John 1:1-18

1:1

In the beginning was [3S Impf Act Indic eimi] the word, and the word was [3S Impf Act Indic eimi] toward (pros) God, and God was [3S Impf Act Indic eimi] the word. 2This one was [3S Impf Act Indic eimi] in the beginning toward (pros) God. 3All things through him were created [3S 2 Aor Mid Indic ginomai], and apart from him was created [3S 2 Aor Mid Indic ginomai] not one thing that was made [3S Perf Act Indic ginomai]. 4In him life was [3S Impf Act Indic eimi], and the life was [3S Impf Act Indic eimi] the light of men. 5And the light in the darkness shines [3S Pres Act Indic phaino], and the darkness did not overcome [3S 2 Aor Act Indic katalambano] it.
6

There was [Egeneto - 3S 2 Aor Mid Indic ginomai] a man, sent [Nom MS Perf Pass Part apostello] by God, and his name was John. 7This one came [3S 2 Aor Act Indic erchomai] as a witness so that he might bear witness [3S 1 Aor Act Subj martureo] concerning the light, so that all might believe [3P 1 Aor Act Subj pisteuo] through him. 8He was [3S Impf Act Indic eimi] not the light, but so that he might bear witness [3S 1 Aor Act Subj martureo] the light. 9The true light, which enlightens [3S Pres Act Indic photizo] all men, was [3S Impf Act Indic eimi] coming [Nom NS Pres Mid Part erchomai] into the world. 10He was [3S Impf Act Indic eimi] in the world, and the world through him became [3S 2 Aor Mid Indic ginomai], and the world did not know [3S 2 Aor Act Indic ginosko] him. 11Unto his own he came [3S 2 Aor Act Indic erchomai], and his own did not receive [3P 2 Aor Act Indic paralambano] him. 12But as many as received [3S 2 Aor Act Indic lambano] him, he gave [3S 1 Aor Act Indic didomi] to them the power children of God to become [2 Aor Mid Inf ginomai], to those who believe [MP Dat Pres Act Part pisteuo] in his name, 13those not from blood, nor from the will of the flesh, nor from the will of man but from God born [3P 2 Aor Pass Indic ginomai].
14

And the word became [3S 2 Aor Mid Indic ginomai] flesh and dwelt [3S 1 Aor Act Indic skenoo] among us, and we beheld [1P 1 Aor Mid Indic theaomai] his glory, glory as of the onlybegotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 15John bears witness [3S Pres Act Indic martureo] concerning him and he has cried [3S Perf Act Indic krazo], saying [Nom MS Pres Act Part lego], "This one was [3S Impf Act Indic eimi] the on I of whom I spoke [3S 2 Aor Act Indic lego], "The coming-one [Nom MS Pres Mid Part erchomai] after me before me has become [3S Perf Act Indic ginomai], so that he was [3S Impf Act Indic eimi] before me." 16For of his fullness we all have received [1P 2 Aor Act Indic lambano], and grace upon grace. 17For the law from Moses was given [3S 1 Aor Pass Indic didomi], but grace and truth through Jesus Christ came [3S 2 Aor Mid Indic ginomai]. 18No one has seen [3S Perf Act Indic horao] God at any time, the only God who is [Nom MS Pres Act Part eimi] in the bosom of the Father, that one declared [3S 1 Aor Mid Indic exegeomai] him.

Comment: Lenski organizes John 1:1-18 like this: The prolog has been divided in various ways, as one or the other of its statements has been stressed. The most natural division seems to be: 1) The eternal Word, the Creator of all, is the light and life shining into the sinful world, v. 1-5; 2) The Word came into the sinful world, awakening faith and arousing unbelief, v. 6-12; 3) The Word became flesh in the world and brought us grace and truth from the Father, v. 13-18. These three parts, however, are not coordinate blocks, laid in a row beside one another; they are built up like a pyramid, the one rising above the other.1 The Divinity of the Word John 1:1-5 1:1: Possibly the most famous introduction to any book in Scripture (and perhaps to any book whatsoever), John's Gospel opens with a profound, paradigm shattering statement about the Word of God. The Word of God is a consummate focus of the Old Testament as the exclusive means of God's own self-revelation. The Word of God is powerful, creative (or sometimes destructive), exalted above all things along with God's own name (Psalm 138:2), and the delight of God's people. In John 1:1, though, our doctrine of the Word of God is taken three steps further. First, we read that God's word is eternal. From the very beginning, the Word was. We are meant to hear echoes of Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." John 1:1, though, serves to give us insight into what happened just before God created the heavens and the earththe beginning before the beginning. Lenski notes an emphasis on the Word's eternality in the grammar of v. 1: In the Greek many phrases lack the article, which is not considered necessary, R. 791; so John writes en arche. But in John's first sentence the emphasis is on this phrase in the beginning and not on the subject the Word. This means that John is not answering the question, Who was in the beginning? to which the answer would naturally be, God; but the question, Since when was the Logos? the answer to which is, Since all eternity. This is why John has the verb en, was, the durative imperfect, which reaches back indefinitely beyond the instant of the beginning.2 Second, we read that God's word is personal. Our English Bibles translate the second phrase in John 1:1 as and the word was with God, although the preposition is not the word with (meta). Instead, the word is pros, meaning toward or facing, from the word prosopon, meaning face. Lenski's comment on this phrase is breathtaking:

1 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 26. 2 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 27.

The preposition pros, as distinct from en, para, and sun, is of the greatest importance. R. 623 attempts to render its literal force by translating: face to face with God. He adds 625 that pros is employed for living relationship, intimate converse, which well describes its use in this case. The idea is that of presence and communion with a strong note of reciprocity. The Logos, then, is not an attribute adhering in God, or a power emanating from him, but a person in the presence of God and [page] turned in loving, inseparable communion toward God, and God turned equally toward him. He was another and yet not other than God. This preposition pros sheds light on Gen. 1:26, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.3 The Word of God is a Person who is intimately connected with God, his Father. Third, we read that God's word is God. God's word is not merely an inferior tool by which he reveals the true essence of himself; God is the Word! The order of Greek words in this final phrase in v. 1 places God before the verb and the Word after: kai theos en ho logos. The article in front of logos makes Word the subject of the phrase (so that God is the predicate nominative), but the emphasis is on the Word's being God. Whoever this eternal Word is (for he is a Person), he is himself identified with God himself, along with all that entails. 1:2: Almost as though John expects us to have been knocked to the floor by the third phrase in v. 1, he states again what he had written in the second phrase: This one was in the beginning toward God. In v. 1, this idea wasn't too complicated, since an innumerable amount of creatures have been with God throughout time. Now that we know that God is the Word, we have a dilemma: How can the Word be God, while at the same time being with God? God is One, so how can he be with himself? Suddenly, v. 2 becomes more intriguing than the third phrase in v. 1! 1:3: Lest we think that John is playing fast and loose with the term God, he insists immediately that this Word who is himself God is responsible for the sine qua non of God-ness by creating all things: All things through him were created, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been made. Only God creates, and so the first half of this verse is sufficient to prove that this Word is indeed God. The word, though, is not exactly create, but egeneto (from ginomai), and Lenski explains the difference: The verb 'became' is written from the point of view of the things that entered existence, while in Genesis the verb 'created' is written from the viewpoint of God, the Creator.4 But, lest John be misunderstood, he makes his intentions inescapably clear: apart from him not one thing was created that has been made. The Word was involved in creating absolutely everything. By extension, this signifies one further aspect about the Word: he was uncreated. Since no creature could have presided over his own creation, yet apart from him not one thing was created that has been made, it stands to reason that he himself is not a created being.

3 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 32-33. 4 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 36.

1:4: At this point, what we read in v. 4 is infinitely extreme, but not shocking: In him was life, and the life was the light of men. God alone is the giver of life, the fountain of living waters, and to seek life from anyone or anything else is to hew out broken cisterns that do not hold water (Jer. 2:13). Yet in this Word is life, and this life was the light of men. Our culture is obsessed with lifewhich isn't a bad thing to desire, even if our culture looks for life in all the wrong places. We speak of the fountain of youth because we want to live forever. We talk about living it up because we want to enjoy everything that life has to offer. We encourage ourselves to live life to the fullest because we know that some ways of living are better than others. We exhort the wayward not to throw away their lives because a life is a precious thing to lose. We all want life, and we would give anything in order to gain it. We long for abundant living; the rub is in trusting that in Jesus only can we find life. The shift is subtle, but all of a sudden John begins speaking not about the Word's involvement in creation, but the Word's involvement in salvation. The phrase light of men suggests a longing kind of hope, the sort that brings salvific light into dark places. The words conjures an image of men groping miserably in darkness until suddenly someone comes bearing a torch, illuminating and saving them from their wretched conditions. 1:5: This verse picks up the light theme from v. 4, stating And the light in the darkness shines, but the darkness did not overcome it. It could have been the case that the light couldn't hold a candle to the darkness; however, the darkness did not overcome the light. The word translated overcome could also mean comprehended, and Augustine meditates on the verse on that meaning: Accordingly, brethren, as in the case of a blind man placed in the sun, the sun is present to him, but he is absent from the sun. So every foolish man, every unjust man, every irreligious man, is blind in heart. Wisdom is present; but it is present to a blind man, and is absent from his eyes; not because it is absent from him, but because he is absent from it.5 Again, the image of light shining in the darkness speaks of salvation. The Light of Men was not content to stay among the well-lit, but instead forged himself into the darkness. Though this was risky, the darkness could not overcome him. The Reception of the Word John 1:6-13 1:6: Abruptly, John shifts from high theology concerning the Divine Word to a simple man: There was a man, sent by God, whose name was John. Few details are given in v. 6, except to say link this man into the subject matter thus far by stating that he was sent by God and to note that his name is John.
5 Augustine, Tractate 1 in Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John <http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf107.iii.ii.html>.

