John 1

John 1:1-18

• Some say that the Prologue is a summary of the entire narrative. Others say that it is a hymn, like Philippians 2 or Colossians 2.
• 1:6—Many have been sent by God to bear the burden of His Word. The concern with John the Baptizer is whether there is any tension between his disciples and those of Jesus.
• The Synoptics portray John the Baptizer as a Roman candle, yet the Fourth Gospel says he is a little more important than that—he was sent to witness about the “light” (1:1-5).
• 1:9—Augustine says that God enlightens us through Creation.
  a. 1:11—There is an underlying theme of alienation and estrangement.
  b. 1:12-13—Recreation is not a human endeavor.

John 1:1-18--Logos

• Logos, in Greek philosophy, was the rational principle of order that eliminated chaos in the cosmos.
• 1:7—Hellenistic Jews, however, were prone to use logos in relation to wisdom, which comes into being when God speaks something into existence.
• However, in our text, the Creation narrative is lurking in the background.
• John is using a broad term that will play on several fields and will give his readers a place to start from instead of trying to figure out what the term would actually mean (Brown, p. 25-27; Dodd, p. 15ff).
• Everything exists because the Logos has given it life, which includes Chaos although Chaos cannot defeat Logos.
• Augustine says that God did not create anything that was not good or could not be used for His purposes.
• Hans Kung says, however, that God is not directly responsible for everything that happens because He gives us the freedom to choose. What He has given up is the choice to create puppets (1978).
• 1:14—The Logos becomes sarx and “tabernacles” among us.
  a. 1:15—In this possible redaction, John the Baptizer says that he is not the Light, only a witness to the Light.
  b. 1:16—We have been granted immeasurable grace.
  c. 1:17—Truth is intended to mean reality, not just accuracy.
  d. 1:18—Jesus not only makes God known, He also “exegetes” God. If we want to know who God is, we need to look at Jesus, who is the embodiment of God’s presence.
  e. 1 John 1:1-4—The “Apostolic we” refers to those who lived with Jesus while the “Ecclesiastical we” refers to those who live in the community that share the story.

Theology of the Prologue

1. The Logos encounters us as a reality of something we already know, yet it seems strange to us.
   a. It challenges and corrects our understanding of reality.
   b. It is not an illustration of what we already know; it is the revelation of that reality.
   c. To reject the Logos is to assert what something is and presumes to judge the source of life.
2. Inherent in one’s claim of being a disciple is that relationship is mandatory.
   a. Christ is the ground for all existence.
   b. How one is related to Christ is a choice, yet our relationship is inescapable.
   c. Jesus did not come to judge, but to offer an option that forces us to make a choice, which causes a crisis.
   d. We cannot leave Christ alone.
   e. Judgment occurs when we fail to choose the light.
3. Ultimate Reality and Truth are not found in philosophy or in a place or in the law or in a book or in an aesthetic lifestyle but in a particular person in history, what Soren Kierkegaard calls the “scandal of particularity.” It is in the person of Jesus that reality is defined (Keck, p. 50-52).

John 1:19-28

• F. F. Bruce says that there was “a widespread sense of expectancy” during this time (p. 46).
• There would have been some options for John the Baptizer in answering the question of his identity. There is a hope at this time for the Messiah to interrupt history and bring in the kingdom of God.
• 1:20—John the Baptizer explicitly states that he is not the Messiah. His role is that of an eschatological predecessor.
• 1:23; cf. Isaiah 40:3—John is like Isaiah in that he is “a voice crying in the wilderness” and that he is leading the people to God from exile.
  a. Zechariah 13:1—“On that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.”
  b. Ezekiel 36:25–“I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.”
• 1:25—To baptize Jews says that the coming of the kingdom is a bad thing.
• Baptism, at this time, was only done for proselytes. John is saying that he is radically reconfiguring Judaism.

