Video Lessons with Transcript
John 1:1-18: Prologue
John 1:19-24: Baptism
John 1:35-51: Reaching Out
Commentary
Introduction
- John is one of the four Gospels
- Matthew emphasizes fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies;
- Mark emphasizes Jesus as servant who suffers;
- Luke emphasizes Jesus’s humanity;
- John emphasizes Christ’s divinity
- John is often recommended for new Bible readers alongside Philippians, but just because it’s good for beginners doesn’t mean there’s not tremendous depth for everyone.
- “Consider, then, brethren, if perchance John is not one of those mountains concerning whom we sang a little while ago, I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence shall come my help. Therefore, my brethren, if you would understand, lift up your eyes to this mountain, that is, raise yourselves up to the evangelist, rise to his meaning.” -Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John, Tractate 1
- The depth of God reflected in John’s prologue helps address a common critique of Christianity: “It’s about a magical guy in the sky that grants wishes.”
- John’s opening, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” immediately displays the complexity and depth of the Christian understanding of God, which even language strains to fully express.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.
- John 1:1 parallels Genesis 1:1 (“In the beginning…”). John is retelling the story, but answering a question that haunted mankind from the beginning: who is “us?”
- Genesis 1:26: “Let us make mankind…”
- Many answers that people have proposed (God is talking to angels (not creators) or humanity (not existent) or the Earth (an object, not a being)) are deeply inadequate.
- John reveals “the Word” (Jesus pre-incarnate) as with God and as God—revealing the foundation of the Trinity.
- “The Word” refers to Jesus before His incarnation.
- In the original Greek that John was writing in, “The Word” is “Logos.” That word carried important and distinct meanings for both Jewish and Greek audiences:
- For a Jewish reader: “Logos” meant “the word,” resonating with the Old Testament’s emphasis on knowing and keeping God’s word.
- For a Greek audience: “Logos” meant the “plan,” “blueprint,” or “wisdom” behind the universe—what philosophers sought to understand.
- By using “Logos,” John tells both groups that the thing they loved and were looking for had come to find them: Jesus.
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
- By using that term, “logos,” John affirmed that Jesus was both the creative word of God (the spoken word in Genesis) and the blueprint of creation.
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
- “The darkness has not overcome it” can also be translated “the darkness has not understood it.” Both are good translations.
- The world’s darkness (frustration, cruelty) persists because people haven’t understood Jesus. But that darkness can’t overcome the light and hope that is Jesus.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
- The John in verse 6 is John the Baptist, not the Gospel’s author. Throughout the book of John, the author doesn’t refer to himself by name. Instead, he calls himself, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
- John the Baptist’s role was to witness to the light (Jesus), serving as a herald announcing the King’s arrival.
- A herald prepares people to receive the king properly. The fact that Jesus’s herald was a crazy guy on society’s fringe shows how little the world understood God or was ready to receive Him.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
- Imagine a parent visiting their child, only for the child not to recognize them at all. That’s what it was like for God coming to us.
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
- Some might object that we’re all “children of God” because God made us.
- God doesn’t just want to be our father in the smallest sense! He wants to be our father in the fullest sense! He wants to be the one we count on in every situation
- A good father isn’t just the person who helps us to exist, but the one who nurtures us, protects us, and cares for us.
- God invites us to be in a personal relationship with him so we can be His child in the fullest sense.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”)
- In Hebrew culture, older writers received greater respect. By conceding to Jesus’s age, John the Baptist is showing that Jesus is the ultimate authority that he doesn’t can’t give any credibility to. He already has ultimate credibility.
16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
- In Exodus 33:20, God says, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
- This is because He is utterly holy and beyond comprehension. Our sinful, mortal minds couldn’t handle it
- Even though it’s incomprehensible, God made Himself knowable by coming down to our level as Jesus to restore our broken relationship with Him.
- This prologue is highly abstract! Not everyone is comfortable with abstract thought. If you’re not, here’s the core takeaway: seek a relationship with God. In spite of your smallness and his vastness, he wants to know you. Pray to him.
