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The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

This is now the third day in the sequence. The seventh day included the wedding at Cana (John 2:1); and since Jewish weddings traditionally were on Wednesdays, it would make this third day the Sabbath Day. But it was not a day of rest for either John the Baptist or Jesus, for John was preaching and Jesus was gathering disciples.

The two disciples of John who followed Jesus were John, the writer of the Gospel, and his friend Andrew. John the Baptist was happy when people left him to follow Jesus, because his ministry focused on Jesus. “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

When Jesus asked them, “What are you seeking?” He was forcing them to define their purposes and goals. Were they looking for a revolutionary leader to overthrow Rome? Then they had better join the Zealots! Little did Andrew and John realize that day how their lives would be transformed by the Son of God.

“Where are You dwelling?” may have suggested, “If You are too busy now, we can visit later.” But Jesus invited them to spend the day with Him (it was 10 a.m.) and no doubt He told them something of His mission, revealed their own hearts to them, and answered their questions.

They were both so impressed that they found their brothers and brought them to Jesus. Andrew found Simon and John brought James. Indeed, they were their brothers’ keepers! (Gen. 4:9)

Whenever you find Andrew in John’s Gospel, he is bringing somebody to Jesus: his brother, the lad with the loaves and fishes (John 6:8), and the Greeks who wanted to see Jesus (John 12:20–21). No sermons from Andrew are recorded, but he certainly preached great sermons by his actions as a personal soul winner!

“We have found the Messiah!” was the witness Andrew gave to Simon. Messiah is a Hebrew word that means “anointed,” and the Greek equivalent is “Christ.” To the Jews, it was the same as “Son of God” (see Matt. 26:63–64; Mark 14:61–62; Luke 22:67–70).

In the Old Testament, prophets, priests, and kings were anointed and thereby set apart for special service. Kings were especially called “God’s anointed” (1 Sam. 26:11; Ps. 89:20); so, when the Jews spoke about their Messiah, they were thinking of the king who would come to deliver them and establish the kingdom.

There was some confusion among the Jewish teachers as to what the Messiah would do. Some saw Him as a suffering sacrifice (as in Isa. 53), while others saw a splendid king (as in Isa. 9 and 11).

Jesus had to explain even to His own followers that the cross had to come before the crown, that He must suffer before He could enter into His glory (Luke 24:13–35).

Whether or not Jesus was indeed the Messiah was a crucial problem that challenged the Jews in that day (John 7:26, 40–44; 9:22; 10:24).

Simon’s interview with Jesus changed his life. It also gave him a new name—Peter in the Greek, Cephas in the Aramaic that Jesus spoke—both of which mean “a rock.” It took a great deal of work for Jesus to transform weak Simon into a rock, but He did it! “Thou art … thou shalt be” is a great encouragement to all who trust Christ. Truly, He gives us the “power to become” (John 1:12).

It is worth noting that Andrew and John trusted Christ through the faithful preaching of John the Baptist. Peter and James came to Christ because of the compassionate personal work of their brothers.

Later on, Jesus would win Philip personally; and then Philip would witness to Nathanael and bring him to Jesus. Each man’s experience is different, because God uses various means to bring sinners to the Savior. The important thing is that we trust Christ and then seek to bring others to Him.

Christ—Messiah: the words “Christ” (christos) and “Messiah” are the same word. Messiah is the Hebrew word and Christ is the Greek word. Both words refer to the same person and mean the same thing: the anointed one. The Messiah is the anointed one of God. Matthew said Jesus “is called Christ” (Matthew 1:16); that is, He is recognized as the anointed one of God, the Messiah Himself.

In the day of Jesus Christ people feverishly panted for the coming of the long promised Messiah. The weight of life was harsh, hard, and impoverished. Under the Romans people felt that God could not wait much longer to fulfill His promise. Such longings for deliverance left the people gullible. Many arose who claimed to be the Messiah and led the gullible followers into rebellion against the Roman state. The insurrectionist Barabbas, who was set free in the place of Jesus at Jesus’ trial, is an example (Mark 15:6f).

The Messiah was thought to be several things.

1. Nationally, He was to be the leader from David’s line who would free the Jewish state and establish it as an independent nation, leading it to be the greatest nation the world had ever known.
2. Militarily, He was to be a great military leader who would lead Jewish armies victoriously over all the world.
3. Religiously, He was to be a supernatural figure straight from God who would bring righteousness over all the earth.
4. Personally, He was to be the One who would bring peace to the whole world.

Jesus Christ accepted the title of Messiah on three different occasions (Matthew 16:17; Mark 14:61; John 4:26). The name Jesus shows Him to be man. The name Christ shows Him to be God’s anointed, God’s very own Son. Christ is Jesus’ official title. It identifies Him officially as Prophet (Deut. 18:15-19), Priest (Psalm 110:4), and King (2 Samuel 7:12-13). These officials were always anointed with oil, a symbol of the Holy Spirit who was to perfectly anoint the Christ, the Messiah (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10-11; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:32-33).

These verses as a whole also bring us to another key word in John’s gospel: witness.  There are at least eight given for our consideration:

1. There is the witness of the Father.

(John 5:37)  “And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form…”

(John 8:18)  “I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.””

In His heart the inner voice of God spoke, and that voice left him in no doubt as to who he was and what he was sent to do. Jesus did not choose his own task; it came from God. His inner conviction was that God sent him into the world to live and to die for men.

2. There is the witness of Jesus.

(John 8:14)  “Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going.”

(John 8:18)  “I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent  me.””

Jesus claimed to be the light and the life and the truth and the way. He claimed to be the Son of God and one with the Father. Unless his life and character had been what they were, such claims would have been merely shocking and blasphemous. What Jesus was in himself was the best witness that his claims were true.

3. There is the witness of his works.

(John 5:36)  “”I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me.”

(John 10:25)  “Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me,”

(John 14:11)  “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.”

(John 15:24)  “If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.”

4. There is the witness of Scriptures.

  (John 1:45)  “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.””

  (John 5:39)  “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me,”

  (John 5:46)  “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.”

5. There is the witness of the last of the prophets: John the Baptist.

(John 1:7-8)  “He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. {8} He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.”

6. There is the witness of those with whom Jesus came into contact.

The woman of Samaria bore this testimony: (John 4:39)  “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.””

Listen to the words of the man born blind, now healed: (John 9:25)  “He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!…(John 9:38)  “Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.”

The crowd in general also witnessed of His power: (John 12:17)  “Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word.”

7. There is the witness of the disciples themselves.

(John 15:27)  “And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”

(John 19:35)  “The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.”

(John 21:24)  “This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.”

8. There is the witness of the Holy Spirit.

(John 15:26)  “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:”

(1 John 5:7)  “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”

 

This is the second day of the week that the Apostle John recorded, and no doubt some of the same committee members were present to hear John the Baptist’s message. This time, he called Jesus “the Lamb of God,” a title he would repeat the next day (John 1:35–36).

In one sense, the message of the Bible can be summed up in this title. The question in the Old Testament is, “Where is the lamb?” (Gen. 22:7) In the four Gospels, the emphasis is “Behold the Lamb of God!” Here He is!

After you have trusted Him, you sing with the heavenly choir, “Worthy is the Lamb!” (Rev. 5:12)

What does John’s baptism have to do with Jesus as the Lamb of God? Baptism was by immersion. It pictured death, burial, and resurrection. When John the Baptist baptized Jesus, Jesus and John were picturing the “baptism” Jesus would endure on the cross when He would die as the sacrificial Lamb of God (Isa. 53:7; Luke 12:50).

It would be through death, burial, and resurrection that the Lamb of God would “fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15).

Perhaps John was mistaken. Perhaps John was not sure that Jesus of Nazareth was the Lamb of God or the Son of God. But the Father made it clear to John just who Jesus is by sending the Spirit like a dove to light on Him. What a beautiful picture of the Trinity!

JOHN THE BAPTIST PROCLAIMS JESUS AS THE MESSIAH / 1:29–34

John 1:29 (ESV) — The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

1:29 “Behold! The Lamb of God.”  The title “Lamb of God” would be associated in the minds of the Jews with the Passover lamb (Exodus 12) and the lambs used in the daily sacrifices for the sin offerings (see Leviticus 14:12, 21, 24; Numbers 6:12).