1:7: If at this point we might expect John to say something completely crazy about this man also being God, John quickly differentiates this man from the light: This one came as a witness, in order to bear witness concerning the light, so that all might believe through him. The word witness is used twice (once as a noun, once as a verb), and John makes himself very clear that this other John merely bears witness concerning the light. Matthew Henry rightly points out the absurdity of our needing such a witness: Nothing more fully shows the darkness of men's minds, than that when the Light had appeared, there needed a witness to call attention to it.6 The goal is simple: that all might believe through him. This phrase is a little vague. What is it that all are to believe? And what does it mean for all to believe through him? The next verse will help to sort out the details. 1:8: To further, more explicitly explain what he means, John writes That one was not the light, but he came in order to bear witness concerning the light. This other John is not the light of men, and therefore not the Word who is God. His role is only to bear witness concerning the light. Lenski comments, We may hazard the guess that in the evangelist's time some still thought too highly of the Baptist.7 1:9: At this point, John seems content with his introduction to this other John, and he shifts his attention back to the Light, who is the Word, who is God: The true light, which illuminates all men, was coming into the world. The Light is here called the True Light, suggesting both that there are false lights in the world, but also that we should understand his Light in terms of truth. Lenski strings together several helpful references to delineate the exact way in which the True Light enlightens all men: When John writes, which lighteth every man, he fears no misunderstanding on our part as though we might think that he means that every single human being is actually enlightened by the Logos, for both before and after making this statement he speaks of men rejecting this light and remaining in darkness. Luther has caught John's meaning, There is only one light that lighteth all men, and no man comes into the world who can possibly be illumined by any other light. He also refers to Rom. 5:18: 'As through one trespass the judgment came unto all men to condemnation, even so through one act of righteousness the free gift came unto all men unto justification of life.' Although all men are not justified through Christ, he is, nevertheless, the only man through whom justification comes. Augustine uses the illustration of one teacher [page] in a city, who, then, is said to instruct all the city, meaning not that everyone actually goes to him to be instructed but that none are taught except by him.8

6 Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Bible <http://www.ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhcc.xxxv.i.html>. 7 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 50. 8 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 52-53.

