NET Bible Text
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. 1:2 The Word was with God in the beginning. 1:3 All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. 1:5 And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it. 1:6 A man came, sent from God, whose name was John. 1:7 He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that everyone might believe through him. 1:8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. 1:9 The true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was created by him, but the world did not recognize him. 1:11 He came to what was his own, but his own people did not receive him. 1:12 But to all who have received him - those who believe in his name - he has given the right to become God's children 1:13 - children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband's decision, but by God. 1:14 Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory - the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father. 1:15 John testified about him and shouted out, "This one was the one about whom I said, 'He who comes after me is greater than I am, because he existed before me.'" 1:16 For we have all received from his fullness one gracious gift after another. 1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ. 1:18 No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Simple Summary
John says Jesus is the eternal Word. He was with God, and he was God. All things were made through him. He came into the world as light and life. Some rejected him, but all who receive him by faith become God’s children.
What This Passage Means
John begins with the words, “In the beginning,” but he says the Word was already there. The Word did not begin to exist. He was with God, so he is personally distinct from the Father. He was God, so he fully shares God’s nature.
John says that all things were made through the Word. Nothing created came into being apart from him. So the Word is not part of creation. He is the one through whom creation came to be.
In him was life, and that life was the light of people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John likely means both that darkness does not understand the light and that it cannot defeat it.
John the Baptist was sent by God as a witness. He was not the light. He came to point people to the light so that they might believe.
The true light came into the world, but the world did not know him. Even his own people did not receive him. But to all who received him, who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. This new birth is not from human birth, human desire, or human decision. It is from God.
Then John says the Word became flesh and lived among us. This means the Word truly became human. John and the others saw his glory, the glory of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John says Jesus is greater than John the Baptist because he existed before John. He also says that from Christ’s fullness believers receive grace after grace. The law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. This does not mean the law was bad. It means God’s saving revelation comes to its full, clear form in Jesus.
The prologue ends by saying no one has ever seen God, but the only Son, who is closest to the Father, has made him known. Jesus is the one who truly reveals God.
Important Truths
- The Word already existed in the beginning and is fully God.
- All things were created through the Word; nothing created came apart from him.
- In the Word is life, and that life is the light of mankind.
- Darkness does not finally overcome the light.
- John the Baptist was a witness, not the light itself.
- Receiving Jesus means believing in his name.
- Those who receive Jesus are given the right to become God’s children.
- The Word became flesh and truly lived among us.
- Jesus uniquely makes the unseen Father known.
Warnings, Promises, or Commands
- Warning: the world can fail to recognize the true light, and his own people can reject him.
- Promise: all who receive Jesus and believe in his name are given the right to become God’s children.
- Command in the passage’s witness pattern: point away from self and toward Christ so that others may believe.
- Warning: do not rest on human descent, human desire, or human decision as the basis of being God’s child.
- Warning: do not treat the contrast with Moses as if the law were evil or as if God changed.
How This Fits in God's Plan
This passage opens the Gospel by showing that Jesus is not only the promised Messiah, but the eternal Word through whom God made the world. It also shows that God’s earlier revelation through Moses was real, yet it reaches its full expression in Jesus Christ, who makes the Father known.
Simple Application
Start with Jesus as John presents him: eternal, divine, creator, and truly human. Do not trust family background or religion to make you right with God. Receive Christ by faith, and follow John the Baptist’s example by pointing others to him.