In calling Jesus the Lamb of God, John pointed to Jesus as the substitutionary sacrifice provided by God. Had the Jews considered the Messiah would be a lamb led to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7ff.)?

PAID IN FULL

Every morning and evening, a lamb was sacrificed in the temple for the sins of the people (Exodus 29:38–42). Isaiah 53:7 prophesied that the Messiah, God’s servant, would be led to the slaughter like a lamb.

To pay the penalty for sin, a life had to be given—God chose to provide the sacrifice himself. When Jesus died as the perfect sacrifice, he removed the sin of the world and destroyed the power of sin itself. Thus God forgives our sin (1 Corinthians 5:7).

The “sin of the world” means the sin of each individual. Jesus paid the price of our sin by his death. We claim the forgiveness he provided by first taking ownership of our sin. If we insist we have no sin, then we gain no forgiveness. Repentance precedes forgiveness. If you don’t think you need to repent, check your life again. The Ten Commandments can help you evaluate how you’re doing by God’s standards.

“Who takes away the sin of the world!”  The Greek word for “takes away” can also mean “take up.” Jesus took away our sin by taking it upon himself. This is the image depicted in Isaiah 53:4–9 and 1 Peter 2:24.

1:30 “This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”

30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’

This verse, which reiterates 1:15, is here put in its chronological context. Although John the Baptist was a well-known preacher who attracted large crowds, he was content that Jesus take the higher place. John demonstrated true humility, the basis for greatness in preaching, teaching, or any other work we do for Christ. Accepting what God wants us to do and giving Jesus Christ the honor for it allows God to work freely through us.

1:31 “I myself did not know him.”  31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

Since John and Jesus were cousins, John must have known Jesus before this time. But this statement means that John had not realized that Jesus was God’s Son, the Messiah, until God provided the sign of the Spirit descending upon Jesus.

“The reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”  Though John had not yet clearly seen the Messiah, he knew that the Messiah was coming and that his mission was to prepare the nation of Israel for the Messiah’s arrival. But, as John would soon explain, he had been instructed to baptize, and as he was baptizing he saw a sign that indicated the arrival of the one he had come to announce.

1:32 “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.”  And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.

Evidently, the action of the Spirit descending from heaven in the form of a dove was a sign for John. Only John and Jesus saw this (see Matthew 3:16). The other Gospel writers tell us that a voice accompanied this divine sign: A voice came out of heaven saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17 ). John the Baptist did not add this detail; rather, he himself declared—“this is the Son of God” (1:34 ).

1:33 “I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me”  I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

The phrase, I would not have known him repeats the statement in verse 31. The one who sent me is God, who had sent John to baptize and to prepare the way for the Messiah. This same God would reveal the Messiah to John by sending his Spirit upon the Messiah.

“The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.”  In well-known prophetic passages, the Messiah was depicted as having the Spirit resting upon him (see Isaiah 11:1–2; 61:1ff.). The statement that he will baptize with the Holy Spirit foretells Jesus’ divine mission. It does not just point to the Day of Pentecost on which Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to baptize the disciples (see Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; 2:4); it characterizes Jesus’ entire ministry. Jesus came to give eternal life to those who believe in him. But no one could actually receive that life apart from receiving the life-giving Holy Spirit.

John the Baptist’s baptism with water was preparatory because it was for repentance and symbolized the washing away of sins. Jesus, by contrast, would baptize with the Holy Spirit, imparting not only forgiveness but also eternal life. He would send the Holy Spirit upon all believers, empowering them to live and to teach the message of salvation. This outpouring of the Spirit came after Jesus had risen from the dead and ascended into heaven (see 20:22; Acts 2).

All true believers have been baptized by Jesus in the Holy Spirit (see Romans 8:9). As such, we have been immersed in Jesus’ Spirit. Now we can experience the life-giving Spirit and enjoy his presence day by day.

1:34 “I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”  34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

John was declaring Jesus’ special position with God. God had told John that he would reveal his sent one to John—the Spirit would descend upon the Messiah and remain upon him. John saw this and declared his belief in Jesus as God’s identified Son. Those who receive the Spirit can also declare that Jesus is the Son of God, for the Spirit enables us to believe and confess (see 1 Corinthians 12:3).

Today people are looking for someone to give them security in an insecure world. We must point them to Christ and show them how Christ satisfies their need. They must hear it first from us. We cannot pass on to others what we do not possess.

If we know Jesus, we will want to introduce others to him.

The Lamb of God

• Acts 8:32: “The place in the Scripture which he read was this: ‘He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth.’ ”
• 1 Peter 1:18, 19: “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
• Revelation 5:6: “And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”
• Revelation 5:12, 13: “saying with a loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!’ ”
• Revelation 12:11: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”^[1]

^[1] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005), Jn 1:32.

The wonderful children’s book Sarah, Plain and Tall tells the story of a woman from Maine who decided to leave the coast and move to the prairies a sort of mail-order bride.

Before going to become the wife of a widowed prairie farmer, she exchanged letters with him and with his young son and daughter. She told them about her cat and the ocean, and the children wrote to ask if she could braid hair and sing.

As the time approached for Sarah to make her trip west to become part of a family she had never met, she wrote,

“Dear Jacob, I will come by train. I will wear a yellow bonnet. I am plain and tall.  Sarah”

Can you imagine their anxiety as they were going to meet the train the day Sarah arrived? What must have been going through their minds? The four people involved in that drama had little idea what to expect.

Our text, John 1:19-51, begins with a sense of uncertainty and confusion. Something great and wonderful was happening to the people who were involved in these events, but they were uncertain how to respond to them. Jesus entered a world that was anxiously awaiting something; the only problem was that the people did not know exactly what that something was.

This section of John begins to show us through the perspectives of struggling eyewitnesses who this Jesus of Nazareth really was.

John the Baptist is one of the most important persons in the New Testament; he’s mentioned at least 89 times. John the Baptist is one of six persons named in John  who gave witness that Jesus is God: He had the special privilege of introducing Jesus to the nation of Israel. He also had the difficult task of preparing the nation to receive their Messiah.

John the Baptist’s parents were Zacharias and Elizabeth, both older people, neither of whom expected to have a baby (Luke 1:7).  John was actually born six months before Jesus (Luke 1:36). Luke informs us that from his boyhood until the day of his public ministry John lived in the deserts (1:80).

During this time, he was clothed in camel’s hair, wore a leather belt, and ate a steady diet of locusts and wild honey (Mark 1:6). He gave a fire-and-brimstone call to repentance in order to prepare the way for the Lord (Matthew 3).

John had the special privilege of introducing Jesus to the nation of Israel. He also had the difficult task of preparing the nation to receive their Messiah. He called them to repent of their sins and to prove that repentance by being baptized and then living changed lives.

John the Baptist has an interesting biography. He was the prophesied forerunner of Jesus (Isaiah 40:3-4; Malachi 3:1; 4:5). It was his job to clear the way for Jesus by preparing people’s hearts through preaching.

He entered the world through the priestly line. His father, Zechariah, was from the course of Abijah (1 Chr 24:10) and his mother descended from Aaron (Lk 1:5). Their barren state and miraculous pregnancy is described in Luke 1 and Matthew 1.

Jesus and John were related in some way (probably cousins), and John was his elder by about six months (Lk 1:36). He was circumcised on the eighth day and set apart as a Nazirite (Lk 1:15). All else we know about John’s early life is found in Luke 1:80.

John began his prophetic ministry in a.d. 25—the 15th year of Tiberias Caesar (Lk 3:1). He attracted large crowds (Mt 3:5) as he preached and baptized in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan (Jn 1:28).

His preaching is summarized in the phrase, “The kingdom of God is coming” and his ministry by immersion of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mk 1:4). So forceful was his preaching that many took him to be the reincarnation of Elijah, Jeremiah or another prophet (Mt 16:14).

Jesus says that he was the greatest person ever born of a woman (Mt 11:11). An interesting fact, however, is that John never performed a miracle (Jn 10:41). His greatest act, perhaps, was his baptism of Jesus. With that act his ministry wound its way to a conclusion.

Although he continued to baptize (Jn 3:23; 4:1), he recognized that he had accomplished that which was set before him to do (Jn 3:30).

Herod’s antics and the vindictiveness of his evil wife, Herodias, caused the death of the last OT prophet. John was beheaded at the castle of Machaerus on the Dead Sea.

