Daily Bible Reading (Thursday, April 5th)

12

John 1 (ESV)

 

The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life,[a] and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own,[b] and his own people[c] did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son[d] from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.[e] 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God,[f] who is at the Father's side,[g] he has made him known.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight[h] the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Behold, the Lamb of God

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son[i] of God.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.[j] 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus[k] was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter[l]).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,[m] you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Footnotes:

  1. John 1:4 Or was not any thing made. That which has been made was life in him
  2. John 1:11 Greek to his own things; that is, to his own domain, or to his own people
  3. John 1:11 People is implied in Greek
  4. John 1:14 Or only One, or unique One
  5. John 1:16 Or grace in place of grace
  6. John 1:18 Or the only One, who is God; some manuscripts the only Son
  7. John 1:18 Greek in the bosom of the Father
  8. John 1:23 Or crying out, ‘In the wilderness make straight
  9. John 1:34 Some manuscripts the Chosen One
  10. John 1:39 That is, about 4 p.m.
  11. John 1:40 Greek him
  12. John 1:42 Cephas and Peter are from the word for rock in Aramaic and Greek, respectively
  13. John 1:51 The Greek for you is plural; twice in this verse

12 Comments

@Paul, this is the general format of the NASB on Literal Word:
italics = Words not found in the original text but implied by it.
SMALL CAPS = Quotations of Old Testament text in the New Testament.
[Brackets] = Words probably not in the original writings.
Personal pronouns are capitalized when pertaining to Deity.
Paragraphs are designated by bold face verse numbers in Study mode.
I hope this information is helpful.

I have been trying to pay more attention to capitalization of words so I can understand if they are talking about Jesus when it says “Him”. John1:17 say the “Law” in the NASB translation, but it appears as “law” in the other translations that I have seen. Is there a reason for this?

Jesus is the word made flesh to dwell among us. He is the Son of God. He is the Christ. Praying many would hear and follow Him just like the disciples did! Thankful that he came to take away my sin!

Andrew was the first introduce someone to Jesus. He told his brother Simon, “We have found the Messiah”

John the Baptist says in verse 30, "After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ This is not only true of John, but of us as well. Jesus was before ME too, and before you, and before any other human being who ever lived. Amazing!

I really enjoyed what you shared from Ligonier on “logos,” Jason. Thanks!
All of Scripture reveals truth about our great God; I’m especially thankful for the truth revealed in v.1-5. The words are clear about our Savior: He is God, without beginning, the Word, the Creator of absolutely everything, the source of our life, and our guiding and beautiful light.

I absolutely love this chapter, especially the first section describing Christ's presence and involvement in creation. John the Baptist is so utterly in love with Jesus, so eager to see him. What an amazing privileged to be John and proclaim Christ and then see him come, see the dove descend over him. I can't wait to hear both of them talk about that day when I get to see them in heaven!

Growing up, I often wondered why Christians always took skeptics and new believers through the Gospel of John. I figured that they would want to mix it up and start somewhere else every once in a while. Until I came to faith and really understood John 1. This is where we have to start if we are going to make a logical case for what we believe. John understood that and it is just as relevant today as it was to his audience in the 1st century.

Jesus Christ - The “Logos”

From Ligonier:
Though the translation of the term logos is the simple term word, it must be noted that logos carried a lot of philosophical baggage in the ancient Greek world. Ancient Greek philosophy was concerned with answering the ultimate questions of reality. They were seeking to find ultimate truth. They wanted to find the ultimate reality that lies behind all other things.

Over time, as the ancient philosophers pondered these questions, they came up with a term to describe this ultimate reality, and the term they came up with was logos. The logos came to be understood as that which gave life and meaning to the universe. Within the realm of Greek philosophy, however, this logos was largely understood to be an impersonal force, not a personal being.

When we come to John 1, we see that the apostle has done two things with the term that would have been unthinkable to Greek philosophers. Rather than an impersonal force, the logos of John’s gospel is a personal being who can be received or rejected by other people (vv. 11–12). This logos also became incarnate as a human being and manifested the glory of God (v. 14).

The logos is the personal God revealed to us in the Old Testament. John, moved by the Holy Spirit, tells us this indirectly by starting 1:1 with “in the beginning,” just as Genesis 1:1 begins. He also tells us this more directly when in 1:1 he writes, “the Word was God.” This logos, which gives meaning and purpose to all things, is far from being an impersonal principle. Rather, this logos is Jesus Christ, the very God of the universe.

Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! What an amazing chapter which tells us about the eternal Lord becoming a man so that He would present Himself as a sacrificial lamb for the sin of the world. How then can I ever be lazy in obeying His command to follow Him? This amazing chapter fills me with appreciation and motivation.

Jesus is the Lamb of God. John mentions this multiple times in the chapter. From the beginning of the book, it proclaims the deity and purpose of God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sins of the world. What a glorious Savior we have. What a perfect sacrifice for our sins. What a perfect king to serve. Jesus is amazing...may we never stop being amazed.

As a society we probably spend way to much time claiming our “rights” and entitlements, almost none of which are actually sourced from Scripture. Verse 12 is one right I will joyfully claim though - the right to become a full member of God’s family. Of course this is through none of my own doing, but how great is it to be a child of God? Thank you Father!

Something I’ve been learning about lately and slowly understanding more is read in vv. 16-17, “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” I have receive grace upon grace, and honestly I’m still trying to fully wrap my mind around that fact. By God’s grace alone I have faith in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. I pray for all who are in Christ to confidently and without hesitation show grace toward others today because we have received eternal grace.

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