|
| Chapter 1 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
|
1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and that life was the Light of men. 5 ¶ And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came as a witness to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. 11 He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. 12 But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe in His name, 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 was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only Begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth. 15 ¶ John bore witness of Him and cried, saying, "This was He of whom I spoke, ’He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’" 16 And of His fullness have we all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. 19 ¶ And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who art thou?" 20 And he confessed and denied not, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." 21 And they asked him, "What then? Art thou Elijah?" And he said, "I am not." "Art thou that Prophet?" And he answered, "No." 22 Then said they unto him, "Who art thou, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What sayest thou of thyself?" 23 He said, "I am ’the voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Make straight the way of the Lord,"’ as said the prophet Isaiah." 24 And those who were sent were of the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, and said unto him, "Why dost thou baptize then if thou art not that Christ, nor Elijah, neither that Prophet?" 26 John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there standeth One among you whom ye know not. 27 He it is who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoe’s strap I am not worthy to unloose." 28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 29 ¶ The next day John saw Jesus coming unto him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world! 30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me cometh a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ 31 And I knew Him not; but that He should be made manifest to Israel, therefore have I come baptizing with water." 32 And John bore record, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from Heaven like a dove, and It abode upon Him. 33 And I knew Him not. But He that sent me to baptize with water, the Same said unto me, ’Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, the Same is He that baptizeth with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I saw and bore record that this is the Son of God." 35 Again the next day John stood with two of his disciples, 36 and looking upon Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" 37 ¶ And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned and saw them following, and said unto them, "What seek ye?" They said unto Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, being interpreted, "Master"), "where dwellest Thou?" 39 He said unto them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He dwelt and stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said unto him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is, being interpreted, "the Christ"). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, He said, "Thou art Simon, the son of Jonah. Thou shalt be called Cephas" (which is by interpretation, "a stone"). 43 ¶ The day following, Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and found Philip and said unto him, "Follow Me." 44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said unto him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." 46 And Nathanael said unto him, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip said unto him, "Come and see." 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" 48 Nathanael said unto Him, "How knowest Thou me?" Jesus answered and said unto him, "Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee." 49 Nathanael answered and said unto Him, "Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel." 50 Jesus answered and said unto him, "Because I said unto thee, ’I saw thee under the fig tree,’ believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these." 51 And He said unto him, "Verily, verily I say unto you, hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." |
John wrote this book for both the Jews and the Gentiles, his aim to present Jesus as the Son of God. Because John was writing to both he often had to explain Jewish words and customs for the Greek readers. John examines and explains the events in the life of Jesus. The main theme of the book is that Jesus was the Christ and the Son of God. v1-3 The Word. v1,2 Jesus is the Eternal Word. He existed in the beginning not because He was created but because He is eternal, He is God and was with God. v3 Jesus was also the Creation Word. Creation is finished it is not an ongoing operation, The word ‘made’ shows a ‘completed act’ in the Greek. v4-13 The Light. v4 God is light, without light we would die, He is the Light of the world, John 8:12 and the Light of Life. v5 Darkness and light appear through out the John’s Gospel, Satan is the ‘darkness’ Jesus the ‘Light.’ The ‘darkness’ cannot understand or overcome the ‘light.’ Man just did not understand the light of Christ. v6-11 The exposure of the ‘light’ to the world starts with the birth of John the Baptist. John was sent as a witness to Jesus, preparing the way. John was the witness, lighting the way to the true Light v8. The Jewish Nation were very religious and full of religious traditions but were blind (in the dark) to the reason for Jesus coming. They had the copies of the ‘Light,’ the law, the temple, the sacrifices. The people saw the works of Jesus, a Jew, heard His words but they rejected Him. They were looking for a Messiah but did not recognize Him. v12,13 Shows the reason for His coming, this was God’s plan from the beginning, a great promise for anyone who will receive the gift of life. v14 God reveals Himself, His purity,His love, His glory, to the world by becoming a man. v15-28 Who Jesus was. Jesus came to where John was preaching, when John saw Him he said "Behold the Lamb of God." Sin puts everyone under sentence of death - separation from God. But in Old Testament times God accepted the death of an animal in place of the punishment of the person. This needed repeated sacrifices. Jesus, God as a man was to die once and for all, a perfect sacrifice, like the lamb, for all. What did John have to say about Jesus? 1) He was eternal v15. John was born about 6 months before Jesus Luke 1:36 but he said "that Jesus was before me" v15. 2) Full of Grace and Truth. v16,17. Grace is God’s gift of love and favour to those who do not deserve it and cannot earn it. If God treated us according to His Truth we would not survive, we would be condemned. 3) He reveals God to us v18. God is invisible to us 1 Tim 1:17; but God is revealed in nature Rom 1:20 and in Jesus Col 1:15-17; Heb 1:3. V18 is the first time John refers to Jesus as the "Son." The words "only begotten" means "unique," the only one, Jesus is the eternal God. v19 The Levites and The Priests. v19-28 Examination. The Jewish leaders sent priests and Levite’s to investigate John, asking "Who are you?." "Are you the Messiah?," "Are you Elijah?" Elijah was supposed to come before the Messiah came.(Mal 4:5) "No I am the one preparing the way." v24 The Pharisee. "Why are you baptizing?" Baptizing was done to a Gentile who wanted to adopt the Jewish faith but not Jews. John was calling Jews to be baptized. "By what authority are you doing this?" Matt 21:23-32. John points out that his baptism was with water but the Messiah, when He is revealed because He is already here, will baptize with a spiritual baptism. John repeats that he was not trying to exalt himself (make important), v27. v29-34 The Lamb of God. A day later Jesus comes to where John is baptizing. This time he calls Jesus "Behold, the Lamb of God" The Bibles message is centered upon this fact ending in the worship of the Lamb in Rev.5:12. The nation of Israel was familiar with the sacrifice lamb. At the Passover each family had to have a lamb. Two lambs were sacrificed in the temple everyday plus personal sacrifices. These were sacrifices by man, but Jesus was destine to be God’s sacrifice for man. v33 John did not know who the Messiah was until he came to him by the Jordan. God had told him what to look for, v33. Matt 3:13-17. v35-42 The Messiah comes. The Jewish leaders were confused as to what the Messiah would do when He came, some saw Him as the suffering sacrifice (Is 53) others saw a king to save them. (Is 9 and 11) Both were right but they did not understand that the first one must come before the second. v35 The disciples with John the Baptist were probably John the gospel writer and his brother Andrew. John sees Jesus and tells the disciples who Jesus was, they left John to follow Jesus. John was not hurt as he knew that Jesus must increase and John decrease, John had done his job to prepare the Jewish nation for the coming of the Messiah, v30. v38 Jesus asks "what are you looking for?" to see why they were following Him. Were they looking for a leader to drive out the Romans or what? "Where do you live?" "If your busy we will come back later," but Jesus invites them home. It was about 10 a.m. they must have been impressed by what Jesus told them because Andrew goes off to find his brother Simon (later to be called Peter). Jesus’ first followers. v43 He calls Philip. v45-51 Philip brings Nathaniel. Nathaniel was following a Jewish custom of meditating the scriptures under a tree. From what Jesus said to him in v51 Nathaniel may have been thinking about Jacob’s dream of a stairway to heaven.(Gen 28:12). Because Jesus knows about him Nathaniel acknowledges who Jesus is, v49. |
Easy English Translation
| Back to previous page | Return to Home Page |
| The Gospel According to St. John |
