- Mar 2024
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For anthe law was given through Moses; aograce and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 apNo one has ever seen God; aqthe only God, ▼▼Or the only One, who is God; some manuscripts the only Son who is at the Father’s side, ▼▼Greek in the bosom of the Father athe has made him known.
John further enforces that Jesus has existed besides God the Father forever and was present in Genesis.
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“Rabbi, cnyou are the Son of God! You are the coKing of Israel!”
Though Jesus was called Rabbi, or teacher, earlier, this is one of the first mentions of Him being called a King.
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the angels of God ascending and descending on csthe Son of Man.”
Like in His Baptism, the heavens are described as opening up and the Holy Spirit and the angels are described as descending upon Him.
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Behold, bqthe Lamb of God!”
Jesus is called "the Lamb of God" by not just John the Baptist, but also the disciples. This title refers to not just His pureness, but His role as a sacrificial lamb to save humanity.
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Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of bxJohn. You shall be called byCephas” (which means bzPeter ▼▼ Cephas and Peter are from the word for rock in Aramaic and Greek, respectively).
Unlike the other disciples, Jesus renames Simon as Peter (or Cephas). In a sense, Simon is reborn as Peter, Jesus's disciple, who eventually become the rock upon Jesus builds His Church. I believe his importance is why Jesus changes his name and he is reborn in a way.
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The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, bethe Lamb of God, who bftakes away the sin bgof the world!
Similar to when Mary visits Elizabeth, John the Baptist's mother, Elizabeth says her baby, John, leaped in her womb when Mary came to her while pregnant with Jesus. This mirrors that as John welcomes Jesus with the same excitement and joy as he did even before they were born.
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e gave the right xto become ychildren of God, 13who zwere born, aanot of blood abnor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
This reinforces how Jesus's crucification and Blood and Baptism cleanse humanity, not physically, but in a spiritual sense.
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The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet pthe world did not know him
Once again, John uses the imagery of light to describe God and Jesus. He also explains Jesus's presence in the world yet humanity's unawareness of His presence.
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he life was the light of men. 5 iThe light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John often uses the imagery of light and darkness as a metaphor between God and evil and the devil. This imagery is used constantly throughout his Gospel.
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In the beginning was bthe Word, and cthe Word was with God, and dthe Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3 eAll things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Here, John parallels the very beginning of Genesis and explains how Jesus, aka the Word, was present in Genesis.
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- Feb 2024
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And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
A theme that keeps reappearing, not just in this chapter, but also in later chapters is life being God's Breath. All living creatures are described as having "the breath of life" and Adam is created by God breathing into his nostrils. Here, "Spirit" translates to wind or breath. This reinforces the idea that the breath of life are the souls of the creatures God makes and that God Himself is that wind and breath that fills every creature.
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And God said, c“Let there be light,” and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good
God begins creation with creating light, and light can also be translated to "light of life" which parallels the earth's description before God's creation, that being "the deep" meaning "the grave." It seems that God not only illuminated the earth but also provided some kind of life which made creation not lifeless as it was before.
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“Let there be an expanse ▼▼Or a canopy; also verses 7, 8, 14, 15, 17, 20 in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7And God made ▼▼Or fashioned; also verse 16 the expanse and gseparated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were habove the expanse
I am a bit curious about what "expanse" can mean. It doesn't it isn't dry land, like what the earth is made of, but it is still described as solid. Could this be the sky or space?
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breath of life,
When God describes the creatures on earth, including man, as having the "breath of life", it reminds me of how God created Adam which was by breathing through Adam's nostrils. Yet, other creatures are described as having this, too.
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in our image, xafter our likeness.
When God creates man in His Likeness, is it possible that this likeness is much deeper than appearance, meaning God gives man certain attributes such as complex reason and intellectuality that animals don't possess? I believe that may be the case since the next few verses imply God has a special respect for man and places him in charge of the animals.
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So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; zmale and female he created them.
What is interesting here is that this verse seemingly implies that man and woman were created at the same time. But as we see later, Adam was alone for a while before God created Eve. So is this verse referring to Adam and Eve after Eve was created or humanity as a whole?
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every green plant for food.
The word "green" has multiple meanings. The first meaning relates to its color but the second meaning related to "all" and "everything." I find this very interesting especially considering that the color green is associated with life, growth and nature.
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Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, a
Something that I find interesting here is that the word "subdue" translates to words such as "dominate." It is clear here that God has much more respect for man and has made him in His Image in more ways than one, meaning not only does man physically look like God but is also ruling nature, like God, as well.
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creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.
Though the animals described as "creeping things" are never specified, when translated from Hebrew, could also mean "of sea animals." This relates to how sea monsters are always depicted as snakes or snake-like but also how God tells the snake in the Garden of Eden that he will crawl or creep on his belly forever.
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The earth was bwithout form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep
The earth is described here, before God created day and night, as having "darkness over the face of the deep." When "deep" is translated from Hebrew, it translates to "the grave." This not only demonstrates the darkness and chaos that existed before God created light, but that the earth was also considered dead and lifeless.
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