John 1 — Read & Study

The Beginning

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²The same was in the beginning with God. ³All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. ⁴In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it.

vv. 1-5John opens with a massive claim: Jesus is 'the Word' — in Greek, Logos. John chooses this term deliberately. In Jewish tradition, God's 'word' was the agent of creation ('God said, let there be light'). In Greek philosophy, Logos meant the rational principle ordering the universe. By calling Jesus the Word, John is saying he is both — the creative power behind everything and the logic holding it all together. Jesus existed before the universe and is God himself. Everything that exists was created through him. He is the source of life and light, and no amount of darkness or evil has been able to extinguish that light.

The Witness of John

⁶There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him. ⁸He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light. ⁹The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.

vv. 6-9John the Baptist — a wilderness preacher who prepared people for Jesus' arrival, and a different person from the author of this book — enters the story not as the main figure, but as a witness. His entire purpose was to point people toward Jesus, the 'true light.' The author makes it very clear: John the Baptist was important, but he was not the light himself. He was sent ahead to get people ready.

¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn’t recognize him. ¹¹He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him. ¹²But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name: ¹³who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

vv. 10-13Jesus came into the world he created, but most people didn't recognise him — including his own people, Israel. However, those who did believe in him were given the right to become God's children. This new identity isn't based on family bloodline or human effort — it comes directly from God.

The Word Became Flesh

¹⁴The Word became flesh and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only born Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵John testified about him. He cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.’” ¹⁶From his fullness we all received grace upon grace. ¹⁷For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has seen God at any time. The only born Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared him.

vv. 14-18God became a human being and lived among ordinary people. The author says he personally witnessed Jesus' divine glory. John the Baptist publicly declared that Jesus outranked him despite coming after him. The passage contrasts Moses — the foundational leader and lawgiver of the Jewish people, who received God's commandments on Mount Sinai — with Jesus, who brought grace and truth. That phrase echoes the Hebrew hesed ve-emet (meaning 'steadfast love and faithfulness'), the words used throughout the Old Testament (the older section of the Bible, written before Jesus' time) for God's faithfulness to his people. The passage makes the claim that Jesus is the only one who has ever truly revealed God to humanity.

The Mission of John the Baptist

¹⁹This is John’s testimony, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

²⁰He declared, and didn’t deny, but he declared, “I am not the Christ.”

²¹They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the prophet?”

He answered, “No.”

²²They said therefore to him, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

²³He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

²⁴The ones who had been sent were from the Pharisees. ²⁵They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?”

²⁶John answered them, “I baptize in water, but among you stands one whom you don’t know. ²⁷He is the one who comes after me, who is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to loosen.” ²⁸These things were done in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

vv. 19-28Religious authorities from Jerusalem send priests to interrogate John the Baptist about his identity. They ask if he's the Messiah, Elijah, or 'the Prophet' — a figure predicted in Deuteronomy 18:15 (Deuteronomy is one of the first five books of the Bible, recording Moses' final instructions to Israel), where Moses said God would raise up a prophet like himself, which Jews were actively watching for. John denies being any of them and identifies himself using words from the prophet Isaiah (one of the most important prophetic books in the Old Testament, written centuries earlier): he's just a voice preparing the way. The Pharisees — a powerful religious faction who controlled much of Jewish public life — press him on why he's baptising if he holds no special title. John's answer is striking — he says someone is already among them who they don't yet recognise, and that person is so far above John that he isn't even worthy to untie his sandals.

Jesus the Lamb of God

²⁹The next day, he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.’ ³¹I didn’t know him, but for this reason I came baptizing in water, that he would be revealed to Israel.” ³²John testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on him. ³³I didn’t recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘On whomever you will see the Spirit descending and remaining on him is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴I have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

vv. 29-34The next day, John the Baptist sees Jesus approaching and publicly identifies him as 'the Lamb of God' — a reference to the Passover lamb and the daily temple sacrifices for sin, both of which involved an animal bearing consequences that would otherwise fall on the people. John admits he didn't initially know Jesus was the one, but God had given him a specific sign to watch for. When John baptised Jesus — immersing him in the River Jordan as a public act of dedication to God — he saw the Holy Spirit come down from heaven like a dove and rest on Jesus. This was the sign God had promised: the person on whom the Spirit descended and stayed would be the one sent by God. Having witnessed this firsthand, John declares that Jesus is the Son of God.

The First Disciples

³⁵Again, the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” ³⁷The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What are you looking for?”

They said to him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, being interpreted, Teacher), “where are you staying?”

³⁹He said to them, “Come and see.”

They came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour. ⁴⁰One of the two who heard John and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is, being interpreted, Christ). ⁴²He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is by interpretation, Peter).

vv. 35-42John the Baptist again points Jesus out to two of his own disciples, and they immediately leave John to follow Jesus instead. Jesus asks what they're looking for — his first words in this gospel. They spend the day with him. One of the two is Andrew, who is so convinced that he runs to find his brother Simon and tells him they've found the Messiah — the long-awaited king that the Jewish people believed God would send to save and lead them. When Jesus meets Simon, he immediately gives him a new name: Cephas, Aramaic for 'rock,' which comes into Greek as Petros — our 'Peter.' Renaming carries weight in the Bible; it's what God does when he has a purpose for someone (Abram became Abraham, Jacob became Israel). By calling Simon 'Rock,' Jesus is marking him out for a foundational role — and he does go on to become the leading figure among Jesus' followers after the resurrection.

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

⁴³On the next day, he was determined to go out into Galilee, and he found Philip. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets, wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?”

Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said about him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”

⁴⁸Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?”

Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

⁴⁹Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are King of Israel!”

⁵⁰Jesus answered him, “Because I told you, ‘I saw you underneath the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these!” ⁵¹He said to him, “Most certainly, I tell you all, hereafter you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

vv. 43-51Jesus finds Philip and simply says 'Follow me.' Philip then finds Nathanael and tells him they've found the one Moses and the prophets wrote about. Nathanael is sceptical — Nazareth was a small, insignificant village with no mention in the Hebrew Bible (the Jewish scriptures, also known as the Old Testament) and no prophecy attached to it. But when Jesus reveals he saw Nathanael under the fig tree before they ever met, Nathanael is stunned and declares Jesus the Son of God and King of Israel. The chapter ends with each new follower being recruited not by grand miracles but by personal encounters and word of mouth.