Who is Jesus? Turn On The Light

Who Is Jesus? Turn On The Light

Westhill Community Church

12 July 2026

Reading: John 1: 1-5

During the months of July and August we are focusing on the early part of John’s gospel, and in particular asking the question, “Who is Jesus?”

I think this is one of the most important, if not the most important, question we all have to answer as we consider the life and ministry of Jesus. It is a question that people have been asking for nearly 2000 years. [As an aside – Possibly the best estimate for the year in which the events recorded in John chapter one took place is AD 29, making 2029 the 2000^th anniversary^[1].]

Certainly the people witnessing Jesus’ ministry were asking this question frequently. Matthew tells us that when Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey the whole city of Jerusalem was asking this question.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’ The crowds answered, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.’ (Matt 21: 10-11)

The crowd accompanying Jesus shouted out the answer they had come to – “This is a prophet!” That was a very common conclusion amongst the people witnessing Jesus’ ministry. Jesus once asked his close disciples who people thought he was.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ (Matt 16: 13-14)

Many since then and in the world today hold to the view that Jesus is a prophet – no more, no less. For example in the Koran, Jesus is revered as one of God's greatest and most important prophets. Those who hold such a belief are not to be criticised, instead encouraged to explore further. Acknowledging Jesus to be a prophet can be an important first step in coming to know him for who he truly is. For, after all, a true prophet speaks the word of God and reveals God’s truth to us. So what truths did Jesus teach us? There are many to choose from, but here is one.

Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ (John 14: 6)

He is the only way to have a relationship with God.

After asking his disciples who people in general thought he was he then asked them directly for their own answer. He said, “Who do you say I am?” And Peter,answering for them all, said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matt 16: 13-16)

The Jewish religious leaders, too, realised that this was precisely what Jesus was teaching about himself. Oh, of course most of them didn’t believe it, but they listened carefully to what Jesus said and taught, and then they angrily accused him, on more than one occasion, of making himself equal to God.

For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; … he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (John 5: 18)

Reading the first few verses of John’s gospel it seems that John himself had the question, “Who is Jesus?” uppermost in his mind. “Here is the answer,” he said from the outset, “Jesus is the Son of God.”

1. Son of God

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1: 1)

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. (John 1: 14)

Jesus is the Son of God, he said, the only-begotten Son of the Father.

Now if we are honest this truth presents us with something of a conundrum.

The prophet Isaiah wrote, “I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God” (Isa 45: 5) expressing the most basic and fundamental article of faith of the nation of Israel. But if there is only one God, how could Jesus and the Father in Heaven both be God?

And of course by the end of Jesus’ ministry on earth the conundrum had become even more complex. For Jesus told the disciples that after he had left them he and his Father in Heaven would send the Holy Spirit to be with them, who would support them, encourage them, guide them and teach them. And all three persons, the Holy Spirit, Jesus and his Father, would make their home with each of those who love him (John 14: 15-23). Three distinct persons, each relating to us in distinct ways, yet each being recognised and acknowledged as being the one, true God.

A conundrum indeed – how can we understand it? And the answer is, we can’t nor should we think we can. The prophet Isaiah wrote,

‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’ (Isa 55: 8,9)

As created beings we should not expect to understand the nature, the character, the attributes and the ways of Almighty God; our task is to trust in what he determines to reveal to us of himself.

Of course that doesn’t stop people trying to explain it and interpret it. The early church experienced a major, and potentially destructive controversy on this question. It threatened to tear the church apart, to say nothing of the Roman Empire that had by then embraced the Christian faith. The main controversy concerned the teaching of a priest named Arius that since there is only one God it can only be God the Father who is that supreme being. Arius argued that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are indeed seated at the right hand and left hand of the Father, but cannot be equal to God but instead are lesser beings created by God. In AD 325 an ecumenical Church council was held in Nicaea to address this issue. This resulted in Arianism, the teaching of Arius, being overwhelmingly rejected, and the writing of the Nicene Creed to clarify the beliefs of the Church concerning the Godhead. This included the following familiar statements.

