He Shows Goodwill Tells the Good Story 1
1
CREATOR’S WORD COMES DOWN
1-2Long ago, in the time before all days, before the creation of all things, the one who is known as the Word was there face to face with the Great Spirit. This Word fully represents Creator and shows us who he is and what he is like. He has always been there from the beginning, for the Word and Creator are one and the same. 3Through the Word all things came into being, and not one thing exists that he did not create.
4Creator’s life shined out from the Word, giving light to all human beings. This is the true Light that comes to all the peoples of the world and shines on everyone. 5The Light shines into the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it or put it out.
6-7Into the wilderness of the Land of Promise (Judea) came a man named Gift of Goodwill (John). He was sent by the Great Spirit to tell what he knew about the Light so everyone could believe. 8He was not the Light but came to speak the truth about the Light. 9The true Light that shines on all people was coming into the darkness of this world.
10He came down into this world, and even though he made all things, the world did not recognize him. 11Even his own tribe did not welcome or honor him. 12But all who welcome and trust him receive their birthright as children of the Great Spirit. 13They are born in a new way, not from a human father’s plans or desires, but born from above—by the Great Spirit.
14Creator’s Word became a flesh-and-blood human being and pitched his sacred tent among us, living as one of us. We looked upon his great beauty and saw how honorable he was, the kind of honor held only by this one Son who fully represents his Father—full of his great kindness and truth.
15Gift of Goodwill (John) told what he knew about him and cried out with a loud voice, “The one I have told you about is here! He comes after me, but is much greater—my elder! He has more honor, for even though he is thought to be younger, he existed before I was born.”
16From the fullness of his being we have all had many gifts of kindness poured out on us. 17Drawn from the Water (Moses) gave us our tribal laws, but the gift of great kindness and truth came from Creator Sets Free (Jesus), the Chosen One.
18No one has ever seen the Great Spirit, but the one Son, who is himself the Great Spirit and closest to the Father’s heart, has shown us what he is like.
TRIBAL LEADERS QUESTION HIM
19Some of the holy men and tribal leaders from the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) were sent from Village of Peace (Jerusalem).
“Who are you?” they asked.
20He knew what they were asking, so he hid nothing and said plainly, “I am not the Chosen One.”
21“Who are you, then?” they demanded. “The prophet from long ago, Great Spirit Is Creator (Elijah)?”
“No,” he answered, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet#1:21 Deuteronomy 18:15 who is to come?” they asked.
“No,” was his answer again.
22So they said to him, “Tell us who you are, so we will have an answer for the ones who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?”
Gift of Goodwill (John) looked at the spiritual leaders straight in the eyes and spoke with authority as he announced the full meaning of the ancient prophecy.
23“I am saying the same thing the prophet Creator Will Help Us (Isaiah) said. I am a voice howling in the desert, ‘Make a straight pathway for our Honored Chief.’”
24These tribal leaders were sent by the Separated Ones (Pharisees), 25so they asked Gift of Goodwill (John), “Why do you perform the purification ceremony#1:25, 26 Baptism if you are not the Chosen One, or Great Spirit Is Creator (Elijah), or the Prophet who is to come?”
26“I perform the purification ceremony with water,” he answered, “but there is one you do not know, who is walking among you. 27He is the one who comes after me, but with greater honor. I am not even worthy to untie his moccasins.”
28These things took place in House of Figs (Bethany) on the far side of the river Flowing Down (Jordan).
CREATOR’S LAMB
The tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) performed a ceremony every year where a lamb was killed and then ceremonially eaten. This was to remind them of the time when the Great Spirit set them free from their slavery to the ruler of Black Land (Egypt) and took them to a new land. # 1:28 See Exodus 12.
29The next day Gift of Goodwill (John) saw Creator Sets Free (Jesus) walking toward him from a distance. “Behold!” he said to the ones gathered with him. “There is Creator’s Lamb, the one who carries away and heals the bad hearts and broken ways of the world!”
The crowd of people looked to see the one Gift of Goodwill (John) was talking about.
30“He is the one I said is greater than I, for he existed before I was born. 31The reason I perform the purification ceremony#1:31, 33 Baptism with water is to make him known to the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel). 32With my own eyes I saw the Holy Spirit come down from above like a dove and rest on him. 33I now know he is the one, because the Father above who sent me said, ‘The man you see the Spirit come down and rest on will perform the purification ceremony with the Holy Spirit.’”
The people could only stare in amazement at Creator Sets Free (Jesus) as they listened to the words that they had longed to hear for many generations.
34Gift of Goodwill (John) finished by saying, “With my own eyes I have seen the one who has been chosen by the Great Spirit.”
COME AND SEE
35The next day, Gift of Goodwill (John) was standing with two of his followers. 36They saw Creator Sets Free (Jesus) walking nearby.
He said to them, “Look! There is Creator’s Lamb!”
37So they took off after Creator Sets Free (Jesus).
38When they caught up to him, he saw them and asked, “What are you looking for?”
“Wisdomkeeper,” they asked, “where are you staying?”
39“Come,” he said, “and you will see.”
So they went with him, saw where he was staying, and spent the rest of the day with him, for the day was almost over.
40One of the two men, Stands with Courage (Andrew), went to find his brother, One Who Hears (Simon), also named Stands on the Rock (Peter). 41When he found him, he ran up to him and said, “My brother! We have found the Messiah” (which means “the Chosen One”#1:41 Lit. Anointed One). 42So he took his brother to meet Creator Sets Free (Jesus).
Creator Sets Free (Jesus) looked deep into his eyes and said, “You are One Who Hears (Simon), son of Gift of Kindness (John). I will give you the name Stands on the Rock (Peter).”
THE GREAT LADDER
43The next morning Creator Sets Free (Jesus) walked to the territory of Circle of Nations (Galilee). There he found a man named Friend of Horses (Philip) and said to him, “Come, and from now on walk the road with me.”
44Friend of Horses (Philip) was from House of Fishing (Bethsaida), the same village where Stands with Courage (Andrew) and Stands on the Rock (Peter) also lived. 45Friend of Horses (Philip) looked for his friend Creator Gives (Nathanael) and found him sitting under a fig tree.
“We have found him!” he said as he ran up to him. “The one the lawgiver Drawn from the Water (Moses) told us about, the one foretold by the prophets of old. He is Creator Sets Free (Jesus), son of He Gives Sons (Joseph), from Seed Planter Village (Nazareth).”
46Creator Gives (Nathanael) crossed his arms and, shaking his head, said to him, “How can anything good come from Seed Planter Village (Nazareth)?”
“Come,” he said, “and you will see!”
47When Creator Sets Free (Jesus) saw Creator Gives (Nathanael) walking toward him, he said, “Look, a true descendant of Wrestles with Creator (Israel)! There is nothing false in him.”
48Creator Gives (Nathanael) asked him, “How do you know me?”
Creator Sets Free (Jesus) smiled and said, “Before Friend of Horses (Philip) found you, I saw you under a fig tree.”
49“Wisdomkeeper!” Creator Gives (Nathanael) answered. “You are the Son of the Great Spirit and the Chieftain of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel)!”
50“You believe me because I said I saw you under the fig tree?” he said to him. “I speak truth from my heart. You will see much more than this! 51You will see the sky open wide and the spirit-messengers from Creator climbing up and down a great ladder.#1:51 Genesis 28:12 On the True Human Being they will climb from the spirit-world above to the earth below and back again.”
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