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The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
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. (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.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 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?” 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.”
(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Behold, the Lamb of God
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 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.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 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?” 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. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 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
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 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.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 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.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 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.” 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.”
(ESV)
John 1 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
From the very first verse of the book, it is clear that the focus of John’s gospel is Jesus as God. As brain-twisting as that revelation is, it opens up a marvelous new realm of truth for us to understand and apply. Geographically, John’s laser focus was Jerusalem. He leaves out many key events which were included by the other gospel writers; he omits Jesus’ birth, His baptism, His temptation, the Last Supper, Gethsemane, His Ascension, the demonic cleansings, and Jesus’ parables.
Why would he leave out such critical information? For that answer, we will journey to the very last verse he writes in his gospel account.
And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if they were written one by one, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.
John 21:25 HCSB
From this statement, we can grasp that John was not focused on quantity. He had a specific focus.
- John writes of 6 miracles that are not found in the three other gospel accounts
- John records many unique statements of Jesus that allow Him to speak for Himself and declare who He is and why He came
- John’s writing is simple enough for a child, but deep enough for a mature believer
- John wants us to believe, and that is the path he illuminates in his writing
It’s All Greek To Me
So many leaders today set up their ministries to be built upon man. They hold the so-called “key” to the Bible. They have a “hidden word” that no one else has. In fact, if you ever have a Jehovah’s Witness show up to your house, John is the perfect chapter to dig into. Seriously. The next time this happens, go get your Bible and have a discussion with them about John 1:1. They use the New World Translation.
JW Bible (John 1:1) – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.
If you aren’t careful, you will miss it. A god? Jesus is THE God!
“The deliberate distortion of truth by this sect is seen in their New Testament translations. Joh 1:1 is translated: ‘ . . . the Word was a god,’ a translation which is grammatically impossible. It is abundantly clear that a sect which can translate the New Testament like that is intellectually dishonest.”
Dr. William Barclay
F.F. Bruce calls this translation of the Greek “totally indefensible.” Charles L. Feinberg writes that this translation “is not held by any reputable Greek scholar.” Think about it. Adding ONE WORD in Scripture changes the ENTIRE Bible! If Jesus is only a god and not THE God, His statements are no longer exclusive and humans can add or subtract whatever they want from the text!
It’s Not About Me
My heart grieves for the people who are deceived by religious heretics. John the Baptist came proclaiming the Word in the Spirit and he was immediately questioned and shut down by the religious elite. They wanted to control the message and control the people.
The significance of Jesus is that He allows us to read the Bible on our own and through the Holy Spirit be transformed without a middle man. Yes, sound doctrine is important. Context is king. Biblical interpretation should be done within church tradition and with the accountability of other Spirit-filled believers. You can tell fake from genuine by following the path and discovering where it leads. If ministry leaders are setting you up to rely on them, they have failed. The Holy Spirit does not draw attention to Himself; He draws attention to Jesus. What does this say about ministry leaders who are continually pointing people back to themselves?
Godly leaders will always point you to Jesus and the intimate, personal relationship that can be experienced between you and Him!