Ever-Present God || John 1:1-2 || Mid-Week Midrash #2

Scripture: John 1:1-2

The Word was first, the Word was present to God, God present to the word. The Word was God, in readiness for God from day one.

Midrash

One sentence, three parts, all seem to say the same thing. “The Word was first.” This refers to a parallel of what we talked about last week with Genesis 1:1. John uses the same introduction to refer to the beginning of the world in an absolute sense. He also uses the word “was” to refer to the pre-existence of Jesus. “The Word” is a common way to refer to Jesus, but there’s more to it than just a title. John leans into the Hebrew OT teachings and to the modern-Greek teachings of his time to create this bridge-word that reaches all people. Jesus existed before the world was created. “The Word was present to God.” This focuses on the relationship God the Father had with God the Son. Jesus enjoyed his life in Heaven with his Father. And yet, he willingly let go of his exalted status to come to Earth as a human and become the one who saves the world from sin. “The Word was God.” This shows that Jesus is fully God. Even though Jesus came to Earth as a human, he did not stop being God. He became God in the flesh. After breaking these points down, what does it mean to you?

Jesus is always with us, even in those moments that it doesn’t feel like he’s there. Jesus existed in a time before creation and Earth existed. Jesus exists outside of what we can experience, but he’s still with us. Jesus comes thoroughly imbued with divine power because of his closeness to God. Jesus is fully God and fully human. He came to Earth as a human to show us a representation of what God is like and how we can be like him towards believers and non-believers. I pray that you remember that God is walking with you at all times regardless of what you see and how you feel.