John eBook

CONTENTS

Editor’s Preface

Introduction to John

Keynote: The Word reveals God (1:1–14)

John the Baptist witnesses to the first disciples, and they follow Jesus (1:15–51)

Jesus begins his public ministry with signs and teachings (2:1–4:54)

Jesus encounters doubts and opposition (5:1–6:71)

Jesus faces increasing threats to his life (7:1–11:57)

Jesus prepares his disciples for his death (12:1–17:26)

Jesus finishes his ministry on the cross (18:1–19:42)

Jesus rises from the dead and strengthens his disciples’ faith (20:1–21:25)

ILLUSTRATIONS

The woman of Samaria at the well

Spiral illustration 1

They picked up stones to stone him

Jesus prays in Gethsemane

The death of Jesus

Christ appears to Mary Magdalene

The unbelief of Thomas

APPENDIX

Spiral illustrations 2–7

EDITOR’S PREFACE

The People’s Bible is just what the name implies—a Bible for the people. It includes the complete text of the Holy Scriptures in the popular New International Version. The commentary following the Scripture sections contains personal applications as well as historical background and explanations of the text.

The authors of The People’s Bible are men of scholarship and practical insight, gained from years of experience in the teaching and preaching ministries. They have tried to avoid the technical jargon that limits so many commentary series to professional Bible scholars.

The most important feature of these books is that they are Christ-centered. Speaking of the Old Testament Scriptures, Jesus himself declared, These are the Scriptures that testify about me (John 5:39). Each volume of The People’s Bible directs our attention to Jesus Christ. He is the center of the entire Bible. He is our only Savior.

The commentaries also have maps, illustrations, and archaeological information when appropriate. All the books include running heads to direct the reader to the passage he is looking for.

This commentary series was initiated by the Commission on Christian Literature of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

It is our prayer that this endeavor may continue as it began. We dedicate these volumes to the glory of God and to the good of his people.

INTRODUCTION TO JOHN

Perhaps no other book of the Bible has had such a profound effect on so many people as the gospel of John. Written some time after the first three gospels, it apparently takes for granted a knowledge of their contents. It offers otherwise unrecorded details of Jesus’ teachings, miracles, and life. Of the four gospels, John’s is the one often called the spiritual gospel.

This gospel offers a simple and clear statement of salvation. Virtually every Christian can recite from memory the so-called gospel in a nutshell: God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (3:16). At the same time, those who search this gospel find themselves face-to-face with God himself, peering into the depths of his incomprehensible being.

Purpose

Some scholars say that the author wrote his gospel particularly to address the needs of non-Jewish, Greek-speaking Christians of his day. To the Greeks the idea of the Word (Greek: Logos) already had philosophical meaning (the principle governing the cosmos) that would cause them to pay attention to John’s use of it. Other scholars say that the author wrote it to counteract heresies of the day that denied either the full divinity of Jesus or the full humanity of Jesus. The author answered both heresies: The Word was God (1:1) and The Word became flesh (1:14).

Nevertheless, the only purpose today’s readers need to know for this gospel is the one the author himself gave: These [miraculous signs] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (20:31).

Author

The church from earliest times has considered the apostle John the author of this gospel. Several church fathers from the second century confirm that choice, and the evidence from the gospel itself supports it. The writer is a close disciple of Jesus, the one whom Jesus loved, who leaned back against Jesus at the Last Supper (21:20, 24). He isn’t Peter (21:20), and James died as a martyr before this gospel was written. The other disciple of the three closest to Jesus (Peter, James, and John) was John. More thorough studies have confirmed, with little room for doubt, that the apostle John wrote this gospel.

Date

Unlike the rest of the Twelve, the disciple John lived to old age and died a natural death in about the year A.D. 100. The general consensus is that John wrote the gospel late in his life in the city of Ephesus, probably between A.D. 85 and 90. Whether or not one needs to insist on such a late date, it is virtually certain that John wrote some time after the other gospels were circulated.

Whatever else might be said of this gospel before studying the text itself, be assured that the journey with Jesus through this revelation will be a truly spiritual experience. It will increase faith and produce life. Read it now. Believe and live.