Although he died through treachery, he successfully completed his God-given task. He prepared for and pointed out Jesus, the true light.

John the Baptist was a very prominent and respected individual. Many came to him to hear him preach, even though his message was a call to repentance. They were content to follow John, and even open to the possibility that he was the Messiah:

People from all over Judea and Jerusalem were going out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan river, as they confessed their sins (Mark 1:5).

 

While the people were filled with anticipation, and they all pondered in their hearts whether perhaps John could be the Christ (Luke 3:15).

33 “You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. 34 (I do not accept human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved.) 35 He was a lamp that was burning and shining, and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time in his light” (John 5:33-35).

The amazing thing about John the Baptist is that he never performed a miracle or a sign; he only preached and baptized:

40 Jesus went away across the Jordan River again to the place where John had been baptizing at an earlier time, and he stayed there. 41 Many came to him and began saying, “John performed no miraculous sign, but everything John said about this man was true!” 42 And many believed in Jesus there (John 10:40-42, emphasis mine).

The man “was a man” and only a man. A strong contrast is being made between what had been said about Christ and what is now being said about John.

• Christ “was in the beginning”; He was “with God” and He “was God” (John 1:1-2).
• John “was a man” who had come into existence at birth, just as all men have the beginning of their existence at birth. John was the son of a man, whereas Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16). John was not a divine being, not even an angel. He was a mere man.

The man, however, was “sent from God”; and he was sent on a very special mission.

Two facts show this. The word “sent”. The phrase “from God” (para Theou) means “from beside God. “

John was not only sent by God, He was sent from the very side and heart of God. He was only a man, but a man of high calling and mission, of enormous responsibility and accountability. He was a man sent by God, not by man.

He was a light, not the light!

There was a group of men who wished to give John the Baptist too high a place.  John the Baptist himself gave no encouragement to that but rather did everything to discourage it.

But the Fourth Gospel knew that that tendency was there and took steps to guard against it.

It can still happen that men may worship a preacher rather than Christ.  It can still happen that men’s eyes may be fixed upon the herald rather than upon the King of whom he is the messenger.

John the Baptist was not in the least to blame for what had happened; but John the evangelist was determined to see that none should shoulder Christ from out the topmost niche.

John summarized what John the Baptist had to say about Jesus Christ (John 1:15–18).

John 1:15–28 (ESV) — (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

First, He is eternal (John 1:15). John the Baptist was actually born six months before Jesus (Luke 1:36); so in this statement he is referring to our Lord’s preexistence, not His birth date. Jesus existed before John the Baptist was ever conceived.

Jesus Christ has fullness of grace and truth (John 1:16–17). Grace is God’s favor and kindness bestowed on those who do not deserve it and cannot earn it. If God dealt with us only according to truth, none of us would survive; but He deals with us on the basis of grace and truth. Jesus Christ, in His life, death, and resurrection, met all the demands of the Law; now God is free to share fullness of grace with those who trust Christ. Grace without truth would be deceitful, and truth without grace would be condemning.

In John 1:17, John did not suggest that there was no grace under the Law of Moses, because there was. Each sacrifice was an expression of the grace of God. The Law also revealed God’s truth. But in Jesus Christ, grace and truth reach their fullness; and this fullness is available to us. We are saved by grace (Eph. 2:8–9), but we also live by grace (1 Cor. 15:10) and depend on God’s grace in all that we do. We can receive one grace after another, for “He giveth more grace” (James 4:6). In John 1:17, John hinted that a whole new order had come in, replacing the Mosaic system.

Finally, Jesus Christ reveals God to us (John 1:18). As to His essence, God is invisible (1 Tim. 1:17; Heb. 11:27). Man can see God revealed in nature (Ps. 19:1–6; Rom. 1:20) and in His mighty works in history; but he cannot see God Himself. Jesus Christ reveals God to us, for He is “the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15) and “the express image of His person” (Heb. 1:3). The word translated “declared” gives us our English word exegesis, which means “to explain, to unfold, to lead the way.” Jesus Christ explains God to us and interprets Him for us. We simply cannot understand God apart from knowing His Son, Jesus Christ.

The word Son is used for the first time in John’s Gospel as a title for Jesus Christ (John 1:18). The phrase “only-begotten” means “unique, the only one of its kind.” It does not suggest that there was a time when the Son was not, and then the Father brought Him into being. Jesus Christ is eternal God; He has always existed.

At least nine times in John’s Gospel, Jesus is called “the Son of God” (John 1:34, 49; 3:18; 5:25; 10:36; 11:4, 27; 19:7; 20:31). You will recall that John had as his purpose in writing to convince us that Jesus is the Son of God (John 20:31). At least nineteen times, Jesus is referred to as “the Son.” He is not only the Son of God, but He is God the Son. Even the demons admitted this (Mark 3:11; Luke 4:41).

John gave the record of four days in the life of John the Baptist, Jesus, and the first disciples. He continues this sequence in John 2 and presents, as it were, a “week” in the “new creation” that parallels the Creation week in Genesis 1.

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” 24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.)

On the first day (John 1:19–24), a committee from the Jewish religious leaders interrogated John the Baptist. These men had every right to investigate John and his ministry, since they were the custodians and guardians of the faith. They asked him several questions and he clearly answered them.

“Who are you?” was a logical question. Was he the promised Messiah? Was he the Prophet Elijah who was supposed to come before the Messiah appeared? (Mal. 4:5) Great crowds had gathered to hear John, and many people had been baptized. Though John did no miracles (John 10:41), it was possible the people thought that he was the promised Messiah.

John denied being either Elijah or the Messiah. (In one sense, he was the promised Elijah. See Matt. 17:10–13.) John had nothing to say about himself because he was sent to talk about Jesus! Jesus is the Word; John was but “a voice”—and you cannot see a voice! John pointed back to Isaiah’s prophecy (Isa. 40:1–3) and affirmed that he was the fulfillment.

Having ascertained who John was, the committee then asked what he was doing. “Why are you baptizing?” John got his authority to baptize, not from men, but from heaven, because he was commissioned by God (Matt. 21:23–32). The Jewish religious leaders in that day baptized Gentiles who wanted to adopt the Jewish faith; but John baptized Jews!

John explained that his baptism was in water, but that the Messiah would come and baptize with a spiritual baptism. Again, John made it clear that he was not establishing a new religion or seeking to exalt himself. He was pointing people to the Savior, the Son of God (John 1:34). We shall learn later that it was through baptism that Jesus Christ would be presented to the people of Israel.

The phrase full of grace and truth modifies “the Word.” It also softens the glare of glory. The Greek word for “grace” (charis) parallels a Hebrew word meaning “lovingkindness”; the word in Greek also means “that which is a free gift.” The Greek word for “truth” (aletheia) means “reality” and “genuine”; John’s Gospel connects it with the idea of divine revelation (8:32; 17:17; 18:37). Those enlightened realize Christ as the divine reality. In union with Christ, we experience his grace and truth. By his power we can show his life to others.

GLORY

Although we have not yet been granted the privilege of seeing Jesus as the disciples did, someday we will. “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12 ). In the meantime, we have the testimony of those who were with Jesus. Jesus prayed for those of us who would believe in him through their witness (17:20). In his prayer, Jesus anticipated the time when we would see his glory (17:24).

For now, even the “poor reflection” of his glory is enough to change us. As we allow his words to become part of us, as we obey his commands and seek to honor him, we will discover in ourselves a growing eagerness to stand before him and to experience his glory fully (Philippians 3:12–14) and share in it too (2 Corinthians 4:17).

1:15 (John testified to him … “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”)  This verse interrupts the flow of the narrative—for verse 16 naturally follows the end of verse 14 (“full of grace and truth … and of His fullness have we all received, and grace for grace,” ). John probably decided to insert John the Baptist’s testimony at this point to underscore a major theme in the prologue: Christ’s eternal existence.

John the Baptist declared that Christ ranks ahead of me because he was before me. Although Jesus was humanly born after John the Baptist, Jesus existed from eternity past. For this reason, Jesus outranked John the Baptist.