Furthermore, we read here that this Light was coming into the world. We had read a similar statement in 1:5, when John told us that The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. If the world is marked by darkness, then the same sentiment is being expressed here. 1:10: We should not, however, imagine that the great coming of the True Light into the world was universally hailed as the coming of salvation. John writes, He was in the world, and the world was made through him, but (kai) the world did not know him. When the Lord comes, we might expect all Creation to sing Joy to the World! The Lord is Come!, but that is not what happens. Tragically, the world did not know the Creator who came into its midst. Augustine insightfully reminds us that the reason that the world (as well as his own) did not know or receive him is that we are prideful. Our pride prevents us from seeing the glory of God in a crucified man, and so we reject Jesus: They were able to see that which is, but they saw it from afar: they were unwilling to hold the lowliness of Christ, in which ship they might have arrived in safety at that which they were able to see from afar and the cross of Christ appeared vile to them. The sea has to be crossed, and dost thou despise the wood? Oh, proud wisdom! thou laughest to scorn the crucified Christ; it is He whom thou dost see from afar: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. But wherefore was He crucified? Because the wood of His humiliation was needful to thee. For thou hadst become swollen with pride, and hadst been cast out far from that fatherland; and by the waves of this world has the way been intercepted, and there is no means of passing to the fatherland unless borne by the wood. Ungrateful one! thou laughest Him to scorn who has come to thee that thou mayest return: He has become the way, and that through the sea: thence He walked in the sea to show that there is a way in the sea. But thou who art not able in any way thyself to walk in the sea, be carried in a ship, be carried by the wood: believe in the crucified One, and thou shalt arrive thither. On account of thee He was crucified, to teach thee humility; and because if He should come as God, He would not be recognized. For if He should come as God, He would not come to those who were not able to see God. For not according to His Godhead does He either come or depart; since He is everywhere present, and is contained in no place. But, according to what did He come? He appeared as a man.9 1:11: Taking v. 10 further by a degree, John writes in v. 11, Unto his own he came, and his own did not receive him. Where v. 10 almost sounds like a lack of recognitiona misunderstanding, more than anythingJohn clarifies his meaning by increasing the offense level to include inhospitality. The Creator came unto his own, and his own would not even receive him! By his own, John certainly means the people of Israel. This theme will be more fully developed later in the book, but the emphasis in v. 11 is on the fact that those who should have known betterthose who were the unique, chosen people of Godrefused to receive him. The world may not have had any recognition of who this Light was, but his own took it a step further by not receiving him.
9 Augustine, Tractate 2 in Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John <http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf107.iii.iii.html>.

1:12-13: Some do receive him, however: But to as many as received him, he gave to them the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, to those not from blood, nor from the will of flesh, nor from the will of man, but born of God. Don't miss the significance of this statement. Among evangelicals, we almost take the idea that those who believe in God become his children; among the Jewish people, however, the thought is that the status of children of God has already been conferred irrevocably upon them. Here, however, the definition of child of God changes based not upon the lines of lineage or ethnic identity, but upon faith in the name of the True Light, the Word who is God. Moreover, the definition now turns on being born of God. Jesus himself will explain this idea more fully to Nicodemus in chapter 3, but for now we need to recognize that something drastically, alarmingly new is happening. This Word of God, whom we have only a few verses before realized was himself personally God (!), now serves as the criterion for admission into the family of God. Lenski notes that John does not use the word become to describe our becoming children of God, even though the evangelist could have. Instead, ...John writes, he gave to them the right, etc., placing edoken forward for emphasis. Every time when life, pardon, or salvation are involved, the verb give brings out [page] strongly the note of unmerited grace. The implied note of contrast is not that of synergism, as though any man might become a child of God by effort of his own or by on his part adding something toward this end. The contrast is far more obvious: the Jews, Christ's own home people, imagined they were and could be God's children without the Logos or Christ. Jesus himself had an argument with them on this very subject, John 8:42-47. They had no use for Christ because they dreamed that they could be God's children without him. That thought is what John cuts off so early in his Gospel by the wording: the Logos gave this right of childhood to those who received him. The two aorists elabon and edoken occur simultaneously. The instant of accepting Christ it he instant of receiving the gift of childhood. To receive Christ is to receive life, light and salvation.10 Here is Spurgeon's vivid way of conveying how it is that we should receive Christ, and not only the other way around: It is perfectly true that the work of salvation lies first and mainly in Jesus receiving sinners to Himself to pardon, to cleanse, to sanctify, to preserve, to make perfect. But, at the same time the sinner also receives Christ. There is an act on the sinner's part by which, being constrained by Divine Grace, he opens his heart to the admission of Jesus Christ and Jesus enters in and dwells in the heart, and reigns and rules there. To a gracious readiness of heart to entertain the Friend who knocks at the door, we are brought by God the Holy Spirit, and then He sups with us and we with Him.11

10 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 60-61. 11 Charles H. Spurgeon, Open Heart for the Great Savior, Spurgeon's Sermons: 1866, Sermon #669 <http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons12.ii.html>.

