The Gospel According to John Chapter 1

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The Gospel According to John Chapter 1

The Bible Text from https://www.bible.com/bible/111/JHN.1.NIV

The Origin from Eternity to Eternity

The Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning (of God's existence, the Eternal Past, (1)) was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was with God in the beginning. (Unknown Reality) (2, Word: Preexistence of Jesus)

3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (As the original source of all, He caused the creation.)

4 In him was life (He is the source of Life.), and that life was the light of all mankind. (The Life was communicated and shared with all mankind as the light.)

5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome (understood) it. (The light, God's revelation has been there always but the darkness was not enlightened by itself.)

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.

8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. (The ministry of John the Baptist is very unique and special for introducing Jesus in such a proximity of time and space. Jesus even said John was the greatest prophet. Mt. 11:11)

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. (He has been in the world but the world didn't know His existence and governing power.)

11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (He was born into His own but they (Jews) didn't welcome him.)

12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (But there will be a group of people who believe in Him, will be saved; not by any human will or effort but by the grace of God.)

14 The Word (Yet Unknown Truth) became flesh (Jesus) and made his dwelling (camped) among us. (Emmanuel: God with us.) We have seen (John himself has experienced Jesus with the fellow disciples.) his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father (Glorious divine manifestation), full (overflowing to us and others) of grace (in His Death) and truth (with His Resurrection). (3, Glory, Grace, and Truth of Jesus)

15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”) (Reminder of the foretelling ministry of John the Baptist.)

16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. (His grace overflew to us and is supposed to overflow from us to others.)

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (The time of Mosaic Law is gone and the time of Grace and Truth have come with Jesus.)

18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. (Jesus is the final and perfect revelation of God- the Grace, Truth, and Glory, in our ages. Heb. 1:1-3)

John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah

19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. (At the time, after 400 years of silent God, and under the Roman rule, the Jews were waiting for the Messiah. The Jewish leaders suspected John the Baptist if he were the One.)

20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” (John, however, clearly denied the suspicion of the Messiahship.)

21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” (John the Baptist could be the Elijah according to Jesus (Mt. 11:7-15) but he denied because there was a certain identity he'd like to assume.)

“Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” (Also denied to be the Prophet (Deut. 18:15-18) for the same reason.)

22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” (Now, the Jews asked who he is rather than assuming.)

23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ” (John the Baptist identified himself to be the voice, just voice without real body, the messenger, but not the Message, in the wilderness, calling attention of the Israelites to the upcoming Messiah as Isaiah had foretold. Isa. 40:3)

24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” (The Pharisees asked the legitimacy of his baptism.)

26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know.

27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” (John's baptism of water was a call for repentance in preparation for the upcoming Messiah and His ministry.)

28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. (East bank of the Jordan River, north of the Dead Sea, in modern-day Jordan.)

John Testifies About Jesus

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John was the first messenger of Jesus Christ who came for the redemption of God's people.)

30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ (V. 27)

31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” (Jesus and John were distant cousins (Lk. 1:36) but the familial relationship doesn't matter in the Kingdom of God. Mt. 12:50)

32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. (John has the spiritual eyesight as Elisha. 2Ki. 6:16-17)

33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ (John's testimony on Jesus is not of himself but of divine.)

34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” (John testified his divine experience with the God-chosen One Jesus to his followers.)

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus

35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples.

36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. (John led his disciples to Jesus so that they began to follow Jesus.)

38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” (The two new followers wanted to know where Jesus stays.)

39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” (While the future journey is unknown, the only present time is given for sure.) So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. (The journey has begun.) It was about four in the afternoon (tenth hour).

40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus.

41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).

42 And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter). (Andrew, who was one of them, invited his brother Simon Peter to Jesus. The public ministry of Jesus has been newly launched with John the Baptist.)

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” (Jesus also called Philip to Him.)

44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. (NE of the See of Galilee, They were Galileans.)

45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” (Philip introduced Jesus to his friend Nathanael.)

46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. (Nazareth was a humble place.) “Come and see,” said Philip. (Come then you will see who He is.)

47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” (Jesus praised Nathanael for his honesty.)

48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. (Nathanael was wondering how Jesus knew him at the first glance.) Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” (Jesus knew him as he passed by even before the encounter. Jesus knew whom to choose as His disciples and why.)

49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” (Nathanael came to acknowledge that Jesus is the true Messiah due to His foresight.)

50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” (But the best is yet to come.)

51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.” (The the new realm of the Kingdom of God about to be revealed to them soon.)

(1, The Beginning)

The "Beginning" here and 1Jn. 1:1 is the beginning of the Eternity, the beginning of God, while the same word in Geneses 1:1 is the beginning of the creation.)

(2, Word)

The Greek word for Word is LOGOS which could be translated to "Word," as it is in the most English versions, but also TRUTH, or WAY because of its inclusiveness.

Similarly, there is a word in Orient, "도-道," "Do" in Korean or "Tao" in Chinese, which literally means the "WAY" so also the "TRUTH."

(The Logos is, therefore, translated into WAY "도-道," in Chinese version in 1:1 & 14.)

John begins his Gospel with the Not-Yet-Known (as mentioned in the text, V. 5, 9-10, 11) Origin of Truth which has been existing from the very eternal beginning.

The Reality, the Jesus, has been there in God's Being and History throughout the times, even not yet known, eventually came to us as the Flesh Jesus.

So the Word, Logos, is neither a readable letters nor audible sound, but Jesus Himself while even He was not called Jesus yet: it's about the preexistence of Divine Son God Jesus.

Jesus acknowledges Himself to be the Way, Truth, and Life in 14:6, from conceptual words such as the way and truth, to the most fleshly reality; LIFE.

Therefore our study should be geared with and headed to the Reality, the Life in Christ- the life in the Kingdom of God.

(3, Glory, Grace, and Truth of Jesus)

More at: https://cafe.daum.net/k331/PeqF/27