1:16 Of His fullness.  The Greek word for fullness is pleroma; it indicates superabundance and completeness. John used a root form in verse 14, “full (pleres) of grace and truth” (). John stretched the language to its very limit in attempting to capture the facts about Jesus and, at the same time, the lasting impact Jesus had on those who followed him. When John spoke of Jesus’ “fullness,” he was affirming that he had never found Jesus lacking in any way. John’s description conveys a subtle invitation for us to trust Jesus’ ability to meet our needs.

It is a greater work of God to bring men to grace, than being in the state of grace, to bring them to glory; because sin is far more distant from grace than grace is from glory. John Trapp

FULLNESS

The Gnostics used the word fullness to describe the totality of all deities. Gnosticism was the widest known of the so-called mystery cults. Although exclusive in membership, the Gnostics were inclusive in theology. Instead of receiving the truth that “the Word became flesh,” they invented a religion of “the word became secret.” They made “fullness” a protected mystery; but Jesus made “fullness” a living reality!

Both John and Paul used pleroma to describe Christ—proclaiming that Christ embodies the fullness of God (see Ephesians 1:23; 3:19; Colossians 1:19; 2:9). Because all of God’s fullness dwells in Christ, we can find every spiritual reality we need in him. He embodies all of God’s power, wisdom, mercy, and love. He fills everything in every way (Ephesians 1:23). The infinite God allows us to draw on all of his attributes and resources.

We have all received.  At this point, John includes all the believers, not just himself and the apostles (for whom he was spokesman—1:14). All believers receive Christ’s fullness, but no single believer can receive all of Christ; it takes the whole body of Christ to appropriate his fullness and to express it (see Ephesians 1:23).

Nothing can deplete Christ—no matter how much the believers receive of him, he keeps on giving. His strength is not diminished by helping us. Believers do not need to seek any other source of spiritual power but Christ. Paul said: “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete [or made full] in Him” (Colossians 2:9–10 ). Christ himself fulfills our Christian life; we do not need to seek anything beyond him.

Grace upon grace.  The Greek text literally says “grace in place of grace,” which could mean “grace replenishing grace” (a continual supply of Christ’s loving-kindness) or New Testament grace replacing Old Testament grace—in the sense that Christ’s dispensation of grace supersedes Moses’ or anticipated grace is replaced with fulfilled grace (see next verse). Either way, we need to realize that the grace given by Christ can never be exhausted because he is full of grace. When we are exhausted and “on empty,” Christ is always present to fill us with his grace.

1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  This statement presents a contrast and begs the question: Can the law given through Moses and the grace and truth from Jesus Christ be complimentary? John introduced one of the central questions Jesus would answer: Because law and grace seem to contradict, what action should people take?

Both law and grace express God’s nature. Moses emphasized God’s law and justice, while Jesus Christ came to highlight God’s mercy, love, and forgiveness. Moses could only be the giver of the law, while Christ came to fulfill perfectly the law (Matthew 5:17). The law revealed the nature and will of God; now Jesus Christ reveals the nature and will of God. Rather than coming through cold stone tablets, God’s revelation (“truth”) now comes through a person’s life. As we get to know Christ better, our understanding of God will increase.

1:18 No one has ever seen God.  This statement seems to contradict passages like Exodus 24:9–11, which says that the elders of Israel “saw God.” What then does John mean? Very likely, he is affirming the fact that no human being has seen the essential being of God—i.e., no one has seen God as God. Some men experienced “theophanies” (special appearances of God in various forms), but no one saw the essential being of God. As Calvin put it, “When he says that none has seen God, it is not to be understood of the outward seeing of the physical eye. He means generally that since God dwells in inaccessible light, he cannot be known except in Christ, his lively image.” Only the Son, who is himself God, can communicate his glory to us.

God the One and Only.  This is more precisely rendered, “an only one, God.” All the earliest manuscripts support this reading; other manuscripts read, “the only begotten Son.” The first reading is preferred. Whatever the translation, all the earliest manuscripts indicate that Jesus is called God, as well as the One and Only. Thus, Jesus’ deity is again affirmed (see 1:1).

Who is in the bosom of the Father.  This picturesque language portrays the Son as a child in close dependence on his Father—enjoying a close and warm relationship with him. It also reflects the image of two close companions enjoying a meal together. According to an ancient custom, the one who reclined next to the master at a meal was the one dearest to him.

Has made him known.  The Greek reads, “He has explained [him].” This tells us that the Son is God’s explainer; he came to earth and lived among men to explain God to us—with his words and by his person. No one can know God apart from Christ, God’s explainer. Again, this mirrors verse 1, where the Son is called “the Word”—the expression of God, the communicator of God.

In the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, the invisible God is now visible to men. Moses longed to see God more fully and was granted a partial glimpse (Exodus 33:17—34:7). In Christ, we see God dwelling among men in human flesh. It is more than we could ever have hoped. It is more than we shall ever be able to grasp. It is a wonder that will inspire our worship throughout time and eternity.

The incarnation is perhaps the most wonderful truth of history. Its implications are deep and wide:

• It tells us that God desires to communicate himself to us and because of our diminutive nature, was only able to do that by speaking at our level and becoming one of us.
• It tells us that God truly understands our nature and sufferings (Heb 2:17-18).
• It tells us of the seriousness of our sins, because Christ came to die for them.
• It tells us of God’s love for man—he is involved in human history. In fact, he is a major player.
• It tells us that the bridge between divinity and humanity is crossable. We therefore have the hope of future fellowship in God’s presence.

 JOHN THE BAPTIST DECLARES HIS MISSION / John 1:19–28 / His stirring summary accomplished, John launched into telling the gospel. He had already introduced John the Baptist in the prologue. His overall description of the wilderness preacher leaves out the physical notes of the other Gospels (see Mark 1:1–11; Luke 1:5–25, 57–80; 3:1–20) but focuses instead on his unique role as herald of the Messiah. The messianic expectations of the time, combined with his initial success in attracting large crowds, made John the Baptist the subject of speculation: Could he be the Messiah?

In the encounter recorded in this Gospel, John the Baptist accomplished three objectives: (1) he firmly denied being the Christ; (2) he identified himself as the herald predicted by Isaiah, who would announce the Messiah; (3) he announced the presence of the Messiah, yet he did not publicly identify Jesus even though he baptized Jesus and heard God’s verbal stamp of approval on him. As the ministry of Jesus begins, we see the final days of the ministry of John the Baptist.

1:19–21 This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”  John the Baptist’s calling in life was described to his father even before John was conceived. An angel had told John’s father, Zechariah:

Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1:13–17 )

John’s mission was to give testimony to Jesus Christ (1:7). He was Christ’s first and most important witness. John disavowed any personal status; he constantly pointed men to Christ.

The Jews, as used here and in many other places in John, designated the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. The priests and Levites were respected religious leaders in Jerusalem. Priests served in the temple, assisted by the Levites. The leaders who came to see John were Pharisees (1:24), a group that both John the Baptist and Jesus often denounced. Many Pharisees outwardly obeyed God’s laws in order to look pious, while inwardly their hearts were filled with pride and greed.

These leaders came to see John the Baptist for several reasons: (1) As guardians of the faith, they needed to investigate any new preaching (Deuteronomy 13:1–5; 18:20–22). (2) They wanted to find out if John had the credentials of a prophet. (3) John’s growing following presented them with a possible threat if he chose to use his influence with people against the religious leaders. (4) They were also probably jealous and wanted to see why John was so popular.

“I am not the Messiah.”  Their question indicates that the Jews were looking for the Anointed One (Greek, ho Christos, “the Christ”). John wanted to make it perfectly clear that he was not the Christ; rather, he was one who prepared the way for the Christ.

“Are you Elijah?”  John’s role and actions reminded these religious leaders of what had been written of Elijah (see 2 Kings 2:11). The Old Testament predicted that Elijah would come to prepare the way for the Messiah (see Malachi 3:1; 4:5–6). John the Baptist, in the spirit of Elijah (Luke 1:17), had come to prepare the way for the Christ, but he did not claim to be Elijah.

“Are you the prophet?”  In the Pharisees’ minds, there were four options regarding John the Baptist’s identity: He was (1) the prophet foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15), (2) Elijah (Malachi 4:5), (3) the Messiah, or (4) a false prophet. John denied being the first three personages. His questioners wanted him to claim a special identity; he was perfectly content in his role. He simply called himself, in the words of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord’” (Isaiah 40:3 ).