19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
- The narrative shifts back chronologically from the opening eighteen verses (which served as an overview of the Book of John) to the beginning of Jesus’s public ministry.
- What is happening to John in this verse is a public interrogation, not a respectful inquiry. Their goal was to discredit John. If he denied having authority, people might stop following him. If he claimed authority, they could report him to the Romans as a troublemaker.
21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
- The authoritative figures that are being addressed here are all in Scripture. The second coming of Elijah is in Malachi 4:5, the coming of the prophet is in Deuteronomy 18:15, and prophecies about the coming messiah are found throughout the Old Testament (especially Isaiah).
22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
- The Pharisees’ may be villains in these passages, but they were also people with real, legitimate concerns.
- The Roman-Jewish historian Josephus recorded four individuals in the first century who claimed to be the Messiah, raised armies, and fought the Romans, all of whom understood the Messiah as a military figure.
- A later false messiah, Simon Ben Kosiba, led a rebellion in the early second century that resulted in the Romans destroying Israel, renaming it Syria Palestine, and scattering the Jewish people. Israel did not reappear on maps until after World War II.
- The Pharisees were justifiably worried that a false messiah would bring destruction, but while trying to prevent this, they tragically overlooked the true Messiah.
23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
- John seems surprisingly comfortable given the circumstances! He knew he wasn’t “the one.” He was just there to point to the person who was.
- How often do we carry the burden of having to be “the one” rather than pointing to the person who genuinely is?
- He identifies himself using Isaiah’s words: “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness: ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” (Isa 40:3)
- Untying sandals was considered such a lowly task that even rabbis were forbidden from asking their disciples to do it (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Ketubot 96a) John’s statement signifies his profound sense of unworthiness compared to the greatness of Jesus.
24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
- The practice of baptism existed before John, rooted in Old Testament purification rituals, such as priests washing in a basin before approaching the altar in the tabernacle and later bathing in the temple.
- John brought this practice to the people, applying the principle of purification to prepare for God’s approach in the form of Jesus.
- John’s baptism was a symbolic act. He explicitly states, “I baptize with water,” indicating it was just water and held no special divine power. It was a good thing to do, encouraging people to recognize their sinfulness and need for God’s purification.
28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
- The title “Lamb of God” connects Jesus to a rich scriptural history of lambs being sacrificed so that others might live: the ram that died in Isaac’s place, the Passover lamb whose blood protected the Israelites, and the lambs sacrificed for forgiveness in the temple.
- John identifies Jesus as “the” ultimate Lamb who will provide the final sacrifice.
- The use of the singular “sin” (not “sins”) is significant. Sins are the symptoms (wrong actions), but “sin” is the underlying disease or “rot in our soul” that began with Adam and Eve. Jesus came to eliminate the root cause, not just the symptoms.
30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
- Why would the sinless Jesus need to be baptized? Common reasons for baptism (joining the church, receiving the Holy Spirit, washing away sin) do not apply to Him. Surely Jesus could have revealed himself to John the Baptist in other ways. Why was this way fitting?
- John’s baptism was purely symbolic, which means a lot of the answers (the bestowal of the Holy Spirit, joining the Body of Christ, etc.) don’t apply here. It really is a matter of symbols: why would a sinless person symbolically ask for purification?
- The 18th-century monk Nikodemos of Athos speaks to this in his prayers: “Jesus, being God, had no need for purification, but he suffered purification for me,” (Prayers to Our Lord Jesus Christ).
- Jesus gained nothing from baptism; it was an act of humility. His glory is repeatedly revealed through such humble acts: the infinite God being born in a small human body, in a manger; and ultimately dying a humiliating death on a cross.
32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
- What was once a purely symbolic, natural act became more than natural, now carrying the power of the Holy Spirit to bestow grace, unite a person with the body of Christ, and wash away sin.