Outline

Theme: Believe and live

   I.  Keynote: The Word reveals God (1:1–14)

A.  The Word is God (1:1–3)

B.  The Word is light and life (1:4–9)

C.  The Word opens the way to God (1:10–13)

D.  The Word becomes flesh (1:14)

 II.   John the Baptist witnesses to the first disciples, and they follow Jesus (1:15–51)

A.  Jesus surpasses John (1:15–18)

B.  John prepares the way for Jesus (1:19–28)

C.  Jesus is the Lamb of God (1:29–34)

D.  Andrew and Peter come to Jesus (1:35–42)

E.  Philip and Nathanael come to Jesus (1:43–51)

III.  Jesus begins his public ministry with signs and teachings (2:1–4:54)

A.  Jesus changes water to wine (2:1–11)

B.  Jesus predicts his death and resurrection (2:12–25)

C.  Jesus teaches Nicodemus about the new birth 3:1–21)

D.  John the Baptist defers to Jesus (3:22–36)

E.  Jesus teaches the Samaritan woman about living water (4:1–42)

F.  Jesus heals the royal official’s son (4:43–54)

IV.  Jesus encounters doubts and opposition (5:1–6:71)

A.  Jesus heals the invalid at Bethesda (5:1–14)

B.  Jesus answers the Jews who wish to kill him (5:15–47)

C.  Jesus feeds over five thousand people (6:1–15)

D.  Jesus terrifies the disciples by walking on water (6:16–24)

E.  Jesus offers the Bread of Life to the misguided Jews (6:25–59)

F.  Many disciples desert Jesus (6:60–71)

V.   Jesus faces increasing threats to his life (7:1–11:57)

A.  Jesus delays going to Judea (7:1–13)

B.  Jesus confounds the unbelieving Jews with his teaching (7:14–8:11)

C.  Jesus testifies against the unbelievers (8:12–59)

D.  The blind man sees, and the seeing are blind (9:1–41)

E.  Jesus is the Good Shepherd (10:1–21)

F.  The unbelieving Jews try to stone Jesus (10:22–42)

G.  Jesus raises Lazarus (11:1–44)

H.  The Pharisees plot to kill Jesus (11:45–57)

VI.  Jesus prepares his disciples for his death (12:1–17:26)

A.  Mary anoints Jesus (12:1–11)

B.  Jesus enters Jerusalem in triumph (12:12–19)

C.  Jesus predicts his death (12:20–36)

D.  Many Jews continue in unbelief (12:37–50)

E.  Jesus washes his disciples’ feet (13:1–17)

F.  Jesus predicts Judas Iscariot will betray him (13:18–30)

G.  Jesus predicts Peter will deny him (13:31–39)

H.  Jesus comforts his disciples (14:1–14)

I.  Jesus promises the Holy Spirit (14:15–31)

J.  Jesus calls for his believers to remain in him (15:1–17)

K.  Jesus warns of persecution to come for his followers (15:18–27)

L.  The Holy Spirit will guide the disciples into all truth (16:1–15)

M.  The disciples’ grief will turn to joy (16:16–33)

N.  Jesus prays for his followers (17:1–26)

VII. Jesus finishes his ministry on the cross (18:1–19:42)

A.  Jesus is arrested and taken to Annas (18:1–14)

B.  Peter denies Jesus (18:15–18)

C.  Jesus testifies before Annas (18:19–24)

D.  Peter denies Jesus two more times (18:25–27)

E.  Pilate judges Jesus innocent but sentences him to crucifixion (18:28–19:16)

F.  Jesus hangs on the cross (19:17–27)

G.  Jesus dies (19:28–37)

H.  Jesus is buried (19:38–42)

VIII.  Jesus rises from the dead and strengthens his disciples’ faith (20:1–21:25)

A.  Jesus’ followers discover the empty tomb (20:1–9)

B.  Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene (20:10–18)

C.  Jesus appears to his disciples (20:19–23)

D.  Jesus appears to Thomas (20:24–31)

E.  Jesus appears and causes a miraculous catch of fish (21:1–14)

F.  Jesus reinstates Peter (21:15–25)

PART ONE

Keynote: The Word Reveals God

(1:1–14)

The Word is God

John 1:1–3

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning.