Theory of the "Hidden Revealer" (Soren Kierkegaard)

• 1:31—John the Baptizer did not know Jesus; it was revealed to him (Kierkegaard, p. 22-24).
• John’s the Baptizer’s description of the Messiah:
  a. 1:26—He was not yet know.
  b. 1:29—He was the Lamb of God.
  c. 1:30—He came before John the Baptizer in history.
  d. 1:32—The Holy Spirit remained upon Jesus when He was baptized.
• But there is no recorded narrative of Jesus’ baptism. This has led some scholars to say that Jesus was a disciple of John.
• 1:29—John the Baptizer identified exactly who the Messiah is.

John 1:29-34

• The language used in the passage is almost identical to the language of the previous passage.
• 1:31—John says that the reason why he baptized was the reveal the Messiah. What would have happened if Jesus had never come to John the Baptizer for baptism?
• 1:33—How would his audience respond to the phrase “who baptizes with the Holy Spirit?”

John 1:35-42

• 1:37—Jesus’ first disciples come from John the Baptizer when he identifies Jesus as the Messiah.
• 1:38—The first words of Jesus (the Logos) are incredibly anthropological.
  a. Humanity is lost and is seeking something so that we can become complete.
  b. 1:39—Jesus literally asks, “What are you seeking?”
• 1:39—After asking Jesus where He is staying, Jesus offers an invitation and a promise with “Come and see.”
  a. This is the summary of John’s message. It will be book ended with the invitation to “come and eat” in chapter 21.
  b. After they saw where He was staying, they remained with Jesus.
• 1:42—Jesus bestows a new identity upon Peter (Cephas). Identity was a critical issue in the ancient world, thus being given a new one would be taken very seriously.

John 1:43-51

• 1:46—Those who have accepted Christ’s invitation now extend it to others. Those who remain in the presence of the Logos will be enlightened.
• 1:47—Israel was named for Joseph, in whom there was much deceit.
  a. One studies the Torah and prays under a fig tree.
  b. Jesus is saying that He was with Nathaniel under the fig tree.
  c. 1:51; cf. 12:31-34—This reflect back to Jacob’s dream and will occur when Jesus is lifted up on the Cross.
  d. 1:51—Jesus uses a plural “you” here.

The 7 Signs

• "Sign Reality" handout

1. 2:1-12—Changing water to wine at the wedding in Cana.
2. 4:47-54—Healing a nobleman’s son.
3. 5:1-16—Healing a paralytic by the pool of Bethesda.
4. 6:1-14—Feeding 5000
5. 6:15-21—Walking on water.
6. 9:1-17—Healing a blind man by the pool of Siloam.
7. 11:1-44—Raising Lazarus from the dead.

• Plato’s “Parable of the Cave” described reality for hundreds of years.
• A miracle can be cloaked in the world below, yet a sign points us to something else. All signs point to the scandal of the Cross, which is the culmination of all signs.
• Some of the signs are miracles, yet some are not. This leaves the door open for those who look past the miracles and see the signs in order to become disciples.

A Thought About Faith

• “I don’t believe there is a road to faith. I believe there are roads to faith.”—Bruce McLarty
• How would you respond to this statement? Do you agree or disagree? Why?

Resources

Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John, I-XII, Anchor Bible 29 (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1966).

F. F. Bruce, The Gospel of John: Introduction, Exposition and Notes (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994).

W. D. Davies, “The Johannine ‘Signs’ of Jesus,” in A Companion to John: Readings in Johannine Theology, ed. Michael J. Taylor (New York: Alba House, 1977).

C. H. Dodd, “The Prologue to the Fourth Gospel and Christian Worship,” in Studies in the Fourth Gospel, ed. F. L. Cross (London: Mowbray, 1957).

Leander Keck, A Future for the Historical Jesus: The Place of Jesus in Preaching and Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1981).

Soren Kierkegaard, Philosophical Fragments/Johannes Climacus, Kierkegaard’s Writings, vol. 7, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985).

Hans Kung, Does God Exist?: An Answer for Today (New York: Doubleday, 1978).