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John Segment 1
All scripture is from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. Before beginning this study, I suggest you pray and ask God to guide you through this study. I also suggest that you do you own study of this material in order to ensure its accuracy.
The Gospels each have their own purpose. The Book of Matthew shows Jesus as the King of the Jews. Mark shows Him as the Servant of God. Luke shows Him as the Son of Man. The Book of John reveals Jesus Christ as the Son of God. This is the overriding purpose of John's Gospel. It begins in the first verse showing that Jesus is eternal and that He was with God and that He was (and is) indeed God. John gives Him the title, "The only begotten of the Father. This is the essence of the entire Gospel. Let us begin.
(John 1:1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
This most familiar passage from John is one of the most profound statements of the Bible. Who is the Word? Most of us know that Jesus is the Word. How do we know this?
Let us begin by looking in our Greek lexicons.
Strong's:
3056. logos, log'-os; from 3004; something said (including the thought); by implication a topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive; by extension a computation; specifically (with the article [the] in John) the Divine Expression (i.e. Christ):
Vine:
(II) "The Personal Word" a title of the Son of God; this identification is substantiated by the statements of doctrine in John 1:1-18 . . ." (Vine has two full columns on logos; this excerpt helps us to understand what Vine says about logos being Jesus).
Thayers:
3056 logos {log'-os}
3) In John, denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with God, his minister in creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the world's life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of man's salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, and shone forth conspicuously from His words and deeds.
In the Old Testament, the Word of Yehovah was referred to as the Memra. It is Strong's 565, which is Hebrew for "word". See the Study on the Memra. Whenever there was a manifestation of God to man, the Targums substitute memra for yhvh. When John wrote his Gospel, he was fully aware of the use of the word memra as an appearance of God to men. It was common usage during his day. So God as the Living Word was a concept readily accepted by the Jews of John's day. It was only after the rise of Christianity that the Jews stopped the practice of using the Memra to describe an appearance of God to man, for obvious reasons. That gave credibility to Christianity, which the Jews rejected.
The verse restated: (John 1:1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
We know whom John is speaking of by his further statements. In this verse we find that the Word was with God and that the Word was indeed God Himself. In verse 2, we find that the Word was with God in the beginning. The context supplies the ellipsis (the beginning of what?) and we find that it is the beginning of the ages. In Genesis 1:1 we see the phrase, "in the beginning" used. There it does not mean the beginning of the world, for the world was not yet created. It means the beginning of everything, that is, of the ages or eons. The Word was with God at the beginning of the ages or eons.
In verse 14 we see that the Word became flesh (or incarnate) and dwelt among us. Jesus did that. In Revelation 19:13 we see Jesus the Christ revealed as the Word of God. John also tells us that Jesus is the Word as in 1 John 5:7-8:
(1 John 5:7-8) For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. {8} And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
For those of you who have newer translations, the footnote on these verses suggests what the modern textual critics say. They say that the part of the passage (v.7) that states " For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost" was added later by a scribe and it is not in the "best" texts. Well, the "best" texts are considered best, not for the quality of their translation, but for the condition of the book. They are in such good condition because they were never used. They were never used because they were very poor editions. Having been handled very little because of such disuse, they are in great physical condition. One, the Sinaiticus, was found in the trash at an Egyptian monastery at Mount Sinai. It was taken from the trash and is now one of those "best" texts. It and the Alexandrian texts are the basis of the Westcott and Hort texts, the Nestle-Aland texts, Stuttgart, etc. They have many omissions, scratch outs, and corrections. They just are not the preserved Word of God. I believe that the best texts are those used to form the Textus Receptus.
The Textus Receptus (TR) is the Greek text used to translate the King James Version. The Greek manuscripts used for the TR are known as the Majority, or Eastern, or Byzantine texts. There are 5000 of these manuscripts extant today and they all are in 98% or better agreement with each other, while Siniaticus and Vaticanus seldom agree with each other. They have been used by the Church for close to two millennia. These are the true "best" texts.
The true Bible (any Bible translated from the Textus Receptus) teaches that the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost [Spirit] are one, and that is the truth. When the modern version editors footnote this verse, they are casting dispersions on the validity of the Trinity and of the King James Version. They don’t like this verse so they throw it out. Accepting the Siniaticus and Vaticanus as the "best" texts does not provide us with the best possible translation. In fact, they provide us with a corrupt Bible. I will go on record here and say that all modern translations that use the Siniaticus and Vaticanus as their major sources are not the Word of God. They are corruptions. This includes such versions as the NASB, NIV, TLB, The Word, and many, many more. In fact the great majority of all modern translations are corrupt because the have as their main source the Siniaticus and the Vaticanus. More on these in a later study.
(John 1:2) The same was in the beginning with God.
Jesus was with God at the beginning of the ages. See Proverbs 8, especially Proverbs 8:22-23: "The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. {23} I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was."