³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

The words fairly leap off the page to arrest your attention: In the beginning … the Word … God … life … light. As you begin to read this book of God’s Scriptures, you feel you have entered a new level of God’s truth in Jesus Christ. John sounds a keynote to his gospel unlike any of the other gospels. He trumpets the Christ and the glory of God in him. He switches on the floodlights and opens the drama of God’s work of salvation.

The drama starts in the beginning, before anything existed. We are reminded of the opening words of Genesis, which speak of the same period when only God existed and all creation was but a page in his eternal plan. In the beginning marks an absolute point of reference for all history—the eternal, prehistoric presence of God.

In the beginning was the Word. What follows in rapid succession defies reason.

John turns our attention to the Word. Although that term is abstract, John will shortly identify the Word as the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity. The Word, then, is a title for Jesus and tells us important things about him.

The Word tells us that Jesus is God. Even before John says, The Word was God, we know Jesus was because he was in the beginning when only God existed. That Word was God, says John, placing extra emphasis on the word God in the original language.

Not only was the Word God, he was with God. He was face-to-face with God. He existed in a mutual relationship with the Father, distinct, yet one with the Father. Here we have two divine persons interacting. The Word was together with God, yet the Word was God. What the Word was, God was also, and what God was, the Word was: the same essence. We have here one God and two of the three persons we have come to call the Trinity. The Spirit will be introduced later in this gospel.

Let all who doubt the divinity of Christ read the gospel of John and believe. John leaves no room for doubt. He answered the heretic Cerinthus of his day, who taught that Jesus was a mere man. He has the answer for Arius of a later date, who deliberately changed the meaning of this text rather than confess that Jesus was true God. So Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Unitarians, and others today who see Jesus only as a special human being or, at best, a god, will find the truth in John’s gospel, if they will only listen.

But we shouldn’t be surprised at or misled by the opposition. John has said that the Word was with God and the Word was God. As Luther says, In the end only the Holy Spirit from heaven above can create listeners and pupils who accept [this] doctrine. Still, it stands by God’s inspiration, and the Spirit creates faith in us to believe it.

The title Word by itself tells us still more about Jesus. In fact, because it is so full of meaning, some Bible scholars prefer to use the Greek term here without translating it.

That term is Logos, from which we get our English word logic. Logos, or Word—we can only begin to plumb the depths of its meaning, because in doing so we are trying to penetrate the very essence of God himself. The logic of God comes to us by his Logos.

The Word is the means by which God communicates with us. It is his message to us, his divine revelation, his wise counsel. He gives all that to us through his Son. The student of Scripture will think of the recorded Word: the many times the word of the LORD came to the prophets (see Jeremiah 1:4; Ezekiel 1:3; Amos 3:1). We think of the psalmist confessing, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path (Psalm 119:105). We know that God brings about changes through his Word: My word that goes out from my mouth … will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:11). What we learn of the recorded Word offers insights into Christ as Word. Then too we see the unmistakable similarity between the Word in this passage and divine wisdom, who was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began (Proverbs 8:23).

God’s Word, which has great meaning and accomplishes his will, is personified in Christ. Simply put, we cannot know God without Christ, the Word. Positively put, Jesus Christ reveals the truth of God to us. If you want to see God, look to Jesus. If you want to come close to God, come close to Jesus. If you want to live according to God’s will, live with Jesus. Jesus Christ is the Word. The Word was God. He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15; see Titus 2:13).

Messages sent from powerful people can have power, as you may know. The boss issues a memo; the judge pronounces a verdict; the captain issues a command. Their messages all carry the power of their offices and personalities. Similarly, but to a divine degree, the Word has power. It creates. It gives and sustains life. It sheds light. For example, the writer to the Hebrews says, The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word (1:3).

We are not surprised to learn, therefore, that through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. Only two kinds of essence exist: created and uncreated. Only two kinds of beings exist: creatures and their Creator. The Word, Christ, was not created; he did the creating. He is God. Through him, the Father made the universe (Hebrews 1:2). By him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible (Colossians 1:16). The power of the Word brought all creation into being. By the word of the LORD were the heavens made (Psalm 33:6). When we hear in Genesis, then, that God said … and it was so (see Genesis 1:1–31), we correctly identify Christ as active in creation. God spoke, and his Word created all things from nothing.

