John · chapter 1 of 21
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John the Baptist 1 introduces Jesus as the eternal Word who was with God, was God, and became flesh to live among us. John the Baptist testifies about him and points to him as the Lamb of God. The chapter ends with the calling of the first disciples: Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip and Nathanael.
The Gospel of John begins differently from Matthew, Mark and Luke: not with a birth or a genealogy, but with eternity. Before telling any miracle or speech, the prologue declares who Jesus is. The whole book, which aims to lead readers to believe in him, is read in the light of these opening verses.
The chapter opens with the prologue (vv. 1-18). In the beginning the Word already existed; he was with God and was God. Through him everything that exists was made, and in him was life, and that life was the light of mankind, a light that shines in the darkness without the darkness overcoming it. A man sent from God appears, John the Baptist, not to be the light but to testify about it. The Word came into the world he had made, but the world did not know him and his own people did not receive him; to those who did receive him and believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. Then the Word became flesh and lived among us, full of grace and truth, and from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.
The narrative then begins (vv. 19-34). Priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem ask John the Baptist who he is. He answers that he is not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, but the voice crying in the wilderness, and that he baptizes with water while among them stands one they do not know. The next day he sees Jesus coming and calls him the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He tells how he saw the Spirit descend on Jesus and that this is why he testifies that Jesus is the Son of God.
The following day John the Baptist points to Jesus again, and two of his disciples follow him; one of them is Andrew, who brings his brother Simon to Jesus, and Jesus names him Cephas, that is, Peter (vv. 35-42). The next day, in Galilee, Jesus finds Philip and tells him to follow; Philip finds Nathanael and invites him to come and see. Nathanael doubts that anything good can come from Nazareth, but Jesus describes him before meeting him, and Nathanael confesses him as Son of God and King of Israel. Jesus promises that they will see greater things (vv. 43-51).
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Before anything existed, the Word already was, with God and himself God. The verse affirms at once Jesus' eternity, his relationship with the Father and his full deity, and it is the foundation of the whole Gospel.
To all who received the Word, that is, who believed in his name, God gives the right to become his children. Being a child of God is not inherited or earned; it is received by faith.
The eternal Word became truly human and lived among his people, and witnesses saw his glory, full of grace and truth. This is the central claim of the incarnation: God himself drew near to us.
Seeing Jesus approach, John the Baptist presents him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. With this image of sacrifice, the Gospel signals from the start that Jesus came to bear sin.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: He was in the beginning, was with God and was God. — John 1:1
Answer: He was not the light but came as a witness to testify about it. — John 1:6-8
Answer: The right to become children of God. — John 1:12
Answer: That he was not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, but the voice crying in the wilderness. — John 1:19-23
Answer: The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. — John 1:29
Answer: Cephas, which means Peter, that is, rock. — John 1:42
John the Baptist 1 reminds us that our faith rests on someone far greater than a good teacher: the eternal Word who became flesh. That means God did not stay far from our troubles but entered our world. In a small group you can ask what changes in the way we pray or suffer if we believe God himself knows human life from the inside.
The chapter also shows how Jesus is made known. John the Baptist points to Christ and steps aside; Andrew and Philip bring others with a simple invitation to come and see. You do not need to be a great speaker to introduce someone to Jesus. Think of one person close to you whom you could invite this week, without pressure, to get to know him.
John the Baptist 1 makes clear who Jesus is and gathers the first people who follow him. The promise of greater things with which the chapter ends begins to be fulfilled in John the Baptist 2, when Jesus performs his first sign at a wedding in Cana of Galilee.
The Word (in Greek, Logos) is Jesus Christ. John the Baptist presents him as eternal, with God and himself God, as the Creator of all things and as the one who became flesh. Verse 14 identifies him with Jesus, and verse 17 names him outright.
It is an image drawn from sacrifice. In the Old Testament lambs were offered for sin, and the Gospel presents Jesus as the sacrifice God himself provides. John the Baptist says he takes away the sin of the world, and the rest of the Gospel shows how he does it on the cross.
The envoys from Jerusalem were expecting figures promised for the end times. John the Baptist denies being those persons in the sense they were asking and defines himself only with the words of Isaiah: a voice preparing the way of the Lord. His mission was to point to someone else.