the Father provided the side that is 100% God.  While this event occurred 2000 years ago and Jesus has always been, we must remember that God lives outside time and space and nothing is impossible for God.  And in this connection with God, John points out that Jesus came with all grace and truth.  While the Word means knowledge, God loves us and offers us Grace.

John points out that John the Baptist was just a messenger.  He was lesser than Jesus.  Since there were followers of John the Baptist in those days, the Apostle John wanted to make the distinction clear here.  The law came from Moses, but Jesus brings grace and truth.  No one has seen God the Father.  He is a spirit.  But some who lived at that time saw the Son.  The Son is God also.

Jesus, who was a person in the Godhead before time began, lived on earth, dwelling among people who were still alive at the time of the book’s writing.

Who is Theophilus? (Luke 1:1-4)

Or should the question be: Was Theophilus?

Luke wrote two books: The Gospel of Luke and Acts.

In both books, he addresses the books to Theophilus.  Luke gives us the idea that Theophilus is a believer, but he needs reassurance and confirmation in the trust that he has that Jesus is the Messiah and worthy of the trust and belief of Theophilus.

Luke makes it clear that he did his research.  He might not have witnessed Jesus in the flesh, but he interviewed people who saw him.  Luke was a physician, so he was very technical in the details from time to time.  He used eyewitness accounts.  So, you could also call Luke a first century investigative reporter.

But Theophilus is mentioned twice in the Bible, within the first few verses of Luke and Acts.  Theophilus means “friend of God.”

Theophilus may have been his real given name or as the television show Dragnet used to say, “The names have been changed to protect the innocent.”

Theories have surfaced by various scholars.  Luke refers to him as “most excellent Theophilus.”  He could have been a Roman official.  He could have been a wealthy patron.  He could have been a Jewish high priest.  With any of those, changing the name would be necessary to protect that person.

Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye co-wrote historical fiction novels of the four gospel authors.  In The Book of Luke, the story starts out as Luke being a slave of Theophilus.  Theophilus gets sick, and Luke is able to heal him.  Theophilus sends Luke off to learn more about becoming a physician, and at the school, he meets a young Saul, then meeting him again later.  And Luke gets into a habit of writing to Theophilus so that Theophilus will know that the faith he had in Luke was warranted.  Just because their book got published does not mean that it is the proper interpretation.

Most people understand that Luke came from Syrian Antioch.  Historians have dug up bits of historical records that there was a high ranking official in Antioch about the time Luke would have been there that was named Theophilus.  Again, this is only guesswork.

But my proffered alternate question is valid.  If Theophilus was just a man, then Luke wrote the book to the man, but if we take the meaning of Theophilus, then all who love God can be called Theophilus.

Did Luke write two books to one man?

Or did Luke write two books to all people, male or female, who love God?

These verses from Luke were not prehistory, but as a general book introduction, they are outside the telling of the story of Good News.  Thus, I placed it here.

Editor and Author Note:  I have a feeling that there will be a “feeling out” process.  I am thinking of one story per week, or maybe two.  It may vary until I get into a rhythm.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.