The Word is Light and Life

John 1:4–5

⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

In him was life. As the Word made all things, he gave life to the created beings. The term life used here, however, means significantly more than biological life, the pumping heart, the coursing blood. Here and 35 other times in his gospel, John uses this particular word as a spiritual term, often qualified as eternal life.

The life John speaks of comes in connection with the Word. The Word brings God into fellowship with humankind. In so doing, the Word brings the life that we can experience only with God.

We can say, naturally, that all human beings have life. We say it of birds, animals, and plants too. That’s our way of saying they exist with certain properties of growth and an ability to consume nourishment or that they have certain chemical properties we scientifically identify with living things. That life also comes from God. He gives it to all people regardless of whether or not they ever believe in him.

However, those who know and believe God through the Word (Christ) have a new life with God that is full and endures forever. They have life entirely as God meant it for us in his perfect creation before sin brought death. They have real life, God’s kind of life. They come into communion with God himself.

John here sounds the keynote of his gospel. He introduces us to the eternal Word, who is God and in whom is life and light. When we believe in the Word, we receive life and light. This is just the opening variation, however. John tells us more.

That life, which is in the Word, was the light of men. This combination of light with life reminds us of a houseplant positioned at a south window, thriving from its regular dose of sunshine. Place that plant in total darkness, and it will soon die. So it is with us and Christ. His light gives us life.

We ought to pause here and ask ourselves: Who are we without Christ? What do we have without Christ? Take away Christ, and we have no saving knowledge of God; we have no real life; we have no light. Note how closely these thoughts relate to one another and how absolute they are. Separation from God, death and destruction, and total darkness exist apart from the Word, Jesus Christ.

Life and light are in the Word. In other words, we find life and light only when we believe in Christ. We human beings resist the truth in Christ, however, because of sin. Some never see the light. John significantly switches to the present tense to tell us the light shines in the darkness. The light continues to shine to this very day. John adds, however, The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

Is that possible? Doesn’t light automatically penetrate darkness and reveal the truth? Our minds get caught up in the details of the picture, and that leads to some difficulty. When we remember the entire picture, however, we have the answers. Keep in mind that the light is the life that is in the Word. More simply put, the Word brings the light. Those in darkness, however, fail to understand what the Word is bringing and, therefore, remain in darkness. Just so, the dark world of sin and unbelief failed to understand that Jesus was the promised Christ. Even the religious leaders of Israel failed to see the light and opted to stay in darkness. They went so far as to crucify the Word in an attempt to silence him forever.

Some who struggle with the image of darkness understanding light offer another explanation. The Greek word translated has understood can possibly mean has overcome. Using that translation, some stress the essential hostility between light and darkness and note that the darkness has not been able to overcome (put out) the light. With this meaning, we understand that by opposing Jesus and even crucifying him, the darkness did not succeed in extinguishing his light. He still shines for us.

Both explanations can stand, because they both reveal to us the glory of God in Christ. Both identify the light with the Word. The light chases away our fears, reveals the saving love of God, and guides us on the way of eternal life. This light dispels the doom and gloom of the darkness that leads to hell. It lights the path to heaven. It is found in the Savior.

Since human beings naturally resist the truth in Christ, how do they find the light and thrive with life? It is folly to tell the separated, the dead, and the darkened to choose the Word, the life, and the light. They have no choice. Such were we. But the Word has come to us, given us life, and filled our darkness with his light. Now we need to present the Word, live the life, and let the light shine for others. The Word will make its own impression, and the Holy Spirit will give faith and understanding.

John 1:6–9

⁶There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. ⁸He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. ⁹The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

The apostle John has not yet identified exactly who the Word with the light is. Instead, he introduces a man whom God sent to be a witness to the light. The man’s name, like the gospel writer’s, was John, the one we know as John the Baptist (1:19–28). John the Baptist was different from the Word. The Word was in the beginning; John came into being in time. The Word was God; John was only a man, that is, a human being. The Word was the light of the world; John was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

It was important for the apostle John to identify the role of the Baptist because apparently some people followed the Baptist instead of Christ or otherwise confused the missions of the two (Acts 19:3, 4; Matthew 21:25; Luke 9:18, 19). It was more important, however, for John to establish that reliable witnesses, beginning with the Baptist, have testified to the light. After four centuries of silence from God’s prophets, the Baptist heralded the coming of the light into the world. This gospel reveals his testimony and others for one purpose, as said here of the Baptist, so that through him all men might believe.

