John 1 - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible

1:1 In the beginning: An allusion to Gen. 1:1, with the intention of linking Jesus the Word with the God of creation. The event of Jesus’ incarnation, therefore, had cosmic significance. The Word is Jesus Christ, the eternal, ultimate expression of God. In the OT God spoke the world into existence; in the gospel God spoke His final word through the living Word, His Son. The phrase “the Word was God” attributes deity to the Word without defining all of the Godhead as “the Word.”

1:3 John declares that Jesus was the divine agent who was responsible for the entire creation.

1:4, 5 Life and light belong to John’s fundamental vocabulary in describing the essence and mission of the incarnate Word.

1:6–11 John’s Gospel records various testimonies concerning Christ, showing that faith in Him is based upon evidence. The witness of John the Baptist, as well as the other evidence, makes the world’s rejection of Jesus inexcusable. The phrase coming into the world (v. 9) refers to Christ, not to every man. By His coming He has become the true Light to those who believe, but He is also that Light that, in a general sense, enlightens the human conscience and thereby makes all mankind responsible before God (Rom. 1:19, 20).

1:13 The New Birth does not come by physical descent, human effort, or human volition, but by the power of God.

1:14 Dwelt literally means “tabernacled.” The analogy is that of the tabernacle in the wilderness when God pitched His tent among those of the Hebrews and manifested His glory there, so Jesus identified Himself with humanity by becoming flesh . . . and we beheld His glory.

1:16 The fact that John states that grace comes from His fullness teaches that grace is more than God’s disposition or impersonal favor. It is God meeting us at our point of need in the Person of Jesus Christ, including all His power and provision.

1:17 The law: See text and notes on Rom. 7:1–25.

1:18 Only begotten describes the unique, loving relationship of the Son with the Father. See note on 3:16.

1:23 John prepared the way for the Messiah by his call to repentance. The quote from Isaiah depicts preparations made in advance of a king’s visit to a province of his realm. The road is smoothed and leveled.

1:24 The Pharisees: See note on Matt. 16:6.

1:25–27 All John could do was administer the sign; only the Messiah can bestow that which is signified—the cleansing, renewing power of the Holy Spirit.

1:29 The sacrificial language of John’s declaration is taken from the OT and points to the universal scope of Christ’s mission. Clearly, this was not an awareness that gradually dawned upon Jesus, but one that shaped His entire earthly ministry from the start. See notes on Lev. 4:3; 16:8.

1:33 John’s witness was reliable because it came by divine revelation. As the Lamb of God, Jesus justifies us and takes away sin (v. 29); as the baptizer with the Holy Spirit, He fills us and endues us with an enabling power.

1:35–42 Jesus called His first disciples from among those who also followed John the Baptist. Since only Andrew is named as one of the first two disciples (v. 40), the other was probably John, the author of this Gospel.

1:46 Nathanael is not insulting Nazareth. Rather he knows that Nazareth seems too obscure, and further, is not the prophesied birthplace of the Messiah; so he voices his difficulty in accepting Philip’s assertion.

1:47–51 Jesus’ supernatural insight into Nathanael’s character convinces this “true Israelite” that he has been confronted by the Son of God, the King of Israel. Even through the facade of Nathanael’s skepticism, Jesus discerned his transparency of spirit.