The leaders kept pressing John to say who he was because people were expecting the Messiah to come (Luke 3:15). But John emphasized only why he had come—to prepare the way for the Messiah. The Pharisees missed the point. They wanted to know who John was, but John insisted on pointing them toward Jesus.

1:22 “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us.”  Those sent by the religious leaders of Jerusalem confronted a man sent by God; they had run out of stereotypes and were ready to listen. Although their attentiveness was hostile, John gave them an answer.

1:23 “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,”’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”  John quoted Isaiah 40, a portion that introduces the Messiah’s forerunner and herald. In Isaiah 40:3–11, this herald announced the coming of the divine Shepherd. In ancient times, a herald (or forerunner) would go before a dignitary to announce his coming and to clear the way before him. John was the Messiah’s herald and forerunner; he came on the scene to announce Jesus’ coming and to exhort people to prepare the way to receive him.

MAKE IT MATTER

Whenever you are tempted to feel indispensable, remember John the Baptist. The fact that God uses us to do his work is no excuse for pride. God does not need us or have to keep us around. So we should make the most of the time we have.

John remained a loud “voice in the wilderness” right up until his death. His sacrifice presents us with a question: Was a shortened life too high a price to pay for hearing God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant”?

1:24–25 Some Pharisees who had been sent questioned him.  This reading (found in the earliest manuscripts) indicates that some of the emissaries were Pharisees who began to question John further. Because John had publicly made some kind of claim about his role, he was subject to being grilled.

“Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?”  Since John did not claim to be the Christ, the prophet, or Elijah, the Pharisees wanted to know why John was baptizing. John had not invented baptism. Gentiles converting to Judaism were baptized as an initiation rite. But John was calling upon Jews to be baptized. Since this was new, they demanded an explanation from John.

1:26 “I baptize with water.”  After this, we expect a reference to Jesus’ baptism “in the Spirit” because this is stated in the Synoptic Gospels after the mention of water baptism. But the announcement of Jesus’ baptism in the Spirit does not come until 1:33.

It was John’s function to provide the means for God’s cleansing through water baptism; it would be Jesus’ function to provide the people with an infusion of the Spirit.

“Among you stands one whom you do not know.”  The Son of God had taken up his abode among his own people, the Jews; but they did not realize it. This recalls John’s tragic words in the prologue (1:11–12): Jesus’ own people did not recognize him or receive him.

1:27 “I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.”  In ancient times, a slave would perform many menial tasks for his master, but unstrapping a sandal was considered an extremely menial task and was usually done by oneself, not a slave. In saying that he was not even worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals, John vividly pictured his subordination to Christ.

John knew who he was in comparison to Jesus—even though Jesus called him the greatest man ever born (Luke 7:28). We, by comparison, are far less qualified. We should never have a high opinion of ourselves; like Paul, we are “less than the least” (Ephesians 3:8 ).

A man is humble when he stands in the truth with a knowledge and appreciation for himself as he really is. Anonymous

1:28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan.  Bethany is the reading in the earliest manuscripts. The reading was changed from “Bethany” to “Bethabara” in some manuscripts because scribes did not want readers thinking this was the Bethany near Jerusalem. The exact location of a “Bethany on the other side of the Jordan” has never been determined. All we know is that it was east of the Jordan River.^[1]

 

^[1] Bruce B. Barton, John, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1993), 13–20.

C. S. Lewis wrote these words in his classic book Mere Christianity: “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about [Christ]: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool; you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great moral teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to” (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1960, pp. 40–41).^[1]

It is foundational to the Christian faith and crucial to your personal faith that you understand and embrace the truth that Jesus Christ is fully God.

“A Savior not quite God is a bridge broken at the farther end.”

John Mitchell put it (An Everlasting Love [Multnomah Press], pp. 13, 14), “If Jesus is not God, then we are sinners without a Savior…. If Jesus were only a man, then He died for His own sins. And we are still in our sins. We have no hope.”

“In him was life, and that life was the light of men. {5} The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not under-stood it.”

In a great piece of music the composer often begins by stating the themes which he is going to elaborate in the course of the work.  That is what John does here.  Life and light are two of the great basic words on which the Fourth Gospel is built up.

They are two of the main themes which it is the aim of the gospel to develop and to expound.

1:4  In him was life. Light and darkness are recurring themes in John’s Gospel. God is light (1 John 1:5) while Satan is “the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53). People love either the light or the darkness, and this love controls their actions (John 3:16–19).

Life is used 36 times. What are the essentials for human life? There are at least four: light (if the sun went out, everything would die), air, water, and food.

Jesus is all of these! He is the Light of life and the Light of the world (John 8:12). He is the “Sun of righteousness” (Mal. 4:2).

By His Holy Spirit, He gives us the “breath of life” (John 3:8; 20:22), as well as the Water of life (John 4:10, 13–14; 7:37–39).

Finally, Jesus is the Living Bread of Life that came down from heaven (John 6:35ff). He not only has life and gives life, but He is life (John 14:6).

Those who believe on Christ are the “sons of light” (John 12:35–36).

You would think that blind sinners would welcome the light, but such is not always the case. The coming of the true light brought conflict as the powers of darkness opposed it.

A literal translation of John 1:5 reads, “And the light keeps on shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it or understood it.”

The Greek verb can mean “to overcome” or “to grasp, to understand.” Throughout the Gospel of John, you will see both attitudes revealed: people will not understand what the Lord is saying and doing and, as a result, they will oppose Him. John 7–12 records the growth of that opposition, which ultimately led to the crucifixion of Christ.

Whenever Jesus taught a spiritual truth, His listeners interpreted it in a material or physical way. The light was unable to penetrate the darkness in their minds.

This was true when He spoke about the temple of His body (John 2:19–21), the new birth (John 3:4), the living water (John 4:11), eating His flesh (John 6:51ff), spiritual freedom (John 8:30–36), death as sleep (John 11:11–13), and many other spiritual truths.

Satan strives to keep people in the darkness, because darkness means death and hell, while light means life and heaven.

This fact helps explain the ministry of John the Baptist (John 1:6–8…more on him at another time). John was sent as a witness to Jesus Christ, to tell people that the Light had come into the world.

The nation of Israel, in spite of all its spiritual advantages, was blind to their own Messiah! The word witness is a key word in this book; John uses the noun 14 times and the verb 33 times.

John the Baptist was one of many people who bore witness to Jesus, “This is the Son of God!” Alas, John the Baptist was martyred and the Jewish leaders did nothing to prevent it.

Why did the nation reject Jesus Christ? Because they “knew Him not.” They were spiritually ignorant.

Jesus is the “true Light”—the original of which every other light is a copy—but the Jews were content with the copies.

They had Moses and the Law, the temple and the sacrifices; but they did not comprehend that these “lights” pointed to the true Light who was the fulfillment, the completion, of the Old Testament religion.

As you study John’s Gospel, you will find Jesus teaching the people that He is the fulfillment of all that was typified in the Law:

• It was not enough to be born a Jew; they had to be born again, born from above (John 3).
• He deliberately performed two miracles on the Sabbath to teach them that He had a new rest to give them (John 5; 9).
• He was the satisfying manna (John 6) and the life-giving Water (John 7:37–39).
• He is the Shepherd of a new flock (John 10:16), and He is a new Vine (John 15).

But the people were so shackled by religious tradition that they could not understand spiritual truth. Jesus came to His own world that He had created, but His own people, Israel, could not understand Him and would not receive Him.

They saw His works and heard His words. They observed His perfect life. He gave them every opportunity to grasp the truth, believe, and be saved.

Jesus is the way, but they would not walk with Him (John 6:66–71). He is the truth, but they would not believe Him (John 12:37ff). He is the life, and they crucified Him!

The Light is still shining! Have you personally received the Light and become a child of God?^[2]

Creation needs to receive life from the Word—for he is the source of life. Christ gives physical life to all. But he also gives eternal life to all those who believe in him. The Greek term used for “life” is zoe; it is always used to describe the divine, eternal life in the Gospel of John.

Jesus used this specific term during the Last Supper when he told his disciples, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (14:6 ).

In this gospel the word life (zoe) occurs more than 35 times and the verb to live or to have life (zen) more than 15 times.

The John’s gospel begins and ends with life.  At the very beginning we read that in Jesus was life; and at the very end we read that John’s aim in writing the gospel was that men might “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).  The word is continually on the lips of Jesus.

