In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. (John 1:4 NIV)
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6 NIV)
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; (John 11:25 NIV)
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31 NIV)
Happy Christmas! It is Christmas, so why have I got a picture of the empty tomb accompanying this post? I promise it’s not just to be contrary! Rather it’s because of what the birth of the baby in Bethlehem points us towards.
We’ve being thinking about some of the descriptions and titles of Jesus that we find in the introduction to the Gospel of John (John 1:1-18), which is often read at Christmas services. We’ve thought about Jesus the Word (part 1, part 2) and Jesus the Light. We’re going to look at one more description – Jesus the life.
Life in Creation
In the introduction to the gospel, Jesus as the source of life is linked first with creation. So we read that through the Word all things were made (John 1:3) and then we have the statement that “In him was life.” (John 1:4 NIV). Then life is related to light in the phrase “that life was the light of all mankind.”
I think we’re meant to learn that the source of life we see bursting all around us in the world is Jesus, the Word of God. When we looked at Jesus as the light, we saw that it meant he revealed the truth to us. So the life of creation reveals the creator of life who has life in himself (Father and Son see e.g. 5:26).
I wonder if you ever think of that. Where did creation come from? Where does the life (plant animal and human) that I see all around me come from? Where did my life come from? The John’s answer is: Jesus the life.
Life in Eternity
But life in John has a fuller meaning than just this temporary life. Jesus isn’t just the source of life now. He is the source of eternal life. That’s what he means when he calls himself “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25 NIV) just before proving it by raising the very dead Lazarus back to life (John 11:38-44).
When he says that he is the way to his Father’s house, he ties together “the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6) to show that eternal life is found only by following him and believing the truth he has revealed. Again note the use of “I am…” in both these saying. Jesus, in these contexts continues to point to his divinity, because it is only God who has life in himself (John 5:26).
Then, Jesus defeats sin and death by being the first to go through death and come out the other side to eternal life. He proves to us not only that our sin can be dealt with and that we can be forgiven, but also that we too can have eternal life with him.
So when we read that Jesus is the life at Christmas, it does inexorably point us to Jesus the resurrection and the life at Easter. However, we have to ask if we will let John do that? We are often more happy with the Christmas story than the Easter one. Cute babies in sanitized stables are easier that crosses and tombs. But the apostle John, who knew Jesus personally, also knew that if we want to understand the coming of Jesus, we need to understand who he is and what he was to go on and do. Part of that understanding must be that he is the life.
Life to Be Grasped
John presents all this information about Jesus and the life he offers, because he wants people to believe and receive this life.
When he explains the purpose of his gospel in John 20:30-31 he makes it clear that the goal of the gospel is that you believe in Jesus and ends by saying “that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). In fact Jesus had gone to some lengths to explain this when he calls himself the “bread of life” after feeding the 5000 in John 6. It is Jesus, this bread, that is food that does not spoil but “endures to eternal life” (John 6:27 NIV).
All of which is to say, that the new life we remember at Christmas in the birth of Jesus, was the coming into the world of “the life” both in creation and in eternity. If we want eternal life, we must grasp it by believing in Jesus and not just a sanitized Jesus, but the Jesus who is the Word of God, the Light of the World and the source of Life.
I hope you have a wonderful Christmas. Most of all, I hope it is a Christmas where you know Jesus and the life he offers you.