The Gospel of the Word John 1:14-18 1:14: And suddenly, we fall on the floor in amazement: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. The eternal, personal Word of Godwho is himself Godhas become flesh and dwelt among us?! On one level, this is conceivably possible. After all, this Word created all things, and apart from him, not anything exists that has been made. For a Word like this, surely becoming human could not be overly complicated. But on another level, this is a mind-altering paradox: The eternal has entered time! The infinite has become finite! The Word of Godwho had come to the patriarchs and prophets of oldhas become flesh! Also, the Apostle gives us a brief insight into a theme he will develop more fully in John 2:13-22 by stating that the Word dwelt among us. The word for dwelt is the word for tabernacle, the word used to translate the means by which God's shekinah glory dwelt on the earth in the midst of Israel. The Word did not come on holiday, but rather to bring the shekinah glory of God himself to earth. This is the special glory that the enfleshed Word of God radiates. Particularly, he radiates glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Thus, his glory stems from (1) his unique sonship to the Father, and (2) his being filled with both grace and truth. This is the first point in John's Gospel in which we read that the Word of God is related to the Father as a Son. As the Word of God, we might have expected this Person to be merely the servant of God, or even the powerful ally of God; however, that the Word of God is the Son of God bespeaks an intimate, familial union that even more fully associates this Person with the Father. As fully as the Word of God could disclose God, would not God's only Son disclose him even more fully? On the second foundation of the Word's glory, his being filled with grace and truth, notice that grace and truth make an unlikely match. Truth insists upon perfect standards, while grace insists upon conferring favor on those who have not lived up to those perfect standards. Who is this whose glory stems from fullness of both grace and truth? 1:15: In this verse, John again comes to the foreground as one who bears witness about the Word. John's testimony identifies the Word as the one who ranks before him, even though the Wordbecome-flesh came after him. The parenthetical comment here puts John in his place: as great as he was, he does not compare to the Incomparable One. 1:16-17: V. 16 is pure gospel: the fullness of the Word of God is not an untouchable Fort Knox vault of spiritual riches that we can only admire from a distance. The fullness of the Word of God has, in fact, spilled out over its sides, showering us with grace upon grace (charin anti charitos). The word anti means instead of, or in place of, and the idea seems to suggest a situation

almost where we have received so much grace from the overflow of the Word of God that it he has provided grace in place of other graces. When the first wave of grace begins to be used up, there is a fresh wave of grace to replace it. Grace upon grace upon grace upon grace. And so here the Apostle draws a distinction between law and grace and truth. In v. 17, we first hear the sweet name of the eternal, personal Word, who is God: Jesus the Christ! And this Jesus is not only compared to, but exalted above, Moses himself. Law was given through Moses, we read, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. In the glorious splendor of grace and truth, mere law seems frail and weak. 1:18: The text of v. 18 is contested, with three textual options to describe the one who makes God known. Either (1) monogenes theos, (2) ho monogenes huios, or (3) monogenes huios theou. Here is the UBS committee's explanation on why they have gone with option (1) at a B rating: With the acquisition of P66 and P75, both of which read theos, the external support of this reading has been notably strengthened. A majority of the Committee regarded the reading monogenes huios, which undoubtedly is easier than monogenes theos, to be the result of scribal assimilation to Jn 3.16, 18; 1 Jn 4.9. The anarthrous use of theos (cf. 1.1) appears to be more primitive. There is no reason why the article should have been deleted, and when huios supplanted theos it would certainly have been added. The shortest reading, [page] ho monogenes, while attractive because of internal considerations, is too poorly attested for acceptance as the text. Some modern commentators take monogenes as a noun and punctuate so as to have three distinct designations of him who makes God known (monogenes, theos, ho on eis ton kolpon tou patros...).12 This verse functions as the capstone to this magnificent passage by returning to the theme of revelation. In v. 1, we were introduced to the eternal, personal Word of Godwho is himself God. The main function of God's Word is to reveal God. Here, we read that this is exactly what Jesus Christ came to do: to make his Father known. None of us has ever seen God (the Greek places God at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis: God no one has seen at any time...), but the only begotten God (remember, this One is God himself) has made God known to us. How is he qualified and capable of doing this? Well, he is at the Father's side/in the Father's bosom. No one knows him better nor has a better vantage point from which to relay his knowledge to us. The effect of v. 18, then, places the Son squarely in context with his Father. The Son does not exist on his own, for his own glory; rather, he exists to reveal the Father to us. The goal is to gain the Father, and Jesus Christ came to do that. It is fascinating that, just as the Holy Spirit testifies to Jesus Christ without concern for his own glory, so we read here that the Son came to reveal to us the Father without concern for his own glory. Certainly, the Son bears all the glory of God himself (for he himself is God!), but he nevertheless lives to glorify his Father. Moreover, Jesus

12 Bruce M. Metzger et al., A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1994), 169-70.

prays that the Father would glorify him (John 17:5), so it isn't just the case of all glory running to the Father. There is an ebb and flow to glory here. The three Persons of the Trinity are equal in divinity, power, and glory; however, each performs a function that seeks ultimately to glorify another.