• It is his wistful regret that men will not come to him that they might have life (5:40).
• It is his claim that he came that men might have life and that they might have it abundantly (10:10).
• He claims that he gives men life and that they will never perish because no one will snatch them out of his hand (10:28).
• He claims that he is the way, the truth and the life (14:6).

What then does John mean by life?

Quite simply he means that life is the opposite of destruction, condemnation and death.  God sent his Son that the man who believes should not perish but have eternal life (3:16).  The man who hears and believes has eternal life and will not come into judgment (5:24).

The man who lives a Christless life exists, but he does not know what life is.  Jesus is the one person who can make life worth living, and in whose company death is only the prelude to fuller life.

He gives life to as many as God has given him (17:2).  At the back of it all there is God.  It is as if God was saying:  “I created men that they should have real life; through their sin they have ceased to live and only exist; I have sent them my Son to enable them to know what real life is.”

We must ask what this life is.  Again and again the Fourth Gospel uses the phrase eternal life.  Clearly whatever else eternal life is, it is not simply life which lasts for ever.  A life which lasted for ever could be a terrible curse; often the thing for which men long is release from life.

In eternal life there must be more than duration of life; there must be a certain quality of life.

Life is not desirable unless it is a certain kind of life.  Here we have the clue.  In the true sense of the word only God is eternal; therefore eternal life is that life which God lives.

What Jesus offers us from God is God’s own life.  Eternal life is life which knows something of the serenity and power of the life of God himself.  When Jesus came offering men eternal life, He was inviting them to enter into the very life of God.

The second of the great Johannine key-words which we meet here is the word light.  This word occurs in the Fourth Gospel no fewer than 21 times.

1:5  The light shines in the darkness.  John used the past tense in the previous sentence, saying that Jesus was the light of all people by virtue of being their Creator; but John shifted to the present tense: the light shines in the darkness.

The timeless light has invaded our time, and we can see it in our darkness. Christ’s life and message are still effective.

John could see it around him in his day as he witnessed the strength of the Christian church—planted, thriving, growing. And it is still present tense today—for Christ’s light still shines in our dark world.

As the light shines, it drives away the darkness for the unsaved world is blinded by the prince of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 5:8).^[3]

We need to realize that God never leaves Himself without a witness to the world. Jesus is the light to every man. John 1:9: “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.” 

Jesus’ coming dissipated shadows of doubt about what God was like. We see what God is like in Christ! His coming also showed man that death was only the way to a larger life.

Light means understanding and moral insight, spiritual vision. But more than just shining or reflecting, the light of Jesus penetrates and enlightens hearts and minds. Everyone who comes into contact with Christ can be enlightened.

Christ is the one universal light. There is no other. As Creator, Jesus not only provides light but he also makes people light sensitive. The blindness Jesus later attributes to the Pharisees (9:35–41) includes an intentional turning away from the light, pretending to “see” something else.

Let us see if we can understand something of this idea of the light which Jesus brings into the world.  Three things stand out.

• The light Jesus brings is the light which puts chaos to flight. In the creation story God moved upon the dark, formless chaos which was before the world began and said:  “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3).

The new-created light of God routed the empty chaos into which it came.  He is the one person who can save life from becoming a chaos.  Left to ourselves we are at the mercy of our passions and our fears.

• The light which Jesus brings is a revealing light. It is the condemnation of men that they loved the darkness rather than the light; and they did so because their deeds were evil; and they hated the light lest their deeds should be exposed (3:19, 20).

The light which Jesus brings is something which shows things as they are.  It strips away the disguises and the concealments; it shows things in all their nakedness; it shows them in their true character and their true values.

We never see ourselves until we see ourselves through the eyes of Jesus.  We never see what our lives are like until we see them in the light of Jesus.  Jesus often drives us to God by revealing us to ourselves.

• The light which Jesus brings is a guiding light. If a man does not possess that light he walks in darkness and does not know where he is going (12:36).

When a man receives that light and believes in it, he walks no more in darkness (12:46).

One of the features of the gospel stories which no one can miss is the number of people who came running to Jesus asking:  “What am I to do?”

When Jesus comes into life the time of guessing and of groping is ended, the time of doubt and uncertainty and vacillation is gone.

The path that was dark becomes light; the decision that was wrapped in a night of uncertainty is illumined.  Without Jesus we are like men groping on an unknown road in a black-out.  With him the way is clear.

What is seen by the light of Jesus? When Christ’s light shines, we see our sin and his glory.

^[1] John MacArthur, John: Jesus—The Word, the Messiah, the Son of God, MacArthur Bible Studies (Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, 2000), 9.

^[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 285–286.

^[3] Bruce B. Barton, John, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1993), 5–6.

But will God indeed dwell on the earth?” asked Solomon as he dedicated the temple (1 Kings 8:27). A good question, indeed! God’s glory had dwelt in the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34), and in the temple (1 Kings 8:10–11); but that glory had departed from disobedient Israel (Ezek. 9:3; 10:4, 18; 11:22–23).

Then a marvelous thing happened: the glory of God came to His people again, in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ.

That is one major theme that runs throughout John’s Gospel: Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and if you commit yourself to Him, He will give you eternal life (John 20:31). In this first chapter, John recorded seven names and titles of Jesus that identify Him as eternal God.

Much as our words reveal to others our hearts and minds, so Jesus Christ is God’s “Word” to reveal His heart and mind to us. “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9).

A word is composed of letters, and Jesus Christ is “Alpha and Omega” (Rev. 1:8), the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.

According to Hebrews 1:1–3, Jesus Christ is God’s last Word to mankind, for He is the climax of divine revelation.

John called the Son of God, who was with God his Father in the beginning, the Word.

John may have had these ideas in mind, but his description shows clearly that he spoke of Jesus as a human being he knew and loved (see especially 1:14), who was at the same time the Creator of the uerse, the ultimate revelation of God, and also the living picture of God’s holiness, the one in whom “all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17 ).

Jesus as the logos reveals God’s mind to us.

To strict Jewish readers, “the Word was God” sounded like blasphemy. Strongly monotheistic {there is only one God}, they found it difficult to even speak about God without running the danger of offending the One and Only.

Certainly God “spoke” words, but to say “the Word was God” equated the two realities; the Hebrew mind resisted any such thinking about God.

One of the most compelling reasons to believe the doctrine of the Trinity comes from the fact that it was revealed through a people most likely to reject it outright.

In a world populated by many gods, it took the tough-minded Hebrews to clarify the revelation of God’s oneness expressed through Three-in-oneness. We humbly bow before the one God, but we do not presume to easily comprehend his essential being.

To John, this new understanding of “the Word” was gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ. Although it had been right in front of philosophic minds for centuries, they had been blind to it.

Jesus revealed the truth in the light of his identity. He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), the express image of God’s substance (Hebrews 1:3), the revealer of God, and the reality of God.

The theme of the real identity of Jesus dominates the Gospel of John. We should be grateful that the Son of God has expressed the Father to us and made him real to us. Otherwise, we could not know God intimately and personally.

John did not identify this person immediately, but described his nature and purpose before revealing his name (see vv. 14, 17). As the Word, the Son of God fully conveys and communicates God.

What does John mean by “the Word”? Theologians and philosophers, both Jews and Greeks, used the term word in a variety of ways.

The Greek term is logos. In the Hebrew language of the Old Testament, “the Word” is described as an agent of creation (Psalm 33:6), the source of God’s message to his people through the prophets (Hosea 1:2), and God’s law, his standard of holiness (Psalm 119:11).

The Greeks used “the Word” in two ways. It could mean a person’s thoughts or reason, or it might refer to a person’s speech, the expression of thoughts. As a philosophical term, logos conveyed the rational principle that governed the uerse, even the creative energy that generated the uerse.

In both the Jewish and Greek conceptions, logos conveyed the idea of beginnings—the world began through the Word (see Genesis 1:3ff., where the expression “God said” occurs repeatedly).

John may have had these ideas in mind, but his description shows clearly that he spoke of Jesus as a human being he knew and loved (see especially 1:14), who was at the same time the Creator of the uerse, the ultimate revelation of God, and also the living picture of God’s holiness, the one in whom “all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17 ). Jesus as the logos reveals God’s mind to us.