· We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

· We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, … true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.

· We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified.

This is who Jesus is, said John in his gospel, the Son of God, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Then John widens his answer to the question of who Jesus is by using a fascinating and unique title for Jesus: the Word of God.

2. Spoken Word of God

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. (John 1: 1)

For his Jewish readers this title would have been very meaningful. To them God’s word was His revelation to them of His attributes, his purposes, his calling and his instructions.

God’s word would guide them.

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. (Ps 119: 105)

God’s word would be a means of powerful blessing as they gave it their full attention and devotion.

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them … on your hands and … on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the door-frames … and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land. (Deut 11: 18-21)

God’s word would enable them to be fruitful and to prosper.

Blessed is the one … whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers. (Psalm 1: 1-3)

So, said John, Jesus is the Word who reveals to us God’s heart and mind, and as we trust in him and follow his leading we will be kept safe, delivered from evil and blessed abundantly.

But also when John referred to Jesus as “the Word” he used the Greek word “logos,” and this would have been extremely meaningful to the Greeks amongst his readers. One of their philosophers defined the Logos as the universal law that keeps the changing universe ordered and balanced. The Stoics defined the Logos as an active rational and spiritual principle that permeates all reality. Philo of Alexandria taught that the Logos was the intermediary between God and the cosmos, being both the agent of creation and the agent through which the human mind can apprehend and comprehend God. (See https://www.britannica.com/topic/logos).

So the Greek readers of John’s account would not have been surprised when he proceeded to describe Jesus, the Logos, as the shaper and sustainer of creation.

3. Shaper and Sustainer of creation

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (John 1: 3)

The apostle Paul, writing later to the church at Colossae, said this of Jesus.

For in him all things were created: … all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Col 1: 16-17)

Yes, that’s who Jesus is, said John, the creator and sustainer of all that has been made. And then he went on to describe Jesus as the supplier of life itself.

4. Supplier of life

In him was life. (John 1: 4)

How many times had John heard Jesus speak of that life, not just that he has life in and of himself but that he is the provider of life to all who come to him in faith. Here are some of those occasions that he writes about.

The Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. (John 5: 21)

For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. (John 6: 33)

I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10: 10)

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. (John 10: 28)

The water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 4: 14)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3: 16)

So a question for each one of us to consider this morning is this: Is this my experience? Have I received this gift of eternal life from Jesus? Am I trusting him, the fountain of living water, to wash away all of my shortcomings, and all of my misdemeanours; to deliver me from the consequences of sin and death, and to welcome me into a living relationship with God that will last for eternity?

And then finally in answer to the question “Who is Jesus?” John said “Jesus is the source of God’s light.”

5. Source of God’s light

That life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1: 4-5

The life the Jesus brings, said John, comes with a brilliant light. And in the presence of that light darkness is unable to survive. It is chased away and vanishes. Later in his gospel John recorded these words of Jesus.

Jesus … said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ (John 8: 12)

Notice that John says the light Jesus brings is for all mankind, and Jesus himself said he is the light of the whole world. This light is not designed to be hidden in secret corners or behind closed curtains. It is for all mankind to see. And the wonderful thing is this. As we come to Jesus in simple faith and receive the life he promises, that light is imparted to us. “Follow me,” he said, “and you will have the light of life.”

When we look at the darkness in the world today, what seems to be increasing unbelief, selfishness, aggression and evil, we may be tempted to think that the lights are going out and that darkness is going to win. But this will never be the case. Darkness cannot overcome the light of Jesus. And if you follow him you too will not walk in darkness, but will bring his light into your home, your street, your school or college, your workplace. It doesn’t matter how young or old you are, how weak you are, how inadequate you are. It’s not your light, you see; it’s his! And you will have it if you follow him. So the final word for today is this:

Turn on the light!

You are the light of the world. … Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5: 14-16)