John the Baptist, indeed, was not himself the light, but through his testimony the true light, that is, the real or genuine light, shone. Because of that light, the Word Jesus Christ, John the Baptist could realistically hope that through him [John] all men might believe. That’s the hope of every witness for Christ to this day and the purpose for evangelism outreach and mission work, namely, to be agents, light-reflectors, through whom all men might believe and might come to the light of their Savior.

We need to show people everywhere the light of Jesus Christ. Only then can they believe. John wrote his gospel to build faith in Jesus. He makes that clear in this keynote of his discourse, and he sums it up again near the end: These [miraculous signs] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (20:31). Believe in Christ and live.

This gospel repeats the verb believe some one hundred times, more than any other book of the Bible. Believe, believe, believe in the Word, the life, the light. No other means of coming to God exists. With the signs and testimonies still to come in this gospel, people will be led to believe, for they will come face-to-face with the Word, and they will know God and trust in him with full confidence. Knowing God, accepting him, and trusting him are all part of believing in him who is the light.

That light, the true light—not just reflectors, or witnesses—that gives light to every man was coming into the world. At first we saw him before creation and involved in creation. Through him, in fact, the light of day was created. Now we see why we also can know him, because he was coming into the world to shine his light on us. No person is excluded. He gives light to every man, that is, every human being. He does not restrict his light. Only those who refuse it in unbelief must go without it. That light was coming into the world so that all might know him.

The Word Opens the Way to God

John 1:10–13

¹⁰He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹²Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—¹³children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

Through the Word, the created universe (the world) was made. When the time was right, as God had promised, the Word came to the planet earth (the world, the home of humankind) and was in the world. Nevertheless, sinful, unbelieving human beings (the world) did not recognize him. They refused to learn who he was. The creatures failed to acknowledge their Creator and Redeemer.

He went to his own country and his own people, who, because of God’s revelation, were to be expecting him; but his own did not receive him. What was said earlier of the darkness not understanding the light was true of God’s chosen people, Israel, not knowing and receiving the Word in their midst. The people of the promise rejected the fulfillment of the promise.

The rejection, however, was not universal. Others, including some not from his own people, received the Word, and to as many as received him … he gave the right to become children of God.

That describes the life we find in the Word, life as God’s own loved children. The light everyone needs is the light that God causes to shine for his children. When we receive the Word, Jesus Christ, we have the right and the power to become members of God’s family and to claim the blessings of that family.

This message addresses many today who have not had good home lives. We see increasing evidence that the ideal family of father, mother, and children living and growing together in love and harmony is an ideal in disarray. In its place we have fragments of families and people wondering what real family life is like. Here, then, we have a most wonderful revelation. It says that in Christ everyone can be a child of the absolutely ideal family: everyone can be a child of God. The Father in this family fills the roles of both earthly parents. He loves; he provides; he nourishes; he nurtures; he comforts; he protects. He is always there when we need him. He teaches and guides by his Holy Scriptures. And he provides an everlasting inheritance in his heaven. All this and more belong to the person who receives Jesus Christ.

But what does it mean to receive Jesus, and what does it not mean? John explains immediately that those who received him (the Word) were those who believed in his name. It took no special effort on their part. They didn’t have greater intellects or more morally upright backgrounds. They simply saw him, heard him, and trusted in him. They believed because God’s own Spirit worked faith in them. No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3).

Some say that receiving Jesus means learning about him and then choosing him, and once we have made the choice, we receive the privilege of being God’s children. John, however, emphasizes that when we become children of God, we are children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. Believers have no direct bloodline with God. No fleshly bonding produces these children. Neither do these children get their existence because any human being, including themselves, chooses to have them become God’s children. They are born of God. Just as we did not choose our earthly parents, so we do not in any way choose God as our Father. He chose us. When we believe in Jesus, our spiritual birth is complete. As James says, [God] chose to give us birth through the word of truth (1:18).

