Chapter 1
John
is
about
to
take
us
on
an
incredible
journey
through
his
gospel.
He
will
write
about
the
astonishing
works
and
the
profound
words
of
Jesus.
But
before
John
embarks
upon
this
great
journey,
he
sets
the
trajectory
of
his
gospel
in
his
introduction.
Much
like
a
master
guide
would
review
his
route
before
he
embarked
upon
his
great
trek;,
John
delivers
to
us,
in
a
compact
form,
the
major
themes
that
will
be
expanded
upon
in
the
twenty
chapters
that
follow.
So
let
us
begin
this
journey
by
allowing
John
to
introduce
us
to
his
primary
subject,
Jesus.
Most biographies begin by exploring the origins of their subject. John does the same thing, but because of the unique person of Jesus, John must go beyond the normal method of introduction. With the opening words of his gospel John takes us way back to what he calls, "the beginning." In reading this gospel we should ask, "What does John mean by beginning?" The concept of "beginning" is derived from the Old Testament, especially the first verse of the Hebrew Bible, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). John is taking the reader to a "time" before anything was created. Then he states that "the Word" was there, "in the beginning," and was "with God" and "was fully God." So to properly introduce us to his subject, John had to take us to a time before creation, when only the Word and God existed.
Chapter 1 Study Questions
John goes to great lengths to tell us, the readers, that Jesus is unlike any human, and that he is like God. Jesus is separate and different from humanity, but this is just the beginning of John’s story. The one who was totally unique, the Word, became flesh, and lived as a human, "Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us" (1:14).