- Note that there is no reason to expect two baptisms. Some traditions insist that you need one “water baptism” and one “baptism of the Spirit” (generally identified by strong feelings in the believer), but Ephesians 4 is explicit that there is only one baptism. Jesus has transformed baptism, not added a second baptism.
34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.
- Matthew 11:11”Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
- John was the greatest of “those born of women,” or those born by purely natural means.
- Through baptism, believers are made part of the “Kingdom of Heaven” and are greater than John the Baptist
- Just as Jesus transformed water and a human body into something more than natural, He transforms believers into more than natural people by giving them the Holy Spirit.
Four Accounts of Calling
- These next four stories all show different disciples being called into ministry by Christ:
- Andrew and Peter join Jesus through intellectual inquiry
- Peter follows Jesus because of a personal invitation from someone he trusts
- Philip joins Philip abruptly because of his experience meeting Jesus
- Nathanael overcomes his skepticism after seeing a miracle
- The close proximity of the stories help illustrate the diverse ways that people come to faith in Christ
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples.
- In the ancient world, discipleship was immersive—students followed a teacher to observe how they lived and embodied their teachings. This approach emphasizes that profound truths should transform one’s whole life, not remain abstract. The speaker contrasts this with modern education’s focus on fact acquisition and suggests discipleship offers a valuable lesson in witnessing wisdom lived out.
36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
- John refrains from retaining disciples for personal benefit (labor, prestige). Instead, he directly points them to Jesus, modeling ministry that prioritizes others’ growth over personal gain.
- This contrasts with common tendencies of leaders to hoard followers; John advocates sending people to the best source for their development.
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
- “It was about four in the afternoon” (verse forty) is a pretty specific detail. This, along with the fact that John never names himself in his gospel and this particular disciple is unnamed, suggests this unnamed disciple was John.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).
- In his book The Inviting Church, church growth expert Roy Oswald asked a number of congregants why they worshipped at the church they did if they weren’t raised there.
- 86% started attending because a friend or family member invited them;
- 6% came because of a program;
- 6% were invited by a pastor,
- 2% due to advertising.
- Peter’s journey is statistically common! So many people relate to Peter, but the Church needs more Andrews to invite others.
- Peter (originally Simon) comes to Jesus through his brother Andrew’s invitation: “We have found the Messiah!” Andrew is only mentioned twelve times in the Bible, and four of those are just in lists! Of the remaining eight narrative mentions of Andrew, he’s bringing people to Jesus in three of them. He has a gift for connection and evangelism. The Church needs its Peters and Pauls, but we also need our Andres!
42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
- Jesus renames Simon to Cephas (Aramaic for “stone”; translated into Greek and then English as “Peter”), signaling a break from old to new identity and commissioning him as a “rock” on which Jesus will build his ministry. This affirms Peter’s gifts and shows that Jesus is giving him meaningful work.
- Everyone wants to make a difference in the world! We are not just called to sit in pews for Jesus, but change the world for Him.
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
- Philip’s calling is incredibly abrupt! Jesus says, “Follow me,” and Philip does just that. The abruptness suggests an immediate, vivid experience with Jesus that was enough to get Nathaniel to worship Jesus without a prior relationship. For some, a direct encounter is decisive.
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
- Nathanael resists at first, ignoring the ties that Philip makes to the prophets and Moses. fixating on the detail that he’s from Nazareth, and that’s not a particularly reputable town. Philip wisely avoids debating issues that don’t really matter and instead invites him to “come and see.” His goal is not to win a debate, but to win Nathanael over to Christ by introducing them.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
- Jesus greets Nathanael as “an Israelite in whom there is no deceit,” showing that he knows his character, and says that he saw him under the fig tree before Philip called him. Given Nathanael’s reaction, obviously this wasn’t a mere overhearing of someone else’s conversation; it was miraculous!
50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”
- In verse 51, Jesus is referencing Genesis 28 (Jacob’s ladder) to declare himself the bridge between Heaven and Earth. If knowing a name is so impressive to Nathanael, he should be ready to see the full nature of the Son of Man, which is infinitely more miraculous.
Classic Theology 