John 1.1-18

John The Word Became Flesh 1 1 a In the beginning was b the Word, and c the Word was with God, and d the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 e All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 f In him was life, 1 and g the life was the light of men. 5 h The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man i sent from God, whose name was j John. 7 He came as a k witness, to bear witness about the light, l that all might believe through him. 8 m He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 n The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet o the world did not know him. 11 He came to p his own, 1 and q his own people 2 r did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, s who believed in his name, t he gave the right u to become v children of God, 13 who w were born, x not of blood y nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And z the Word a became flesh and b dwelt among us, c and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of d grace and e truth. 15 ( f John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, g ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from h his fullness we have all received, i grace upon grace. 1 17 For j the law was given through Moses; k grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 l No one has ever seen God; m the only God, 1 who is at the Father’s side, 2 n he has made him known.

John 1:1-18

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John 1 1 Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. 2 οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν. 3 πάντα διʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν. ὃ γέγονεν 4 ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων• 5 καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν. 6 Ἐγένετο ἄνθρωπος, ἀπεσταλμένος παρὰ θεοῦ, ὄνομα αὐτῷ Ἰωάννης• 7 οὗτος ἦλθεν εἰς μαρτυρίαν ἵνα μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ φωτός, ἵνα πάντες πιστεύσωσιν διʼ αὐτοῦ. 8 οὐκ ἦν ἐκεῖνος τὸ φῶς, ἀλλʼ ἵνα μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ φωτός. 9 ῏Ην τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν, ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον, ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον. 10 ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἦν, καὶ ὁ κόσμος διʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ ὁ κόσμος αὐτὸν οὐκ ἔγνω. 11 εἰς τὰ ἴδια ἦλθεν, καὶ οἱ ἴδιοι αὐτὸν οὐ παρέλαβον. 12 ὅσοι δὲ ἔλαβον αὐτόν, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα θεοῦ γενέσθαι, τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, 13 οἳ οὐκ ἐξ αἱμάτων οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκὸς οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρὸς ἀλλʼ ἐκ θεοῦ ἐγεννήθησαν. 14 Καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός, πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας. 15 Ἰωάννης μαρτυρεῖ περὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ κέκραγεν λέγων• οὗτος ἦν ὃν εἶπον• ὁ ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος ἔμπροσθέν μου γέγονεν, ὅτι πρῶτός μου ἦν. 16 ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ πληρώματος αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἐλάβομεν καὶ χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος• 17 ὅτι ὁ νόμος διὰ Μωϋσέως ἐδόθη, ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο. 18 Θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακεν πώποτε• μονογενὴς θεὸς ὁ ὢν εἰς τὸν κόλπον τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκεῖνος ἐξηγήσατο.

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Notes

The Word became flesh Intro : Foyer in a grand house. On the one hand, it's a distinct area, yet it gives a view of the whole. This prologue works like that, raising all the key themes, yet sitting as a distinct section. Full of Biblically loaded terms. 'If I was God, I'd make myself more obvious?' In Jesus, God has fully revealed himself in the midst of this world. 1. Everything was made through God's Word (v1-5) 'In the beginning' - cf Genesis 1. With God, yet God. Distinct yet eternal. v3 the Word is the creator v4-5 life and light for the human race. Not overcome by darkness. NB 'darkness' is not neutral, but evil, in John. NB 'Word' is a Hebrew, not a Greek concept. Even though he is using 'logos', he has in mind not a cold rational logos of Greek philosophy, but the dabar of Hebrew Scripture - eg Psalm 29. Or, 'the Word of the LORD came to so and so.' 2. God's Word is the light that came into the world, to be rejected or received (v6-13) v6-8 John the baptist, last of the prophets, pointing and preparing for the light coming into the world. v9 'was coming'; 'it is the Word, the light, that is coming into the world, in some act distinct from creation'. The same 'special visitation' as v14. 'The coming of the Word into the world, described in the prologue, is nothing other than the sending of the Son into the world, described in the rest of the book.' v10-13 a summary of the gospel. Rejection and unbelief by 'his own', or new birth as the children of God through believing in 'his name'. 3. God's Word became human in Jesus Christ (v14-18) v14 the eternal Word became human as a particular man, in a time and place. The 'incarnation' - Christmas. Recommend Athanasius on the Incarnation of the Word. v14 'dwelt' - tabernacled. Hence 'glory' - the glory of God, the temple glory. 'We have seen his glory' - the apostolic eyewitness recorded for us. v14 only Son. 'Unique'; 'only begotten' here and v18. Eternal generation of the Son. v14 full of grace and truth. Steadfast love and faithfulness; covenant loyalty words. v15 After John in human and temporal ministry, yet before him by nature. v16 'for' - link to v14 - from his fullness (of grace and truth), grace in place of/instead of grace. v17 'for' - link to v16. Biblical storyline; the law was a grace-gift through Moses (tied up with 'steadfast love and faithfulness'); but now the greater revelation of God's steadfast love and faithfulness is here in Jesus; 'grace and truth' came through Jesus Christ. Not a dispensational contrast, but a storyline amplification and climax. v18 the climax of the Prologue. Jesus, the eternal Word - who is 'in the bosom of the Father' - has 'exegeted' the Father. The Son has come into the World to make the Father known. God's glory : he shines the light of his life into the darkness of the world, in his Son taking on flesh. He shows his glory in his only-begotten Son. FCF . We ignore, don't receive Jesus as he really is. H1. Outright mockery. Or a man-made caricature of Jesus (H2). Not taking this as the central defining point of our lives. Thinking that there is a divine life and glory somehow beyond or outside of the incarnate Word. Person of Jesus. The Word become flesh. Dabar, not logos. Grace in place of grace. Shows the Father's glory. Work of Jesus. Light into the darkness, extinguished upon the cross in self-giving love. At the hands of 'his own'. Union with Jesus . The right to be born of God, as his child. Wrap up: Foyer in a grand house. On the one hand, it's a distinct area, yet it gives a view of the whole. This prologue works like that, raising all the key themes, yet sitting as a distinct section. Full of Biblically loaded terms. 'If I was God, I'd make myself more obvious?' In Jesus, God has fully revealed himself in the midst of this world.

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