The Word Becomes Flesh

John 1:14

¹⁴The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Everything important in our spiritual lives becomes ours in connection with the Word (Christ). This gospel will show its readers that Word and cause them to believe for eternal life. Therefore, just as the entire first section (1:1–14) sounds the keynote of this gospel, so verse 14 is the key sentence of the section. We have not been able to comment on the previous verses without anticipating this one, and the rest of the gospel grows out of this verse: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Paul later says, When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman (Galatians 4:4).

The Word, who was with God and who was God, became flesh. As the gospel will continue to attest, he didn’t stop being what he was, namely, true God. But he also became true man, a real human being. He became incarnate, in the flesh. The Word took on human nature and received the name Jesus. He was born in the flesh like every human being, complete with human emotions, human frailties, human needs. In his life, therefore, we will see him weep and sleep and eat and hurt and die.

Nevertheless, the Word made flesh was free of one thing every other human being has had—sin. The flesh of all other humans since Adam and Eve is inherently corrupted by sin. Through his miraculous virgin birth, Jesus became flesh untainted by sin. He came to live free from sin in our place.

The Word was born in the flesh and made his dwelling among us. He lived on this earth along with other human beings. Significantly, the Greek says that he set up his tabernacle, or tent, among us. For the student of the Bible, that phrase strengthens the meaning of this passage. One can hardly miss seeing a parallel with the tabernacle God had the people of Israel build in the wilderness. Of that tent the Lord said to Moses, Have [the Israelites] make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them (Exodus 25:8). When the tabernacle was completed, Moses reports, Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34).

Accordingly, when Jesus Christ was born, the LORD (Yahweh, or Jehovah) came to dwell in person among us. He was Immanuel, God with us, and we have seen his glory. That doesn’t mean to say that bright light shone around Jesus and the stable of Bethlehem as it did with God’s presence at the tabernacle. No, the Bible tells us that the glory of God shone from the heavens for the shepherds to see, but at the stable they found a baby whose outward appearance was not different from other babies.

Nevertheless, that baby came to be the light of men. That baby came to reveal God’s glory in a way that we human beings could look at and not be blinded, but believe. At long last God would let us see his glory by giving us his one and only Son, Jesus Christ. And Jesus would reveal God’s glory through his work of salvation.

John writes his gospel from firsthand experience. We, he says, have seen his glory. We are the apostles and evangelists whom God used to record the New Testament Scriptures. In truth, John with Peter and James saw a unique (for us on earth) manifestation of that glory when Jesus was later transfigured (Matthew 17:1–9).

Today, however, we can read John’s testimony and know that we too have seen the glory of the Word made flesh, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father. His coming made that possible. All believers in Christ Jesus have seen the glory that came from the Father. We see it in Jesus with the eyes of faith. We see the wondrous and unmatchable love of God in our eternal salvation.

The gospel identifies Jesus as the One and Only, who came from the Father. The King James Version has only-begotten instead of One and Only. The Greek term used is one employed elsewhere to identify not just an only child but someone who is one of a kind (Luke 7:12; 8:42; 9:38; Hebrews 11:17). So the Word was uniquely the Father’s from eternity and of the same being as the Father. The becoming, or begetting, of the Son from the Father is a mystery of God shrouded in his eternal preexistence. Here John stresses that the Word made flesh is that only Son.

One way that we behold the glory of the Word in the flesh is by seeing that he is full of grace and truth. Grace and truth are two more of the terms John highlights to serve his purpose in this gospel. Let’s pause briefly and recount the important words already introduced: Word, life, light, believe, glory, and now grace and truth. The cumulative effect of these words can fill our hearts with awe, and our wonder only increases when we begin to peel back the layers of meaning for each term and see more of God himself.

The Lord Jesus is full of, indeed, is the very embodiment of grace and truth. When you think about grace, ask yourself some questions:

•   What business did the Word have in becoming flesh?

•   Why should the eternal Son of God care about human beings since he knew they would be hostile to him?

•   What had any human being done to warrant such attention?

•   Why does God care about me when I can’t get through a day without somehow sinning against him?

