John, chapter 1
John 1:1–51
The Word Became Flesh
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Behold, the Lamb of God
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
This transcript has been automatically generated
John’s Gospel: An Overview. This last winter, largely for my own nourishment, I lived for several months with John’s great Gospel. There I found, as promised, words full of the Spirit and life.
6:63. One consequence was a wish to provide a basic study of John that might be of some value for other people. Just as the working through this extraordinary piece of writing has so mightily encouraged me.
My fellow pastors and preachers are one group I had in mind. For instance, experience had long shown me the risks inherent in a sermon series on a Bible book when the team of speakers, to use a popular saying, is not singing from the same hymn sheet. The result of that is that the trumpet gives a muffled sound, and worse, much worse, an impression grows that speakers come to Scripture to get what they wish to find or to say.
So what this recorded series is all about is an attempt to secure a firm and reliable framework in which to set and appreciate the riches of John’s Gospel. I have to hand, of course, a number of fine commentaries such as the indispensable Pillar Edition from Don Carson and fine works by Leon Morris and Kostenberger, including his illuminating essay on John in IVP’s New Dictionary of Biblical Theology. These and others will, I trust, keep me on the straight and narrow. It’s only right, I think, to say that this is nevertheless very much a personal account and not simply a transcript of the thoughts of others. Listeners are therefore warned to test matters for themselves and, as Auld Ryle liked to put it, to approve only what is in accordance with the proportion of God’s Word.
Let me start with an outline, that is, a general plan showing essential features but very little detail.
Part 1, Chapter 1, Foundations for the New Humanity. Foundations for the New Humanity.
Chapters 2 to 4, The Old Order Superseded and Transformed. New Wine, Temple, Birth, Worldwide Worship, and Assurance.
Then chapters 5 to 11, the new order displayed. 7 patterns of salvation from justification, chapter 5, to resurrection, chapter 11. So much for part 1. Part 2, chapter 12, the King/Ah has come, 1. Chapters 13 to 17, The Apostles’ Fellowship, 1.
Chapters 18 and 19, The King, Our, Has Come, 2. Chapters 20, 21, The Apostles’ Commission, 2. So that is chapter 12, The King and the Hour Has Come. Chapters 13 to 17, The Apostles’ Fellowship. Chapters 18 and 19, The King and the Hour Has Come.
The second time. Chapters 20, 21, the Apostles’ Commission, second time. And then finally, as a key verse of the whole Gospel, as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.
It’s time now to take the advice of the King in Alice. Begin at the beginning, said the King gravely, and go on till you come to the end. Then stop. Though very quickly we discover that the beginning of John in chapter 1, verse 1 means rather more than His Majesty had in mind. Let me give a little summary then of chapter 1.
1a, verses 1 to 5, 2 worlds. 2 worlds. 1b, verses 6 to 18, 2 foundation stones. 1c, that is verses 19 to the end, 2 testimonies.
First then, verses 1 to 5, 2 worlds. In this seminal paragraph, Jesus the Word that was with God in the beginning and was God is the divine agent for the creation of the world. In creedal terms, we Christians know him to be only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds. God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, and by whom all things were made. See Hebrews 1:2.
But more than that, in verses 4 and 5, life and light are salvation words in John. So our Lord Jesus was also the divine agent in the salvation of the world, a light to all mankind, which by interpretation means that he is the author of the new creation. So Jesus is the agent for the old creation and the new creation.
The juxtaposition here of these 2 ultimate realities has enormous significance. I’ll mention just 3 points. One, the coming of the Saviour was no afterthought, no sudden emergency in the heavenly plans. Rather, it was in the mind and will of Almighty God in the beginning.
Second, the same infinite power and wisdom involved in the creation of the universe is at work in saving the world. Please look at 3:18 and 12:47 for this remarkable phrase that Jesus came to save the world. So the making of a new order, a new creation, a new humanity depends upon Him who has all authority in heaven and earth. 3. It follows that the eternal purposes of God through His one and only Son cannot fail.
Though the rebellious world we know of lies in the grip of seemingly unconquerable ignorance and evil, the light still shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not been able to overcome it or master it.
Second, verses 6 to 18, 2 foundation stones. 6 to 13 and 14 to 18 are sections of very similar length. John, I discover, is a very neat and tidy writer. The first paragraph gives us, through John, the voice of prophecy. The second paragraph, the eyewitness word of the disciple apostles.
A cross-reference to 2 Peter 1:16-21 reveals the very same combination of apostolic testimony and prophetic word. Here, according to Ephesians 2:20, are solid foundations on which the church of God in the world is built. See the commentaries for the different views on the prophets of Ephesians 2:20.
Later on, we’ll take note of the strong negative of verse 8, so characteristic of John when clarity is needed. Also, John’s insistence that the disciples, in particular the 12, were firsthand witnesses of the works and words of Jesus. It was they who were present when the Lord performed his sign miracles, John 20:30, and it was they who were responsible for recording these things so that those coming after might believe in Jesus. Lord and God and life-giver. John 20:31.
Finally, verses 19 to 51, 2 testimonies. This entire section, I believe, belongs to John’s introduction. First, the Baptist announces that the Coming One is both the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and and the one who baptises with the Holy Spirit.
Second, early disciples Andrew, verse 41, Philip, verse 45, and Nathanael, verse 49, declare that they have found God’s promised Christ in Jesus of Nazareth.
2 issues stand out here.
The Baptist’s repeated refusals in verses 19 to 28 is deeply significant if John is intent on addressing, among others, Jewish people, many now dispersed from their homeland. The extraordinary authority of the Baptist’s preaching and baptising had led many to ask if this last and greatest of the prophets, as we know him, was not the promised deliverer of their nation, or if not himself the deliverer, the herald of Israel’s longed-for Redeemer. John’s blunt responses are worthy of study. Verse 20: 23:26-27. See also chapter 1, verse 15, and the longer passage chapter 3:22-36.
Finally, 1:34 and 1:51 are of special importance, for Jesus himself is God’s chosen one, the elect, the faithful Israelite in his own person. From whom would come the blessings of an open heaven and a restored people of God.
See further chapter 15.
Summary. The posh word for chapter 1 is prolegomenon, the preface to a book in which the author explains his subject, scope, and aims. John’s central subject is the Lord Jesus and his great glory. The scope is as wide as the world and its peoples, Gentiles as well as Jews. Its aim, that many may believe in the crucified Saviour and through him find life eternal.
I finish this session with a sentence from Dodd’s Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, page 246. Quote: For John, of course, Israel, in inverted commas, for John, Israel is not the Jewish nation, but the new humanity reborn in Christ, the community of those who are in the truth and of whom Christ is King.
