John 1:1-18

Go Deep

(John 1:1-18)

Read John 1:1-18. Make note of any insights you have into the text.

Why does John begin his account of Jesus by echoing the opening words of the Bible? (Consider Matthew 19:28; Isa. 65:17; 66:22; 2 Peter 3:9)

Who is the “Word” (vv. 1, 14)? Why does John call him that? (See Genesis 1 and Ps. 33:6.)

According to John’s Gospel, what was Jesus’s role in creation? (Compare to Colossians 1:15-17 and Hebrews 1:2-3.)

Read the verses in John that relate Jesus to light: John 3:19; 8:12; 9:4-5; 12:35-36, 46.

What does John mean by saying the darkness has not understood the light (literally, “grasped”) the light?

Read verse John 1:9 and compare with Isaiah 49:6.

Why is it important to set the story of Jesus with the framework of the Old Testament? What do we lose if we tell the story of Jesus without its Old Testament context?

How does John 1:10 fit with the rabbinic idea that God gave the law (the Ten Words) to the world but the world didn’t receive it?

What does it mean to “receive” Jesus? Is it the same as to “believe on his name”? Is it different?

Read verse 14. What is the significance of the word “tabernacled” (or “tented,” translated as “made his dwelling” in the NIV ‘84? See Exodus 40:30-35)

What, according to verse 18, has Jesus done? What are the implications of this for anyone who wants to know God?

What is the gospel – the “Good News” – in this passage?