John 1 — The Word Made Flesh
John's Gospel opens not in a manger but in eternity. The Word who was with God and who was God, by whom all things were made, became flesh and dwelt among us. John the Baptist points; the first disciples follow.
“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.”
— John 1:14
- v.1-5 The eternal Word and Creator
- v.6-13 John the witness; the world's reception
- v.14-18 The Word made flesh, full of grace and truth
- v.19-34 John's testimony about Jesus
- v.35-51 The first disciples called
The hinge of human history. The eternal Word — without abandoning deity — added humanity to Himself. This is the incarnation.
"Dwelt" is the Greek eskenosen, literally "tabernacled." John alludes to the Old Testament tabernacle, the tent of meeting where God's glory dwelled. Now the tabernacle has skin.
"Grace and truth" together. Religion often pits them against each other (grace at the expense of truth, or truth without grace). Christ holds both perfectly.
The mechanism of becoming a son: receiving Him. Believing on His name. Not earning, not inheriting, not being born into it ethnically — receiving.
"Power" here is exousia — authority, right. The receiving believer has the legal right to be called a child of God. That is what the new birth secures.
John the Baptist names Jesus with the title that summarizes His whole mission: the Lamb of God. The lamb of every Passover, every sacrifice, every covering of sin — fulfilled in one Person.
"Taketh away" — singular sin, encompassing all sin. Christ's atonement does not address sins one at a time but takes away the totality.
Read John 1:1-14 every Christmas, every Easter, and once a month between. It is the deepest claim Christianity makes about its founder. Let it soak in. Let it shape how casually you speak His name.
The whole chapter is Christ. He is the Word, the Light, the Creator, the Lamb. Every Christmas card and every Easter sermon flows from John 1. The whole New Testament is footnotes on this chapter.
Three claims about Christ in one verse: He existed in the beginning (eternal). He was with God (distinct from the Father). He was God (equal with the Father).
The phrase "In the beginning" deliberately echoes Genesis 1:1. John is saying: the same beginning, the same Creator, but here is His name — the Word.
"Word" — Greek Logos — meant both spoken utterance and ultimate rationality. Jesus is God's self-expression, His final word, His meaning made personal.