Wednesday, February 4, 2026

Reflection on Jesus: A Johannine Perspective

In popular Christianity, and among uninformed believers, Jesus is often reduced to little more than a superior Shaman—a figure expected to resolve any issue through magical power. Many babble empty phrases like "Jesus is everything" or "Jesus is the Way," asserting that there is no other path to salvation. They demand simple belief and worship, but in this context, faith becomes nothing more than a packaged product they purchase and think they possess. Consequently, they weaponize the gospel to invade or intrude upon others.

However, Jesus is not a Shaman of that sort. Declaring that "Jesus is everything" without substantial explanation is hollow. In the Fourth Gospel, Jesus never explicitly states, "I am God." His primary title is "Son of God," the one who does the work of God. It was a misunderstanding by his contemporaries to claim he blasphemed God; his point is always that he does the work of the Father as the one sent by him. He says, "I delivered the word (logos) of God," and explicitly states that the sender is greater than the one sent. Even when he says "the Father and I are one," this signifies not sameness, but a union with God, as he performs God's work.

He is the Son of God, sent to save the world by exemplifying the invisible word of God—truth, life, and light—within it. He was born to testify to the truth of God. The Johannine claim that "the Word became flesh" (John 1:14) does not necessarily suggest that God became Jesus or that Jesus is identical to God in a simplistic sense. Rather, the point is that the logos took the form of human flesh, specifically in the person of Jesus. This distinction suggests that the logos and the human Jesus are not synonymous; rather, the former is embodied by the latter. This is the hallmark of the Fourth Gospel, which was written so that people might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.

In John's Gospel, truth is not a possession; it is something experienced or manifested through following Jesus's teaching. His teaching points to the truth of God, insisting that God's word, or logos, must shine in the darkness.

With this Christological understanding, we can reinterpret the Gospel. All of Jesus's actions fulfill a specific mission: to do the work of God, not his own work, and to speak God's logos, not his own. Through this lens, John 14:6 ("I am the way...") can be reinterpreted not as an exclusive statement regarding salvation, but as a critical invitation to engage with Jesus's mission. It is a call to embody the truth, never meant simply to exclude other religions.

*For more of my works regarding John's Gospel:
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