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Verse-by-Verse Commentary

The Book of John

Chapter 1: The Word Became Flesh

No chapter in the Bible opens with a higher view of Jesus. John reaches back before creation itself to declare that the Word was with God and the Word was God, and then announces the wonder of the gospel: that same Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Here is the mystery of the incarnation stated at its fullest. The eternal God, expressed in His Word, came into our world as a man, and John the Baptist points to Him: behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

About This Commentary

This is a verse-by-verse study of John chapter 1. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Greek words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. John's Gospel was written that we may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and it opens with the eternal Word made flesh. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.

Setting the Stage

The Book

That You May Believe

John's Gospel is written with a stated purpose: that we may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and have life in His name. It is the most theological of the four Gospels.

Author

John the Apostle

John, the beloved disciple and son of Zebedee, wrote from long, intimate knowledge of Jesus. His Gospel emphasizes who Jesus truly is: the eternal Word made flesh.

Where We Are

Before the Beginning

Where the other Gospels begin with genealogy or ministry, John begins in eternity: "In the beginning was the Word." Chapter 1 then moves to John the Baptist and the first disciples.

The Big Idea

The Word Made Flesh

The eternal God, expressed in His Word, became a real human being. The invisible God has made Himself known in Jesus, the Word who was God and who became flesh.

The Eternal Word

The Word Was God (John 1:1-3)

John opens outside of time, declaring the eternity and deity of the Word through whom all things were made.

John 1:1-13

In the Beginning Was the Word

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 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: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

Greek Study

"Word," Logos (λόγος). The Logos is God's self-expression, His reason, thought, and speech. Just as your word expresses your mind, the Logos is God expressing Himself. This is the same God who in Genesis spoke creation into being: "In the beginning God... and God said."

"Was with God... was God." John's careful wording holds two truths together: the Word was distinct enough to be "with God," yet the Word truly "was God", not a second God, but the one God in His self-expression. The Word is God Himself, reaching out to be known.

Explanation

John opens not with a manger but with eternity: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The Word (Logos) is God's own self-expression, His mind and speech, eternal and uncreated -- "the Word was God," full deity, not a lesser being. Through this Word "all things were made," and in Him "was life; and the life was the light of men." Read with Apostolic clarity, the Word is not a second divine person beside the Father but God Himself in His outgoing, creative self-revelation -- the very God who, in verse 14, will become flesh. The Gospel begins by declaring who Jesus truly is before it tells a single event of His life.

Gospel Focus

John begins where Genesis begins, "In the beginning," and declares that the Word was God. This is the foundation of everything: the One who came in flesh is not a created being or a lesser god but God Himself, eternally existing as His own Word. Before there was a manger, before there was time, the Word was, and the Word was God. Through this Word "all things were made" (verse 3), the same truth Paul states of Christ: "all things were created by him" (Colossians 1:16). John is preparing us for the staggering claim of verse 14. The God who made all things by His Word would step into His own creation, for the Word who was God became flesh.

The Incarnation

The Word Became Flesh (John 1:14)

In one of the most breathtaking verses in Scripture, the eternal Word enters our world as a man.

John 1:14-28

And Dwelt Among Us

"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 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. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing."

Greek Study

"Dwelt," skenoo (σκηνόω). Literally "tabernacled," pitched His tent. The word recalls the tabernacle in the wilderness where God's glory dwelt among Israel. Now God dwells among His people not in a tent of cloth but in a body of flesh, in Jesus.

Explanation

The staggering hinge of the prologue is verse 14: "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." The word "dwelt" means tabernacled -- pitched His tent -- so that the glory that once filled the tent of meeting now dwells in a human body. "We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." The eternal God who was the Word has taken real flesh; the invisible has become visible, the Creator has entered His creation as a man. John the Baptist bears witness that this One, coming after him, "is preferred before me: for he was before me" -- the incarnate Word who existed eternally as God.

