Frameworks:
John's Gospel, chapter 1
(The
objective of these ‘Frameworks' is to provide an easy-to-read
layout of the text in order then to use these individual verses
for verse-by-verse study or meditation. To focus each
verse we have also added in in italic a description of what is
happening)
CHAPTER
1
v.1-5
Introducing the Word
v.6-8
Introducing John the Baptist
v.9-18
The Word made Flesh
v.19-28
John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah
v.29-34
John Testifies About Jesus
v.35-42
John's Disciples Follow Jesus
v.43-
51 Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
NB.
v.1-18 are often referred to as the Prologue to this Gospel
v.1-5
Introducing the Word
v.1
(at the start of everything God expressed Himself
and the all-encompassing Word came forth) In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God.
v.2
(this Word was one with God) He
was with God in the beginning.
v.3
(God used him to create the world) Through
him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has
been made.
v.4
(he brought life into the material world and
lit up mankind) In him was life,
and that life was the light of all mankind.
v.5
(his light cannot be extinguished) The
light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome
it.
v.6-8
Introducing John the Baptist
v.6
(in history there was a man called John who
was sent by God) There was a
man sent from God whose name was John.
v.7
(he came to help people believe in this light)
He came as a witness to testify
concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.
v.8
(he himself wasn't the light, just one pointing
to it) He himself was not the
light; he came only as a witness to the light.
v.9-18
The Word made Flesh
v.9
(this real light was coming into the material
world) The true light that gives
light to everyone was coming into the world.
v.10
(he came but the world didn't recognise him
for who he was) He was in the
world, and though the world was made through him, the world did
not recognize him.
v.11
(he came to his prepared people but they didn't
receive him) He came to that
which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
v.12,13
(but if you did receive him you were given
the right by God to be called a child of God ‘born' by His will)
Yet to all who did receive him, to
those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children
of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision
or a husband's will, but born of God.
v.14
(this Word became human flesh, real and full
of grace, and lived among us, and he revealed the glory, the wonder,
the splendour of the Son from God the Father) The
Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen
his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the
Father, full of grace and truth.
v.15
(John pointed out who he was, one who had existed
before him) (John testified
concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke
about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because
he was before me.'”)
v.16
(from his wonder we have each received his
grace) Out of his fullness we
have all received grace in place of grace already given.
v.17
(Moses brought the Law, Jesus Christ brought
grace) For the law was given
through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
v.18
(although no one has seen God, the Son, this
Word, this light, has made Him known) No
one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself
God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him
known.
v.19-28
John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah
v.19
(when the authorities came to John they asked
who he was) Now this was John's
testimony when the Jewish leaders (* see below) in
Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was.
v.20
(he told them he wasn't the expected Messiah)
He did not fail to confess, but confessed
freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
v.21
(when they suggested who he was he kept saying
no) They asked him, “Then who
are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
v.22
(they demanded an answer) Finally
they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those
who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
v.23
(John quoted Isaiah's prophecy of Isa 40)
John replied in the words of Isaiah
the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Make straight the way for the Lord.'”
v.24,25
(they demanded to know why he was baptising
then) Now the Pharisees who
had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you
are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
v.26
(he as merely a baptizer in water but another was
coming) “I baptize with water,” John
replied, “but among you stands one you do not know.
v.27
(John felt he wasn't worthy even to untie the
sandals of this one) He is the
one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy
to untie.”
v.28
(this happened near Bethany near the Jordan)
This all happened at Bethany on the
other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
(Note
on v.19 from footnote: The Greek term traditionally translated
the Jews (hoi Ioudaioi) refers here and elsewhere in John's Gospel
to those Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus; also in 5:10, 15, 16;
7:1, 11, 13; 9:22; 18:14, 28, 36; 19:7, 12, 31, 38; 20:19)
v.29-34
John Testifies About Jesus
v.29
(John heralded Jesus as the Lamb of God who
would take away sins) The next
day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
v.30
(he referred to what he had said before)
This is the one I meant when I said,
‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before
me.'
v.31
(he baptized so this one would come and be
revealed) I myself did not know
him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might
be revealed to Israel.”
v.32
(John saw the Spirit come down on Jesus when
he came) Then John gave this
testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and
remain on him.
v.33
(God had told him what to watch for) And
I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize
with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down
and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.'
v.34
(John testified to who Jesus was) I
have seen and I testify that this is God's Chosen One.”
v.35-42
John's Disciples Follow Jesus
v.35,36
(John pointed out Jesu to two of his disciples)
The next day John was there again
with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said,
“Look, the Lamb of God!”
v.37
(these two then followed Jesus) When
the two disciples heard him say ths, they followed Jesus.
v.
38 (Jesus questioned them) Turning
around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
v.39
(he invited them to go with him) “Come,”
he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he
was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four
in the afternoon.
v.40
(Andrew was one of the two) Andrew,
Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John
had said and who had followed Jesus.
v.41
(Andrew found his brother Simon and told him)
The first thing Andrew did was to
find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah”
(that is, the Christ).
v.42
(he brought him to Jesus who renamed him Peter)
And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus
looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be
called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
v.43-51
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
v.43
(getting ready to leave for Galilee, Jesus
calls Philip to follow him) The
next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he
said to him, “Follow me.”
v.44
(he was from the same town as the others)
Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was
from the town of Bethsaida.
v.45
(he found Nathanael and said he had found the
messiah) Philip found Nathanael
and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the
Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth,
the son of Joseph.”
v.46
(Nathanael doubted whether the messiah came
from Nazareth) “Nazareth! Can
anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,”
said Philip.
v.47
(when Jesus meets him he gives a greeting implying
he knows him) When Jesus saw
Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite
in whom there is no deceit.”
v.48
(when Nathanael questions this Jesus said he
saw him previously) “How do
you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while
you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
v.49
(Nathanael realises this is revelation and
declares he is the Son of God) Then
Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the
king of Israel.”
v.50
(Jesus says he will see greater than this)
Jesus said, “You believe because
I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater
things than that.”
v.51
(he says he will see heavenly things)
He then added, “Very truly I tell
you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending
and descending on' the Son of Man.”
(Note:
we should understand that when, throughout the gospels Jesus refers
to himself as ‘the Son of Man', he is applying a prophetic understanding
from Dan 7:3, one coming from heaven, the Messiah)