He was the disciple whom Jesus loved, an uneducated fisherman turned author who penned a Gospel, three epistles, and Revelation. Only Peter and James knew Jesus as well as John. John was part of Jesus’ inner band of disciples. These three watched Jesus raise Jairus’ daughter from the dead (Lk 8:49-56), saw His glory at Caesarea-Philippi (Matt 17:1-8), and accompanied Him at the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:32).
Decades after the Resurrection, when new ideas about Jesus started to arise, John was the only disciple still alive. He reminded people that he had physically seen Jesus with his own eyes, heard Him speak, and touched Him with his own hands (1 Jn 1:1-4). Jesus isn’t a myth or a kind of spirit-being. No, Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are history, and John knew Jesus as well as any who ever lived.
What did John write about Jesus? John’s Gospel isn’t a biography (Jn 21:25). For instance, John says nothing about Jesus’ birth, but devotes 1/3 of his entire book to the Last Supper and crucifixion (chapters 13-19). John sifted through his memories of Jesus in order to build a case for believing in Jesus (Jn 20:30-31). Thus, this book is evangelistic in nature. Readers are intended to see the Lord’s identity and then place their faith in Him for salvation.
Who is Jesus? According to John, Jesus is the incarnate God who came bringing light and life to all who would believe. Out of this truth flows the many rivulets that form this Gospel.
The Prologue (John 1:1-18)
John 1:1-5—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.
John opens in an explosive way—Jesus is the divine “word” or logos. Words are symbols that express our thoughts. Jewish readers would have remembered verses such as Psalm 33:6, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made.” We make things out of existing materials, but God creates out of nothing. He spoke, and all things became. John was saying that this Jesus is “God’s Word” in human flesh. Jesus is the perfect expression of God to us.
In addition, as Christianity spread throughout the Roman empire, non-Jews would have looked at John’s Gospel. Those with a more philosophical bent had their own ideas about the logos. The Greeks, for instance, viewed the world as ever-changing. The world is stable, and yet changing… how is this possible? Heraclitus (525-475 B.C.) reasoned something exceedingly great must hold the world together, and he called it the logos. Anaxagoras and Aristotle added that the logos is an impersonal force that somehow governs the world.
If we put all of this together, John was saying to the Jews that the divine word they’ve read about in the Old Testament—“the word became flesh” (Jn 1:14). To the Greeks who loved chains of reason without end, John was saying that their philosophical quest has come to an end. The logos isn’t a concept or a force, it’s Jesus Christ.
“I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history” — H.G. Wells.
We learn so much in these opening verses. The Word, Jesus Christ, was not created by God. Rather, He eternally existed as God and with God. John makes a distinction—Jesus is God but also with God (Jn 1:1). The Father and Son are two unique persons. They are each fully God, and yet, there is one God. That’s part of the Doctrine of the Trinity. Later in John’s Gospel, we read of Jesus saying to Philip, “Whoever has seen Me, has seen the Father” (Jn 14:8-9). How can this be? It’s because Jesus is the “exact representation” of the Father (Heb 1:3).
John 1:14—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.
For more than 1,400 years God “dwelt” with His people in a tabernacle or temple (Ex 25:8). The Lord did not literally dwell in these structures (cf. 1 Kings 8:27; Jer 23:24). Each was a symbol or representation of God’s presence. God had lived among His people symbolically in the past, but suddenly God had come to live among His people physically. John eagerly proclaims this truth, and the fact that he personally witnessed it.
John 1:17—For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
God came to earth bringing light and life. The Old Testament brought a measure of light, but as a candle next to the sun, there was so much more to be had! The Law of Moses showed Israel so much about God’s holiness… and Israel’s inability to measure up. The Law was very good, but what do you do when you can’t keep it? You pay the penalty or plead for mercy.
The faithful Old Testament saint understood his inability to keep God’s Law, and he longed for a savior. Temple sacrifices couldn’t remove his guilt nor any amount of pleading, so he looked to a day when God would provide a sacrifice great enough to atone his every sin. The Law was given through Moses, but God in His infinite grace sent His Son. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice… to all who believe.
“Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself have founded great empires… upon force. Jesus alone founded his Empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for him” — Napoleon Bonaparte.
As you read John 1:1-18, John wants to understand that Jesus isn’t just another light, but the light and the life that we need. He came to die and give eternal life; He also came to provide light. What kind of light is this? It’s light to those who had lived under the Law. For 1,400 years prior to the time of Christ, faithful Jews had struggled to keep the Law of Moses and had failed. They awaited a savior, but they had little idea who the savior might be or how he would save them. That’s what John means here—Jesus came, and light burst upon the scene as the plan of God finally made sense.
John 1:10-11—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.
In the midst of this powerful and exciting opening are some of the saddest verses in the Bible. John 1:10-11 tell us that the one who created the world, entered the world, and the world rejected Him. The sting of being rejected by your own children. Rather than receiving honor, Jesus was rejected and crucified by the ones He created. Worse than rejection is for someone you love to not even recognize you. John tells us that Jesus’ own people not only rejected and crucified Him… they didn’t even know who He was.
The Old Testament gives us glimpses about the Messiah (Isa 53:5-6; Jer 31:31-34), and the faithful believer anticipated Messiah’s coming. Yet, in the first century, the masses longed for a ruler who would break the chains of Rome and inaugurate a time of physical blessing.
Many thought Messiah would be a military leader, which is why they shouted “Hosanna!!” when Jesus entered Jerusalem (Jn 12:13). His popularity increased until the final week of His ministry. Here the hopes of the masses were dashed, and their esteem turned to hatred. They refused accept that God’s chosen one came to die.
Few throughout Jesus’ ministry understood God had come and would die to save man from his sin. The prophets foretold a time of great blessing for God’s people, and what good is a dead Messiah? What they didn’t understand is that the Messiah is coming again. He came to die, but when He returns it will be to reign (Rev 19:11-16).
John 1:6-7—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.
Finally, John looks at the messenger responsible for preparing the way for Jesus—John the Baptist. He was a herald crying out: Make way for the King! And the crowds increased to hear John the Baptist preach. John, however, wasn’t overcome by the thrill. At the high point of his ministry, John said, “He [Christ] must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn 3:30). His disciples followed Jesus, and the Baptist’s life ended tragically. Yet, what did Jesus say of John the Baptist? He said, “…there has arisen no one greater” (Matt 11:11). Few men ever give up their power. Here’s one who did.
The Gospel of John identifies Jesus and His herald, John the Baptist. Rather than start with a series of miracles and events, we’re given a bit of context. We need to first grasp who it is that did all these things. It was Jesus, God come to earth. As we move forward in this Gospel, all that John shares testifies to the truths taught in these first 18 verses.
In the chapters ahead, from John 1:19 through chapter 11, John provides an overview of Jesus’ public ministry. John’s witness of these events bolsters his claim that Jesus is the Christ. It provides historical substance for our faith to rest upon.