The Word was with God. By using this expression, John was explaining that the Word (the Son) and God (the Father) already enjoyed an intimate, personal relationship in the beginning.

The last verse of the prologue (1:18) tells us that the Son was at the Father’s side; and in Jesus’ special prayer for his followers (chapter 17), he expressed that the Father loved him before the foundation of the world.

Not only was the Son with God, he was himself God. According to the Greek, this phrase could be translated “the Word was divine.” John’s Gospel, more than most books in the New Testament, asserts Jesus’ divinity. Jesus is called “God” in 1:1; 1:18; and 20:28.

Jesus is the eternal word, the creative word, and the incarnate word.

The Son of God in Eternity

As we step into John’s gospel, we immediately slide through a time tunnel that transports us to eternity past. In eternity–before man, before creation, before time itself–there existed the everlasting, triune God.

The first predicate of the LOGOS is eternity. This passage is one of the summits of Scripture. In fact, it probably reaches the highest of human thought. What is the thought that reaches the height of human concepts? It is this: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is…

• the Word of God
• the Creator of Life
• the Very Being and Essence of Life.

If Jesus Christ is the Word of God, then men must hear and understand that Word or else be lost forever in ignorance of God Himself.

Christ was preexistent. This means He was there before creation. He had always existed.

“In” the beginning does not mean from the beginning. Jesus Christ was already there. He did not become; He was not created; He never had a beginning. He “was in the beginning with God” (cp. John 17:5; John 8:58).

1:2 Here at the beginning John says three things about the word; which is to say that he says three things about Jesus.

(1) The word was already there at the very beginning things. John’s thought is going back to the first verse of the Bible. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). What John is saying is this—the word is not one of the created things; the word was there before creation. the word is not part of the world which came into being in time; the word is part of eternity and was there with God before time and the world began. John was thinking of what is known as the pre-existence of Christ.

(2) John goes on to say that the word was with God. What does he mean by that? He means that always there has been the closest connection between the word and God. Let us put that in another and a simpler way—there has always been the most intimate connection between Jesus and God. That means no one can tell us what God is like, what God’s will is for us, what God’s love and heart and mind are like, as Jesus can.

(3) Finally John says that the word was God. This is a difficult saying for us to understand, and it is difficult because Greek, in which John wrote, had a different way of saying things from the way in which English speaks.

When Greek uses a noun it almost always uses the definite article with it. The Greek for God is theos and the definite article is ho. When Greek speaks about God it does not simply say theos; it says ho theos.

Now when Greek does not use the definite article with a noun that noun becomes much more like an adjective. John did not say that the word was ho theos; that would have been to say that the word was identical with God.

He said that the word was theos—without the definite article—which means that the word was, we might say, of the very same character and quality and essence and being as God.

When John said the word was God he was not saying that Jesus was identical with God; he was saying that Jesus was so perfectly the same as God in mind, in heart, in being that in him we perfectly see what God is like.

So right at the beginning of his gospel John lays it down that in Jesus, and in him alone, there is perfectly revealed to men all that God always was and always will be, and all that he feels towards and desires for men.

Jesus Christ is the eternal Word (vv. 1–2). He existed in the beginning, not because He had a beginning as a creature, but because He is eternal. He is God and He was with God. “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).

Jesus Christ is the creative Word (v. 3). There is certainly a parallel between John 1:1 and Genesis 1:1, the “new creation” and the “old creation.”

John 1:3 (ESV) — All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

1:3  All things came into being through him. The New Testament portrays the Son of God as the agent of creation, for all things were created through him (see 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2). Everything came into being through Christ and ultimately depends upon him.^[1]

God created the worlds through His word: “And God said, ‘Let there be …’ ” / “For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Ps. 33:9).

God created all things through Jesus Christ:

Colossians 1:16 (ESV) — For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

Jesus is not a created being. He is eternal God. The verb was made is perfect tense in the Greek, which means a “completed act.” Creation is finished. It is not a process still going on, even though God is certainly at work in His creation (John 5:17). Creation is not a process; it is a finished product.

Jesus Christ is the incarnate Word (v. 14). John 1:14 (ESV) — And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

He was not a phantom or a spirit when He ministered on earth, nor was His body a mere illusion.

John and the other disciples each had a personal experience that convinced them of the reality of the body of Jesus (1 John 1:1–2).

Even though John’s emphasis is the deity of Christ, he makes it clear that the Son of God came in the flesh and was subject to the sinless infirmities of human nature.

In his Gospel, John points out that Jesus was weary (John 4:6) and thirsty (John 4:7).

He groaned within (John 11:33) and openly wept (John 11:35).

On the cross, He thirsted (John 19:28), died (John 19:30), and bled (John 19:34).

After His resurrection, He proved to Thomas and the other disciples that He still had a real body (John 20:24–29), howbeit, a glorified body.

How was the “Word made flesh”? By the miracle of the Virgin Birth (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18–25; Luke 1:26–38).

He took on Himself sinless human nature and identified with us in every aspect of life from birth to death.

“The Word” was not an abstract concept of philosophy, but a real Person who could be seen, touched, and heard. Christianity is Christ, and Christ is God.

The revelation of God’s glory is an important theme in the Gospel. Jesus revealed God’s glory in His person, His works, and His words.

John recorded seven wonderful signs (miracles) that openly declared the glory of God (John 2:11).

The glory of the Old Covenant of Law was a fading glory, but the glory of the New Covenant in Christ is an increasing glory (see 2 Cor. 3).

The Law could reveal sin, but it could never remove sin. Jesus Christ came with fullness of grace and truth, and this fullness is available to all who will trust Him (John 1:16).

 

 

^[1] Bruce B. Barton, John, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1993), 4–5.

Above All by Michael W. Smith

[Verse 1] Above all powers, above all kings Above all nature and all created things. Above all wisdom and all the ways of man You were here before the world began.

[Verse 2] Above all kingdoms, above all thrones Above all wonders the world has ever known.  Above all wealth and treasures of the earth There’s no way to measure what You’re worth.

[Chorus] Crucified, laid behind a stone You lived to die, rejected and alone. Like a rose, trampled on the ground You took the fall and thought of me. Above all

Genesis 1:1a and John 1:1a: In the beginning

The words “In the beginning” echo Genesis 1:1, especially to Jewish Christians; however, these words in John 1:1 do not refer to the act of creating but to the one who existed and who was present when creation took place, that is, the Word.

One might expect to read “In the beginning … God,” but instead is surprised to read In the beginning was the Word,¹ and this title is more fitting here than the titles “the Christ,” “the Son of Man,” “the Son of God,” etc. John’s prologue seems specially composed to introduce and to summarize the person and work of Jesus who is the Christian’s gospel.^[1]

It is possible also that the words “In the beginning” are meant to recall the opening of the Gospel according to Mark.²

Each of the four evangelists opens his Gospel by pushing the activity of Jesus back to the beginning: Mark to the ministry of John with its baptism of Jesus, the descent of the Spirit, and God’s acknowledgment of Jesus’ sonship.

Mark 1:6–8 (ESV) — Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Mark 1:13 (ESV) — And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

Matthew and Luke open with the conception and virgin birth of Jesus. John begins in a stunning way –with God in eternity. Not many books so begin!^[2]

Strategic to John’s background and setting is the fact that according to tradition John was aware of the Synoptic Gospels. Apparently, he wrote his Gospel in order to make a unique contribution to the record of the Lord’s life (a spiritual Gospel) and, in part, to be supplementary as well as complementary to Matthew, Mark, and Luke.^[3]

Redemption Planned

What was happening before God spoke the universe into existence? That may seem like an impractical hypothetical question, like “How many angels can stand on the point of a pin?” but it isn’t.

After all, God doesn’t act arbitrarily; and the fact that He created something suggests that He must have had some magnificent purposes in mind.

God existed in sublime glory. God is eternal; He has neither beginning nor ending. Therefore, He is totally self-sufficient and needs nothing more than Himself in order to exist or to act.

“God has a voluntary relation to everything He has made,” wrote A.W. Tozer, “but He has no necessary relation to anything outside of Himself.”

God needs nothing, neither the material universe nor the human race, and yet He created both.

If you want something to boggle your mind, meditate on the concept of the eternal, that which has neither beginning nor ending.

As creatures of time, you and I can easily focus on the transient things around us; but it’s difficult if not impossible to conceive of that which is eternal.

