Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: JOHN #1 - 1:1-18)
JOHN'S SUMMARY: THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, SON OF THE LIVING GOD
I. 1:1-2:11 JESUS COMMENCES HIS MIRACULOUS MINISTRY
A. 1:1-18 PURPOSE OF JESUS: TO REVEAL GOD TO MAN
1. 1:1 In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with :God, and the Word was God.
En arCHE [746]en ho LOgos [3056], kai ho LOgos en pros ton TheON, kai TheOS en ho LOgos.
2. 1:2-13 PURPOSE OF WORD: LIGHT AND LIFE FOR MEN
a. 1:2 The same was in thebeginning with :God. HOUtos en en arCHEpros ton TheON.
b. 1:3 All thingsbecame through him; and without him nothing became that had become.
PANta di' auTOU eGEne-to [1096]; kai choRIS auTOU eGEne-to ouDE hen ho GEgo-nen.
c. 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of :men.
en auTOzo-E[2222]en; kai hezo-Een to phos[5457]ton anTHROpon.
d. 1:5 And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not.
kai to phos en te skoTIa [4653] PHAInei [5316]; kai he skoTIa auTO ou kaTEla-ben [2638].
e. 1:6 Therecame to be a man, sent from God, his name wasJohn.
eGEne-to ANthro-pos, a-pe-stalMEnos [649]paRA TheOU, Ono-ma auTOIoAnes.
f. 1:7 PURPOSE OF JOHN: A WITNESS UNTO BELIEF
HOUtos ELthen eis mar-tuRIan [3141],
The same came for a witness,
HIna mar-tuREse peRI tou phoTOS, HIna PANtes piSTEUso-sin [4100] di' auTOU.
that he might witness of the light, that all might believe through him.
g. 1:8 HE was not the light, but camethat he might witness of the light.
ouk en eKEInos to phos, all' HIna mar-tuREsepeRI tou phoTOS.
h. 1:9 The true :light was which coming into the world lights every man.
En to phos to a-le-thiNON ho phoTIzei [5461]PANta ANthro-pon erCHOme-non eis ton KOSmon [2889].
i. 1:10 He was in the world, and the world became through him, and the world knew him not.
en to KOSmo en, kai ho KOSmos di' auTOU eGEne-to, kai ho KOSmos auTON ouk EGno.
j. 1:11 He came unto his :own possessions, and his :own received him not.
eis ta Idi-a ELthen, kai hoi Idi-oi auTON ou paREla-ben [3880].
k. 1:12-13 A NEW BIRTH - RESULT OF ACCEPTING THE WORD
HOsoi de Ela-bon auTON, Edo-ken auTOIS e-xouSIan [1849] TEKna TheOU geNESthai,
But as many as received him, to them gave he authority to become children of God,
tois piSTEUou-sin eis to Ono-ma auTOU:
evento them that believe unto his :name:
hoi ouk ex haiMAton [129], ouDE ek theLEma-tos sarKOS,
13who were begotten, not of bloods, nor of the will of flesh,
OUde ek theLEma-tos [2307] anDROS, all' ek TheOU e-genNEthe-san [1080].
nor of man's will, but of God.
3. 1:14-18 PURPOSE OF JESUS: REVEAL GOD IN FLESH
a. 1:14 INCARNATION AND CHARACTER OF CHRIST
Kai ho LOgos sarx eGEne-to, kai eSKEno-sen [4637] en heMIN,
And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us,
kai e-the-aSAme-tha [2300] ten DOxan [1391] auTOU, DOxan hos mo-no-geNOUS [3439] paRA paTROS,
and we beheld his :glory, glory as of an only begotten with a father,
PLEres CHAri-tos [5485] kai a-leTHEIas [225].
full of grace and truth.
b. 1:15 WHAT JOHN WITNESSED OF JESUS
(IoAnes mar-tuREI peRI auTOU, kai KEkra-gen, LEgon, -
(John witnessed of him, and cried, saying, -
HOUtos en ho eiPON - Ho oPIso mou erCHOme-nos EMprosTHEN mou GEgo-nen: HOti PRO-TOS mou en.)