Do you begin to get the picture? Love is at work here, love so big it works among those who have no basis to claim any love, yes, who are loveless and unlovable. That undeserved love is grace. Jesus is full of grace for us.

Jesus also embodies truth. People everywhere think about and search for truth. Philosophers try to get a grasp of reality. Great thinkers try to explain the truth of God. They keep on trying, but we need search no further. We do not have to think deeply and stretch the limits of our IQs to have truth and know God. We need only believe in Jesus, the Word made flesh. He reveals all we need to know about God and his saving truth. Jesus came to show us the truth.

PART TWO

John the Baptist Witnesses to the First Disciples, and They Follow Jesus

(1:15–51)

Jesus Surpasses John

John 1:15–18

¹⁵John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’  ¹⁶From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. ¹⁷For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

John the Baptist was the first prominent proclaimer of the truth in Jesus Christ, so the apostle John returns to his testimony. The Baptist not only has left a testimony for us, he has cried out urgently that all might listen, and his words speak the same urgency in each generation. He calls our attention to the Word made flesh and identifies him as the human-divine Savior. This Word was Jesus, who was coming after John. John was born before him, and John became prominent as a prophet before him. Nevertheless, John adds, He … has surpassed me because he was before me.

To many listeners, John the Baptist surely seemed to be talking in riddles. Jesus was coming after John, but he was before John, and he had gotten ahead of John. Perhaps it was like a riddle—nevertheless, it was all true in the God-man. The Word was eternal God and as such lived in eternity and surpassed John in every way. Now the listeners would see Jesus coming after John, and it was important for them to understand who Jesus really was.

Jesus was coming to bring blessings beyond measure. From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. The fullness of Jesus was the fullness of God dwelling in him, a fullness with which he also blesses us, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13; see also Colossians 1:19; 2:9, 10). The words of the Baptist echo the words of verse 14, full of grace and truth. That fullness brings us the rich blessings of God’s grace.

As hard as it is to measure or describe that grace, John uses an expression here that can help us appreciate it more. The English translation here is one blessing after another, but that is weak alongside the literal translation, grace instead of grace. Or think of it as grace in place of grace. God’s unfathomable love, which he gives us in spite of our unworthiness, never ends. We use some, and more takes its place for us to use another time. It is there to comfort us when we hurt. It forgives us when we sin. It relieves us when we feel guilty. It supports us when we’re afraid. It gives everything to us who can give nothing to earn it or to repay it. God’s love is so great that the eternal Word became flesh and sacrificed himself on the cross for us. Jesus gives us grace in place of grace. We always have his love. We cannot exhaust the supply.

The coming of Jesus Christ fulfilled everything commanded by and promised by God. The Jews of Jesus’ day looked to Moses to learn from God. Now, however, the Baptist testifies, we have something better, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Moses gave the moral law that reveals God’s will and our sin. He gave ceremonial laws that foreshadowed the redemptive work of Christ. He presented prophecies that promised a Savior to come.

Now the Savior has come. In his grace he has fulfilled God’s moral law perfectly in our place. He has offered the one sacrifice needed for all time, for all sin. He has turned the promises in Moses to living reality and established God’s truth forever.

Jesus has come to reveal God to us and to make us God’s children. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. As Jesus himself said, No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him (Matthew 11:27). The Logos, the Word, came to make the Father known. The Word, who is with God and is God, reveals the Father to us.

No mere human being can make God known as Jesus does, because no human being, not even Moses, has seen God in all his fullness and glory. Jesus is God the One and Only. He is the only Son of the Father, of the same essence, or being, as the Father, begotten from eternity. He is at the Father’s side, literally, in the Father’s bosom. He has a personal, fully intimate relationship with the Father. He makes God known to us. Look at Jesus Christ and see God.

John Prepares the Way for Jesus

John 1:19–23

¹⁹Now this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. ²⁰He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, I am not the Christ.

²¹They asked him, Then who are you? Are you Elijah?

He said, I am not.

Are you the Prophet?

He answered, No.

²²Finally they said, Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?

²³John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ 

The apostle continues his narrative with more about John the Baptist’s testimony. John had been carrying on his ministry in the wilderness for a while already, and he was attracting the attention of significant religious leaders. The Jewish authorities, representing the Jews as a group, invariably lined up in