Contemplating the nature and character of the Triune God who always was, always is, and always will be, and who never changes, is a task that overwhelms us. “In the beginning God.”

Moses wrote, “Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God” (Ps. 90:2, niv).

Frederick Faber expressed it like this: “Timeless, spaceless, single, lonely, Yet sublimely Three, Thou art grandly, always, only God in unity!

The God of the Bible is eternal and had no beginning. He is infinite and knows no limitations in either time or space. He is perfect and cannot “improve,” and is immutable and cannot change.

The God that Abraham worshiped is the eternal God (Gen. 21:33), and Moses told the Israelites, “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deut. 33:27, niv).

Habakkuk said that God was “from everlasting” (Hab. 1:12, and see 3:6), and Paul called Him “the everlasting [eternal] God” (Rom. 16:26; see 1 Tim. 1:17).

The divine Trinity was in loving communion. “In the beginning” would be a startling statement to a citizen of Ur of the Chaldees where Abraham came from, because the Chaldeans and all their neighbors worshiped a galaxy of greater and lesser gods and goddesses.

But the God of Genesis is the only true God and has no “rival gods” to contend with, such as you read about in the myths and fables from the ancient world. (See Ex. 15:1; 20:3; Deut. 6:4; 1 Kings 8:60; 2 Kings 19:15; Ps. 18:31.)

This one true God exists as three Persons: God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. (See Matt. 3:16-17; 28:18-20; John 3:34-35; 14:15-17; Acts 2:32-33, 38-39; 10:36-38; 1 Cor. 12:1-6; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 1:3-14; 4:1-6; 2 Thes. 2:13-14; Titus 3:4-6; 1 Peter 1:1-2.)

This doesn’t mean that one God manifests Himself in three different forms, or that there are three gods; it means that one God exists in three Persons who are equal in their attributes and yet individual and distinct in their offices and ministries.

As the Nicene Creed (A.D. 325) states it, “We believe in one God—And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, light of light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father—And in the Holy Ghost.”

The doctrine of the Trinity wasn’t clearly revealed in the Old Testament, because the emphasis in the Old Testament is that the God of Israel is one God, uncreated and unique, the only true God.

Worshiping the false gods of their neighbors was the great temptation and repeated sin of Israel, so Moses and the prophets hammered away on the unity and uniqueness of Israel’s God.

Even today, the faithful Jewish worshiper recites “The Shema” each day: “Hear [shema], O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deut. 6:4-5, nkjv).

The God revealed in Scripture has no peers and no rivals.

But the Old Testament does give glimpses and hints of the wonderful truth of the Trinity, a truth that would later be clearly revealed in the New Testament by Christ and the apostles.

The “let us” statements in Genesis (Gen. 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; see also Isa. 6:8) suggest that the Persons of the Godhead worked together in conference; and the many instances when “the angel of the Lord” appeared on the scene indicate the presence of the Son of God. (See Gen. 16:7-11; 21:17; 22:11, 15; 24:7; 40; 31:11; 32:24-30; Ex. 3:1-4 with Acts 7:30-34; 14:19; 23:11; 32:33-33:17; Josh. 5:13ff; Judges 2:1-5 and 6:11ff.)

Messiah (God the Son) speaks about Himself, the Spirit, and the Lord (Father) in Isaiah 48:16-17 and 61:1-3; and Psalm 2:7 states that Jehovah has a son. Jesus applied verse 7 to Himself when He challenged His enemies who did not accept Him as the Son of God (Matt. 22:41-46).

In Genesis 1:2 and 6:3, the Spirit of God is distinguished from the Lord (Father), and this same distinction is found in Numbers 27:18; Psalm 51:11; Isaiah 40:13; 48:16; and Haggai 2:4-5.

Though the word “trinity” is nowhere used in the Bible, the doctrine is certainly there, hidden in the Old Testament and revealed in the New Testament.

Does this profound and mysterious doctrine have any practical meaning for the believer today? Yes, because the three Persons of the Godhead are all involved in planning and executing the divine will for the universe, including the plan of salvation.

The divine Trinity planned redemption. The wonderful plan of redemption wasn’t a divine afterthought, for God’s people were chosen in Christ “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4; Rev. 17:8) and given by the Father to the Son both to belong to His kingdom (Matt. 25:34) and to share His glory (John 17:2, 6, 9, 11-12, 24).

The sacrificial death of the Son wasn’t an accident, it was an appointment:  Acts 2:23 (ESV) — 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

Acts 4:27–28 (ESV) — 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

He was “slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8).

In the counsels of eternity, the Godhead determined to create a world that would include humans made in the image of God.

The Father was involved in Creation (Gen. 1:1; 2 Kings 19:15; Acts 4:24), but so were the Son (John 1:1-3, 10; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2) and the Holy Spirit (Gen. 1:2; Ps. 104:30).

God didn’t create a world because He needed anything but that He might share His love with creatures who, unlike the angels, are made in the image of God and can respond willingly to His love.

The Godhead determined that the Son would come to earth and die for the sins of the world, and Jesus came to do the Father’s will (John 10:17-18; Heb. 10:7).

The words Jesus spoke were from the Father (John 14:24), and the works He did were commissioned by the Father (5:17-21, 36; Acts 2:22) and empowered by the Spirit (10:38).

The Son glorifies the Father:

John 14:13 (ESV) — 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

John 17:1 (ESV) — 1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,

John 17:4 (ESV) — 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

The Spirit glorifies the Son:

John 16:14 (ESV) — 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. The Persons of the Holy Trinity work together to accomplish the divine will.

According to Ephesians 1:3-14, the plan of salvation is Trinitarian: we are chosen by the Father (vv. 3-6), purchased by the Son (vv. 7-12), and sealed by the Spirit (vv. 13-14), and all of this is to the praise of God’s glory (vv. 6, 12, 14).

The Father has given authority to the Son to give eternal life to those He has given to the Son:

John 17:1–3 (ESV) — When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

All of this was planned before there was ever a world!

When you seek to fathom the depths of the divine eternal counsels, you will be overwhelmed. But don’t be discouraged, for over the centuries, good and godly scholars have disagreed in their speculations and conclusions.

Moses said it best: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29, nkjv).

Summarizing some of the points of continuity between the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation may be helpful:

• In the Gospel of John, John begins with Jesus at creation, as the Creator. He begins, as it were, in Genesis, at the beginning of recorded biblical history. In Revelation, John focuses on the close, the consummation of history.
• In Genesis, we have the fall; in the Gospels, we have a new Genesis, a new beginning, where a new faithful “son” comes in the image of God, and where sin is dealt with by His sacrificial death. In Revelation, this salvation is fully realized with a return to the Garden, but now it is a perfect Garden.
• In John, we have God coming down from heaven to earth, not to condemn, but to save men. In Revelation, we have God coming down from heaven, to take saints to heaven, and to judge the wicked.
• In John, we have John leaning on Jesus’ breast; in Revelation, we have John fallen at the feet of Jesus as a dead man.
• In John, we have God tabernacling among men, with His glory veiled. In Revelation, we have God seen in Christ, unveiled, in all His glory and splendor, so great that the sun is no longer needed, for the light of the glory of the Father and the Son.
• In the Book of Revelation, John writes of the difficult times ahead and the need for perseverance and endurance, followed by a description of the blessings which come to those who overcome. There is a “river of the water of life” (22:1), and a “tree of life” (22:2). There is no temple, nor is there any sun or moon, because the Father and the Son are the temple, and the “Lamb” is its “light” (21:23).

The very things John has highlighted in the first chapter of his Gospel are also highlighted in the closing chapters of his last work—Revelation.

¹ E. Haenchen, A Commentary on the Gospel of John. Hermeneia, German edition, 1980 (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984), p. 116.

^[1] Beauford H. Bryant and Mark S. Krause, John, The College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, MO: College Press Pub. Co., 1998), Jn 1:1.

² C.K. Barrett, The Gospel According to St. John (New York: Macmillan, 1955), p. 131.

^[2] Beauford H. Bryant and Mark S. Krause, John, The College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, MO: College Press Pub. Co., 1998), Jn 1:1.

^[3] John MacArthur, John: Jesus—The Word, the Messiah, the Son of God, MacArthur Bible Studies (Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, 2000), 2–3.