Gospel Focus

Here is the mystery of the incarnation in a single line: "the Word became flesh." The Word who was God (verse 1) did not stop being God; He took on flesh. This is the heart of the Apostolic faith: the one true God was manifested in the flesh, dwelling among us in the man Christ Jesus, "for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9). We "beheld His glory", the glory of God seen in a human face, for "no man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son... hath declared him" (verse 18). The invisible God became visible, touchable, knowable, in Jesus. The tabernacle where God's glory now dwells is the flesh of Christ, and through Him God draws near to save.

The Lamb of God

Behold, the Lamb of God (John 1:29)

John the Baptist points away from himself to Jesus and names His mission in a single, gospel-filled cry.

John 1:29-51

Who Takes Away the Sin of the World

"The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."

Greek Study

John the Baptist points to Jesus with the great title, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." The Greek amnos evokes both the Passover lamb whose blood spared Israel and the daily temple lamb of sacrifice -- and behind them the ram God provided for Abraham and the suffering lamb of Isaiah 53, "brought as a lamb to the slaughter." The verb "taketh away" (airo) means to lift up and carry off. In one phrase the Baptist names both who Jesus is and what He came to do: God's own provided sacrifice who bears away the world's sin.

Explanation

From the Lamb's proclamation the chapter moves to the first gathering of disciples, and each finds a title for Jesus that builds the Gospel's confession: "the Messias," "him, of whom Moses in the law... did write," and, from Nathanael, "Son of God... King of Israel." Jesus, who tells Nathanael what no man could have seen, promises they will behold "heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man" -- He is Jacob's ladder, the meeting-point of heaven and earth. The One the Baptist called the Lamb is confessed, disciple by disciple, as Messiah, Son of God, and King.

Gospel Focus

John the Baptist gives Jesus a title heavy with meaning: "the Lamb of God." Every Passover lamb, every sacrifice on the altar, had pointed to this moment. The lambs of the old covenant could only cover sin temporarily; this Lamb "takes away the sin of the world." The eternal Word became flesh precisely so that He could become the sacrificial Lamb, God providing the offering He required, as Abraham foresaw, "God will provide himself a lamb" (Genesis 22:8). Here the two great themes of the chapter meet: the Word who is God became flesh, and that flesh would be offered as the Lamb who takes away sin. He is both the God who is offended by sin and the Lamb who bears it away, "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7).

Chapter 1 in Review

John 1 opens the most theological of the Gospels with the highest view of Jesus in all of Scripture. Reaching back before creation, John declares that the Word was with God and the Word was God, the one true God in His self-expression, through whom all things were made. Then comes the wonder of the gospel: "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us," tabernacling among His people so that we beheld the glory of God in a human face. And John the Baptist points to Him with the cry that names His mission: "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

For the Apostolic reader, this chapter is the bedrock of the faith. The One who came in flesh is not a lesser or created being but God Himself, the eternal Word, in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. The invisible God made Himself known and touchable in Jesus, and the same Word who was God became the Lamb who bears away our sin. The whole gospel stands here: God with us, God for us, God our Savior, made flesh in Jesus Christ.

Key Takeaways
  • The Word was God: the One who came in flesh is God Himself, not a created being (John 1:1).
  • "The Word became flesh": God was manifested in the flesh, dwelling among us in Jesus (Colossians 2:9).
  • In Christ the invisible God is made known; He has "declared Him" (John 1:18).
  • The Word became flesh to become the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world (1 Corinthians 5:7).

Questions for Reflection

  • John says the Word "was God." How does knowing that the One who saved you is God Himself deepen your worship?
  • "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." What does it mean to you that God drew this near?
  • John the Baptist pointed away from himself to the Lamb of God. Does your life point people to Jesus?

References & Sources

Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Greek terms are standard and can be checked in any lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.

  1. The Word was God and made all things: John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16.
  2. The Word became flesh; the fullness of the Godhead: John 1:14; Colossians 2:9; 1 Timothy 3:16.
  3. The invisible God declared in the Son: John 1:18; Hebrews 1:3.
  4. The Lamb of God who takes away sin: John 1:29; Genesis 22:8; 1 Corinthians 5:7.
  5. The purpose of John's Gospel: John 20:31.
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