The Prologue

This is the introduction to the book. John is going to give us a foreshadowing of all he is going to be talking about in this book. He will set up the first stage on our DNA that will spiral around and become further developed as we walk through the book.

This first part is a poem with three stanza, interruped by a comment about John the Baptist. We are going to have a lesson on John the Baptist, so we are goin to skip over those parts or the time being and come back to them later.

I. The First Stanza—Who the Word is

In the beginning was the Word,

And the Word was with God

and Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God

A.

A. The Word- So when we think of “the Word”- what are we usually referring to? Scripture. And that is one way that God reveals himself to us But we are going to learn of a more complete revelation of God in this book.

Jewish thought: The Word was God creatively working in the world…spoke a word and creation came into being. “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.” The word is God at work on the earth creating, communicating.

Greek thought: Logos was the all powerful wisdom of the universe. John uses the language of their thinking to describe that “what you are thinking has a name…and that all powerful something that you don’t know. Shaun spoke about this in his sermon a few weeks ago. The common ground believers and non believers have that start a discussion. He could draw them into the conversation by speaking their language.

Does the very first line remind you of someplace else in Scripture? Notice how the first line is exactly the same as in What happened in ? God created Light, created man and breathed into them life. Here we are going to find men and women being made a new creation, given light in darkness, given new life! This is just as God did in Genesis!

Does the very first line remind you of someplace else in Scripture? Notice how the first line is exactly the same as in What happened in ? God created Light, created man and breathed into them life. Here we are going to find men and women being made a new creation, given light in darkness, given new life! This is just as God did in Genesis! This is telling us what John is going to explain in the rest of the book!!

B. Characteristics of this Word

a. Always was.

b. Was with God, so separate

c. But he was God

This is teaching of the trinity…here we find two parts to a Godhead. We still don’t know his name, so keep on listening. This is good writing... we are going to find the Holy spirit added later and spoken about more in John that any other book!

II. The Second Stanza-What Jesus does

All things came into being through him,

and without him not one thing came into being.

What has come into being in him was life,

and the life was the light of all people.

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not overcome it.

A. The Word is the creator…uses a personal pronoun, he, but we will don’t know who he is…yet. But we are told some of what he does.

Creator

Life-giver

Light in the midst of darkness

A light that is more powerful than darkness

Here he develops the parallel of Genesis further.

Here he develops the parallel of Genesis further. John is going to talk about Nicodemus being born again…a new creation. He is going to use light as a metphor, and he tells us that Jesus brings life.

John is going to talk about Nicodemus being born again…a new creation. He is going to use light as a metphor, and he tells us that Jesus brings life.

(First clue who the word is. John had been a disciple of John the Baptist who then, rightly so, transferred over the Jesus. Remember how I said that it seems as if John was writing this Gospel to explain things, to make them more clear, to give people more information about who Jesus was, well one confusion from the start was that John the baptist was the Messiah. He wants to make that perfectly clear so they are not mislead.) It is natural that he would have interpreted for us this transition. He gives a lot of commentary on John the Baptist…and like we said, it spirals around and around in the DNA of this Gospel. John the Baptist pops up here as a testimony that what John is saying about the Word is true. this is the first one and John the Baptist pops up twice in this prologue.

[There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.]

III. The Third Stanza

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him;

yet the world did not know him.

He came to what was his own people,

and his own people did not accept him.

But to all who received him, who believed on his name,

he gave the power to become children of God.

[Who were {who was} born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God]

A. He is the True light and

A. We circle back around to learn more of this creator/creation relationship. The true light is coming into the world. He personally came into the world which he created, but the world didn’t know him, didn’t know their creator!

B. Then he gets even more personal and I love this part: He came to what was his own people, His family. One translation says, He came Home!! And they did not accept him.

C. But some did. And those that did become God’s children. Great reward!

D. And then there is a little aside, an explanation like he did after the last stanza with John the Baptist. He explains what this recieving the Word means. It is being born again—this is a foreshadow of the discussion Jesus is going to have with Nicodemus!

The Fourth Stanza

And the Word became flesh and dwelt

among us, full of grace and truth.

And we have seen his glory,

the glory as of a father’s only son.

[John testified to him and cried out, “This is he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ ”]

From his fullness

we have all received grace upon grace.

[The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is {God} the only Son, who is close to the Father’s bosom, who has made him known.]

A. This word takes on flesh and blood. Something we can touch, not an idea like the Greek philosophers thought, but actually, physically the creator, communicator came to live among us. John is going to spend the comming chapters telling us about that dwelling with us. What the word did, who he talked to, what he liked, some things he didn’t like, what was important to him. We are going to get to know the word. And he is at home with us.

B. We are back to glory. Jesus has it and we have seen it. When we see Glory what are we looking at? Those of you that have been travelling with me know that I feel it is approval, well done, delight on the part of God on Jesus’ obedience. We are going to see the Word living out full obedience to God, even to death. What does Paul want for God to say when his life here is over? “Well done, good and faithful servant.” That is glory! And that is what the word is doing here. God is going to be a voice from Heaven saying, “This is my beloved son in whom I am pleased!” This is his beloved son! Loved child of God.

C. Then another aside—The word is the one who is living among his own, recieving glory from the Father, not John the Baptist

D. “From his fullness” What is fullness? Generous, complete, all of it. We have all of God’s grace—blessing in this Word.

E. John closes with a disclaimer..INDEED, meaning I agree with you I am not saying Moses was wrong but this blessing and truth comes through Jesus. Noticee that he has not mentioned Jesus name until now. But the big takeaway is:

IF YOU WANT TO SEE GOD, LOOK AT JESUS, HE IS GOD’S REVELATION OF HIMSELF. THIS IS WHAT I AM GOING TO SHOW YOU!!!

IV.