John 1


John 1 is the first [Chapters and Chapters and verses of the Bible|verses of the Bible|chapter] in the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Holy Bible.

Text

The original text was written in Koine Greek. [Chapters and verses of the Bible|This Chapters and verses of the Bible|chapter is divided into] 51 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:

Old Testament references

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Analysis

The first chapter of the Gospel of John has 51 verses and may be divided in three parts:
English language versions, which typically divide biblical chapters into sections, often have more divisions: for example, there are 5 sections in the New International Version and the Good News Translation, and 7 sections in the New King James Version.

Hymn to the Word (verses 1–18)

The first part, often called the Hymn to the Word, is a prologue to the gospel as a whole, stating that the Logos is "God".
Comparisons can be made between these verses and the narrative of Genesis 1, where the same phrase "In the beginning" first occurs along with the emphasis on the difference between the darkness and the light.
Methodist founder John Wesley summarised the opening verses of John 1 as follows:
  • John 1:1–2 describes the state of things before the creation
  • John 1:3 describes the state of things in the creation
  • John 1:4 describes the state of things in the time of man's innocence
  • John 1:5 describes the state of things in the time of man's corruption.
According to the writers of the Pulpit Commentary, the phrase "the light of men" "has been differently conceived by expositors. John Calvin supposed that the "understanding" was intended—"that the life of men was not of an ordinary description, but was united to the light of understanding," and is that by which man is differentiated from animals. Hengstenberg regards it, in consequence of numerous associations of "light" with "salvation" in Holy Scripture, as equivalent to salvation; Christoph Ernst Luthardt with "holiness" and many with the "eternal life", which would introduce great tautology."
The final verse of the prologue recalls verse 1, that no other possibility of human to know God except through Jesus Christ.

Verses 3–4

Some translations, including the New American Bible (Revised Edition) and the New Revised Standard Version, connect the final words of verse 3, with verse 4:
The New American Bible explains that "the oldest manuscripts have no punctuation here, the corrector of Bodmer Papyrus P75, some manuscripts, and the Ante-Nicene Fathers take this phrase with what follows, as staircase parallelism. Connection with John 1:3 reflects fourth-century anti-Arianism."

Verse 5

English translations of this verse often translate the Greek κατελαβεν as 'understanding', but in other translations the meaning is given in terms of a struggle between darkness and light: "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it".

Verse 6

Verse 6 introduces "a man sent from God, whose name was John". Joseph Benson notes that the name "John" means 'grace': "a name fitly given to the Messiah's forerunner, who was sent to proclaim the immediate accomplishment of God's gracious intentions".

Verses 10–11

Verses 10 and 11 state that "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him". Theologians differ in their interpretation of these verses. Wesley viewed "in the world" as meaning "even from the creation", the Pulpit Commentary speaks of the "pre-Incarnation activity" of the Word and Joseph Benson wrote that "He was in the world from the beginning, frequently appearing, and making known to his servants, the patriarchs and prophets, the divine will, in dreams and visions, and various other ways", whereas in Albert Barnes' opinion, "He was in the world refers, probably, not to his pre-existence, but to the fact that he became incarnate; that he dwelt among human beings".

Verse 14

The word flesh is emphasized as a 'symbol of humanity', drawing the attention to "the entry of the Word into the full flow of human affairs".

Verse 17

The incarnate Word's name is first mentioned in this verse; thereafter "John never uses the noun λόγος, the word, in this signification, throughout this whole book".

Testimony of John the Baptist (verses 19–34)

The second part of John 1 records the preparation that John the Baptist was in the process of making for the coming of the Messiah, the Messiah's arrival and the Messiah's first disciples. John has been introduced in verse 6, "a man sent from God", and his witness, known already by the reader, has already been recalled: "This is the One I told you about". The Greek text has the past tense but both H. W. Watkins, in Charles Ellicott's Commentary, and Alfred Plummer, in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, prefer a present tense translation such as "John bears witness".
Verses 19 to 27 present John's manifesto, delivered in Bethany, beyond the Jordan, to the priests and Levites sent by the Pharisees to investigate his message and purpose. In response to their enquiries, John confesses that he is not the Messiah, nor the reappearance of the prophet Elijah, nor "the prophet", the one of whom Deuteronomy 18:15, 18 had spoken. In this passage the Messiah and the foretold "prophet" are not necessarily identified with each other; "on the contrary", notes Johann Bengel, "they looked on the prophet as a distinct person from the Christ". John then reveals that when the Messiah comes he would be unfit to even so much as untie his sandals, let alone baptize him like the many he had up to that point.
On "the next day" Jesus appears. John "sees him coming" and acknowledges him as the Lamb of God of whom he had been speaking.
The evangelist divides this series of events into four 'days': the day when the Jerusalem delegation met John to enquire into his identity and purpose is followed by John seeing Jesus coming towards him "the next day", and on "the next day again" he directs his own disciples towards following Jesus. A fourth 'day' follows on which Jesus "wanted" or "decided" to go to Galilee. Bengel calls these "Great Days!", because "the care of this Evangelist in marking times is remarkable".