This was he who said - Who comes after me is become before me: for he was first in regard of me.)
c. 1:16 Because of his :fullness we all received, and grace upon grace.
HOti ek tou pleROma-tos [4128]auTOU heMEIS PANtes eLAbo-men, kai CHArin anTI CHAri-tos.
d. 1:17 CONTRAST OF MOSES AND JESUS
HOti ho NOmos [3551] diA Mo-uSEos eDOthe;
Because the law was given through Moses;
heCHAris kai heaLEthei-a diA IeSOU ChrisTOU eGEne-to.
the grace and the truth came to be through Jesus Christ.
e. 1:18 THE MANIFESTATION THAT CHRIST HAS GIVEN OF THE FATHER
TheON ouDEIS heOra-ken [3708]POpo-te; mo-no-geNES, TheOS,
God no one has ever seen; an only begotten, himselfGod,
ho on eis ton KOLpon [3859]tou paTROS, eKEInos e-xeGEsa-to [1834].
who is unto the bosom of the Father, HE has declared him.
NOTE: John 1:1-18 is called the “Prologue” to the whole Gospel of John, and in theological circles, the “Prolegomena”. It is unique in the entire Bible, and gives the relationship of Jesus to the Father and to us, in a manner that is indeed unique.
Jehovah's Witnesses have made a big deal out of 1:1, where it states that Jesus the “Word” was “God”, but without being preceded by the definite article “the”. They say that he was but “a God”, while the Father was “the God.” I challenged one young Jehovah's Witness leader in charge of a group - “If I could show you a passage, even from your own Interlinear Greek NT, the “Emphatic Diaglott”, where Jesus is called “the” God, would you acknowledge that your doctrine of making Jesus less the the Father is false? “Yes”, he said, “but you can't do that.” “Turn to John 20:28,” I said, “and read to me.” Here Thomas, when he saw the resurrected Christ with the nail-prints in His hands and feet, and the mark of the sword-thrust in His side, fell at His feet and said to Him, My “the” Lord, and my “the” God.
This young man was immediately chagrined and at a loss before a home group of some 20 that he was seeking to disciple. One of our church members had been invited to attend this group, but told the leader she didn't think her pastor would approve of the teaching. “Invite him to come,” he challenged, “and tell him he can challenge me in any area where he has a problem. Following my challenge he said, “I have had a dozen or so pastors challenge me in the past, but you are the first one that has put me into a losing situation.”
I did not do this to embarrass this young leader, but to save our church member from falling into heresy and error. This took place in 1955 in Chicago through the Kostner Avenue Baptist Church, of which I was pastor.
1:1-2 throws light against the Gnostic error that took place, even starting in the first century of the church.
It is interesting to note in 1:4, that the “life” of Jesus is the “light” of men - and His Life is the Life of the Holy Spirit, also called Eternal Life!
1:12-13 has been memorized by many, and is part of the 108 verses in the “Topical Memory System” put out by the Navigators years ago.
I love 1:14, telling how Jesus took on our human form to tabernacle among us, like Moses' Tabernacle in the Wilderness. For those with eyes to see, they could see the glory of the Father shining through the body of Jesus in His three year ministry amongst us. It was following the Holy Spirit descending on Him as a Dove that this manifestation with the Signs and Wonders commenced. Jesus did not perform a miracle prior to that time, in spite of some of the statements in apocryphal books.
The contrast between the ministry of Moses and Jesus cannot be more clearly stated than in 1:17. And 1:18 makes it clear that all we know or can know of the Father, is only through Jesus Christ. God has chosen Himto manifest the fullness of the invisible God. Oswald Chambers in his writings, makes this point abundantly clear.
People who love to memorize portions of Scripture, not just verses - are rewarded greatly through the memorization of this passage. Then as they meditateupon it, greatreward becomes theirs. Lance Latham of Chicago raised up the “AWANA” Clubs for boys and later also for girls. It stands for “Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed”. He had the members memorize chapters and even booksof the New Testament. The Book of Romans was one he strongly encouraged for complete memorization. Over 50% of the boys in one Club ended up as pastors or missionaries because of this strong challenge! - J.A.W.