(John 1:3) All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
The subject is the Word. He made all things. He is God. If you have seen the Son, you have seen the Father. See Proverbs 8, Psalms 33:6: "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth."
(John 1:4) In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and the Light of the world. (John 8:12, 14:6) See Proverbs 8:35: "For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD."
(John 1:5) And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
The darkness is evil, the opposite of righteousness. Satan is part of the darkness. The flesh is part of the darkness. The world was in darkness; that is, it knew not its Savior. Jesus is the light shining in that darkness. He is the breath of fresh air in a polluted environment; He is Goodness and Righteousness in an evil world.
Here are some corresponding verses:
John 3:19: "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."
1 Corinthians 2:14: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
(John 1:6) There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
That is, John the Baptist, who was Elizabeth's son and Jesus' cousin.
(John 1:7) The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
His message was "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." That was the same message that Jesus preached. John was prophesied by Isaiah: (Isa 40:2-3) Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. {3} The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
(John 1:8) He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
Some seemed to have thought that John was the Christ (vv. 24-28), but this verse puts that to rest.
(John 1:9) That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
The subject is still the Word. The Word was the true Light and every person born has the opportunity to receive the Light.
(John 1:10) He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
Dichotomy is not quite correct. Perhaps irony is better. Understand this. The Creator of the world was here in the flesh--the Creator, mind you--and most in the world were blissfully unaware of the fact. Jesus could have called more than twelve legions of angels (up to 72,000) at any time, and they would have destroyed this Creation, but He did not. He died to save us from our sins. For example,
Philippians 2:6-7: "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: {7} But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:" Hebrews 1:3: "Who being the brightness of his glory [the Shekinah], and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;"
(John 1:11) He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
His own were those he created.
Isaiah 53:2-3: "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. {3} He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
"(John 1:12-13) But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: {13} Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Hosea 1:10: "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people [lo ammi], there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God." (or, my people [ammi] Hosea 2:1)
The word received indicates that they "have gotten hold of Him." It means to seize! This does not say they chose Him. To the contrary, He chose them. They (we) have taken Him or Seized Him, that is, His salvation.
Through Him we actually become sons of God, joint heirs with Jesus, brethren of Jesus, Who is the Firstborn among many brethren. We are new born of God. Like it says in 3:16, we are born from above.
Power. The ability and the right or privilege.
Become. The Greek, ginomai, is emphatic. We become the Sons of God for He causes us to be His sons. This is His work and not ours. We are hopeless except through Christ.
Sons of God. That is, partakers of the Divine Nature, thereby escaping the corruption of the world and of death. (2 Pet 1:4)
Believe. Not just believe that He is real, but to commit our very souls to Him. "For I know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have commited unto Him against that day!" (2 Tim 1:12)
The word "name" denotes a person's name and the person's character and/or authority.
(John 1:14) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Immanuel. God with us. God incarnate. He tabernacled or tented among us. He wore the tent or tabernacle of the flesh while He was here with us. The Greek for dwell is skenoo. It means to tent or encamp or tabernacle.
Who are "we"? Matthew 17:1-2: "And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, {2} And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light." John (the writer of this Gospel), his brother James, and Peter beheld Jesus in His glory at the Mount of Transfiguration. They were eyewitnesses to His glory.
(John 1:15) John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
John also said he was unworthy to untie Jesus shoelaces, and then John baptized Him.
Verses 15-19 are possibly out of order. This order seems to make more sense: 14, 16, 17, 18, 15, 19. This verse seems to fit better between 18 and 19. Of course, this verse could be parenthetical.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him,
(John 1:16) And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
Fullness (modern spelling) means completeness. We have received of His completeness. In Him we are made full.
"Grace for grace" is an idiomatic phrase meaning grace in place of grace or grace that is renewed forever. It is continuous and uninterrupted. It is always new grace, given in accordance with our lack or need. In Christ, we have just such grace.
(John 1:17) For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
John is not saying that the law given by Moses is done away with. He is telling us that where the law condemns us, grace redeems us. While there were grace and mercy and truth at the time of Moses, Jesus personifies all of these. He is grace and truth.
(John 1:18) No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
The words "only begotten" are from the word monogenes (Strong's 3439--from the Greek words monos and ginomai meaning single and to be). Mono and genes are both English words. Mono means single or only; genes are the building blocks of the human body and are related to birth or genesis. Together the words mean only born of the seed of the father or only begotten. The newer versions sometimes say "one and only Son of God"; when they do so, they are wrong. Jesus is not God's one and only Son. All who have believed on Jesus are sons of God. See verse 12. Though there are many sons of God, there is only one only begotten Son of God, and He is Jesus the Christ.
The bosom is a warm protected place. Here it means that the Son and the Father are One. Though no man in this generation has seen God, the Son has declared God to be. The Greek here is exegeomai (Strong's 1834) from which we get the word exegesis which means to expound upon a subject. By expounding upon God the Father, Jesus the Son has revealed Him.
We will stop here but will continue our study of the Gospel of John in the next segment.
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