Jesus' first disciples (verses 35–51)

As the chapter progresses further, the gospel describes how Jesus calls his first disciples, Andrew and an unnamed disciple. The unnamed disciple was possibly John, the evangelist. Andrew finds his brother Simon, and Jesus changes Simon's name to Cephas . Cephas, original Greek: Κηφᾶς, means "a rock" or "a stone". This provided a powerful analogy as to the role Peter would have after the crucifixion; to lead the development of the church. Name changes occur in other places in the Bible and demonstrate God's authority as well as what that person would become, do, or had done, such as Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Israel and Saul to Paul.
On the day when Jesus decided to go to Galilee, he invited Philip, from Bethsaida, to follow him.
Jesus' first active sign of insight comes in verse 47, in his recognition of Nathaniel: "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile", "an affirmation showing intimate knowledge", leaving Nathaniel thoroughly impressed by Jesus' foreknowledge of his personal character.

The titles of Jesus

Within these verses Jesus is given the following titles:

The disciple whom Jesus loved

The first appearance of the "disciple whom Jesus loved" in this Gospel is as one of the two disciples of John the Baptist who become the first followers of Jesus, but this is indicated in a subtle way. Bauckham notes the occurrence of at least two specific words in the narratives of both the first and the last appearance of this disciple: "to follow" and "to remain/stay". In verse it is stated that "Jesus turned, and seeing them following , said to them, "What do you seek?"", then in verse they "remained with Him that day". In the last chapter of the Gospel, the last appearance of the 'Disciple whom Jesus loved' is indicated using similar words: in verse it is written that "Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following ", then in verse "Jesus said to him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?" Bauckham sees the placement of the appearances of the disciple as "the inclusio of eyewitness testimony" to privilege his witness over Peter's, not to denigrate Peter's authority, but rather to claim a distinct qualification as an 'ideal witness' to Christ, because he survives Peter and bears his witness after Peter. The inclusio also reinforces the Beloved Disciple's unique status among the disciples: He has followed and remained with Jesus from beginning to end. The appearances are also close to Peter's, as the first one, along with Andrew, happened just before Peter's, who was then given the name 'Cephas', and the last one, just after Jesus' dialogue with Peter, acknowledging the significance of Peter's testimony within "the Petrine's inclusio", which is also found in the Gospel of Mark and Luke.

Chronology

Verses 1:19 to 2:1 contain a chronological record of an eyewitness:
  • Day 1: the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask John the Baptist.
  • Day 2 : John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!...".
  • Day 3 : John stood with two of his disciples, and looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!": The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. One of them is mentioned by name as "Andrew, Simon Peter's brother"; the other one not named is the eyewitness, who is John the Evangelist.
  • Day 4 : Andrew brought Simon Peter to Jesus.
  • Day 5 : Philip and Nathanael followed Jesus.
  • Day 6 : Travel to Galilee.
  • Day 7 : The wedding in Cana of Galilee.

Uses

Liturgical

In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church and in Western Rite Orthodoxy, the chapter's first fourteen verses are known as the "Last Gospel", as they are recited at the end of the Tridentine Mass of the Mass. This is distinct from the Proclamation of the Gospel that occurs much earlier in the service.
After reciting the dismissal formula Ite Missa est, the priest reads the Last Gospel in Latin from the altar card to their left. Instead of touching the text with his thumb and then making the small Sign of the Cross as at the Gospel reading, he instead touches the altar. At the beginning of verse 14, Et Verbum caro factum est, the priest and attending servers genuflect. Any congregants present, who remain standing for the reading, would kneel at this point, responding with Deo gratias at its conclusion.
This ritual began as a private devotion for the priest after Mass. It is not part of the 1969 Mass of Paul VI that was introduced after the Second Vatican Council.
The Prologue to St. John's Gospel, 1:1–18, is read on Christmas Day at the principal Mass during the day in the Roman Catholic Church, a tradition that dates back at least to the 1570 Roman Missal.
In the Church of England, following the Book of Common Prayer (1662), St. John 1:1–14 is appointed to be read on Christmas Day. This tradition has been maintained in the Episcopal Church (United States) in its Book of Common Prayer beginning in 1789. In the Book of Common Prayer (1928) and Book of Common Prayer (1979), St. John 1:1–14 is appointed as the Gospel lesson for the principal celebration on Christmas Day.
The Revised Common Lectionary provides three sets of Propers for Christmas, with John 1:1–14 assigned in Proper III, intended for use at the principal celebration on Christmas Day.
The first fourteen verses of this chapter form the ninth and final reading of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. On Christmas Eve in King's College Chapel, Cambridge, this is read by the Provost.

Music

The King James Version of verse 29 from this chapter is cited as texts in the English-language oratorio "Messiah" by George Frideric Handel.

Freemasonry

In the 17th and 18th centuries, new Masons took their obligations on the Bible, specifically opened to the Gospel of St. John.