The Joy of Glory

John 1:32-34 (click here)
“…I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:34)

Reflection
Let’s do a little Greek grammar for just a moment. I promise it’ll be worth it.

There are various verb tenses in Greek, just like in English (although they don’t work in exactly the same way). The tense we need to know about is the perfect tense. When a verb is in the perfect tense it is basically speaking of action that happened in the past that still has ramifications in the present.

So if I said, “I fell in love with Holly,” and the word “fell” was in the perfect tense…it would basically mean “I fell in love with Holly and therefore I am now in love with her.”

In John 1:34, the verbs “seen” and “witness” are both in the perfect tense. So John the Baptist is saying, “I have seen and therefore am still seeing/knowing that Jesus is the Son of God.” “I have born witness and therefore am still bearing witness that Jesus is the Son of God.”

In other words, seeing the truth about who Jesus is has permanently changed everything for John! He’s been talking about it and can’t stop talking about it!

This is true for all who truly see Jesus as the greatest treasure ever…the very Son of God. That’s the kind of thing you cannot un-see, and it has ramifications for the rest of your life!

You came to know Jesus is the past, but that still has ramifications for the present, namely, we keep on speaking about Jesus…the Son of God.

The church has been speaking of him for 2000 years, we are speaking of him now, and will continue to proclaim his praise forever!

We have seen and borne witness to Jesus, and therefore we are still seeing and still declaring Jesus the glory of Jesus…the only Son of God!

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.