Dear Reader, ever heard of the song, by Rend Collective, called Rescuer (Good News)? My favorite section out of the entire song is the first 3 verses of the chorus. It goes a little something like, He's our rescuer. He's our rescuer. We are free from sin forevermore. I always knew that this was true if we believe in Jesus, then, with the little assistance, I looked at John 1:1-18 and saw things in a whole new light. Inside this section of scripture, there is a chiasm which really helped me. To summarize all this, the chiasm of John 1:1-18 proves that believing in Jesus’ name means that we believe that Jesus is our rescuer.
To understand anything that is being said, first I must define a chiasm. A chiasm is a literary device that is an inverted
…show more content…
These two verses say, in two different ways, referring to two different things, that Jesus gives us life. Versus 4-5 accomplish this through telling us about in the beginning, how we received life through God, Jesus, breathing life into us. Verse 16 accomplishes saying that Jesus gives us Life by saying that we have received grace through Jesus, and it is through that grace that we receive eternal life.
The fourth pair of elements in the chiasm of John 1:1-18 is found in verses 6-8 and 15. These two verses say that John the Baptist purpose was to testify about the light, Jesus. Verses 6-8 talk about how John said his purpose was to testify about the light. Verse 15 talks about John saying that Jesus was the one he was testifying about.
The fifth pair of elements in the chiasm of John 1:1-18 is found in verses 9-11 and 14. These two verses say that Jesus is the incarnation of God. Verses 9-11 talk about the light John was preaching about, which was already established to be Jesus, coming into the world for everyone but everyone did not receive him, including his own. Verse 14 talks about the word, which was also already established to be Jesus, becoming flesh and dwelling among us as well as us seeing his
…show more content…
The main point of the chiasm of John 1:1-18 is pretty simple, yet super complex at the same time, for most people that is. The main point of the chiasm is found in verse 12c. The main point of the chiasm of John 1:1-18 is those who believe in Jesus' name.
To the average person who has done no research on Jewish history, this would not affect them. However, if this average person did do there research on Jewish history and names they would know that the meaning of Jesus' name is very vital. In ancient Israel, your name tells someone three details about you. These details are vital to understanding the importance of the meaning of Jesus' name.
The first detail about the importance of a Hebrew name in ancient Israel is that it identifies the character of the person receiving the name. Some examples we see in the Bible are, Jacob and Esau. When Jacob and Esau were born, Esau came out first and he was very hairy, while when Jacob came out, he came out holding Esau's heel. This is how they got their names. Jacob's name also means. supplanter, which we also see in the Bible when he deprives his brother of his rights as firstborn twice. The second detail about the importance of a Hebrew name in ancient Israel is that the person giving the name knows/understands the importance of the person receiving the name. The third detail about the importance of a Hebrew name in ancient Israel is that the person giving the name has authority over the person