For Thought and Discussion: What was the Father’s role in creation? What was the Son’s role? (See Genesis 1:1–3; John 1:3; 1 Corinthians 8:6.) Explain in your own words.

For Thought and Discussion:

1 How can the Word both be with God and be God (see 1:1)?

2. John holds us in suspense about the Word’s identity until 1:17. What do you think he means to imply about this Person by calling Him “the Word”?

Overcome (1:5). This Greek word means basically “to lay hold of so as to possess.” It is normally used to mean “to apprehend, to understand.” However, it can also mean “to overtake” (as in 12:35) (2 Morris, 85–86.). Again we find John implying a double meaning.

For Further Study: John uses the word life (1:4) thirty-six times, far more than the other gospels. Watch for it as you study. You might use a concordance to find all the references to “life” in John’s gospel. The Navigators. (2010). LifeChange: John (K. Lee-Thorp, Ed.; p. 22). NavPress.

3. Light and darkness are major symbols in John’s gospel. What do they refer to and symbolize in the Bible? (Consider some of the following: Psalm 36:9; 82:5; 119:105, 130; Proverbs 4:19; Isaiah 60:1–2; John 3:19–21; Acts 26:18; Romans 13:12–14; Ephesians 5:8–14.). The Navigators. (2010). LifeChange: John (K. Lee-Thorp, Ed.; p. 22). NavPress.

light

darkness

4. Therefore, what does it imply about Jesus to call Him the light (John 1:4–5, 9; 8:12)? The Navigators. (2010). LifeChange: John (K. Lee-Thorp, Ed.; p. 22). NavPress.

World (1:9). Kosmos is a key word in John’s writings. Its root meaning is “order,” the opposite of chaos. It also means “ornament” (as in 1 Peter 3:3), and it gives us our word “cosmetic.” From there it came to be used for:

1. the universe, the greatest ordered ornament;

2. the physical earth;

3. the majority of people;

4. the human world order—social, economic, political, and religious systems;

5. the people and systems “hostile to Christ and all that He stands for.”3

3 Morris, 127. The Navigators. (2010). LifeChange: John (K. Lee-Thorp, Ed.; p. 23). NavPress.

Believed in his name (1:12). To the ancients, someone’s name represented the essence of his character. To believe “on the name” (literally) of the Word means to trust who the Word really is. “It is not believing that what He says is true, but trusting Him as a person.”4 In Greek accounting documents, “on the name of” has the sense of “to the possession of.” So, John may also be saying that believing means yielding ourselves to be owned by Him whom we believe in.5

4 Morris, 99.

5 Morris, 99–100. The Navigators. (2010). LifeChange: John (K. Lee-Thorp, Ed.; pp. 23–24). NavPress.

Glory (1:14). In the Old Testament, God’s glory “is a visible manifestation of His majesty in acts of power”—a thunderstorm, a miracle, the cloud of fire that led Israel through the desert (Exodus 16:7–10; 24:17).6

6 Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John (I–XII), The Anchor Bible, (New York: Doubleday, 1966), 29:503–504.

Made his dwelling among us (1:14). The Greek verb means “to pitch one’s tent,” and the related noun means “tent” or “tabernacle.” When Israel wandered in the wilderness, God’s glory was present like a glowing cloud in “the tabernacle,” or “the Tent of Meeting” (Exodus 40:34–38). The Navigators. (2010). LifeChange: John (K. Lee-Thorp, Ed.; p. 24). NavPress.

The rabbis came to call the glory in the tabernacle (or temple) the Shekinah, which means “[Someone or Something] dwelling”—that is, God dwelling among His people. Thus, when John says, We have seen his glory when He tented among us, he is boldly identifying the Word with the Shekinah: God visibly manifested in acts of power and dwelling among His people.7

7 Morris, 103–104. The Navigators. (2010). LifeChange: John (K. Lee-Thorp, Ed.; p. 24). NavPress.

But now the physical manifestation is not a fiery cloud: The Word become flesh. “Flesh” is here a crude, graphic word for physical humanness. It is a blunt way of ruling out any idea that the Word didn’t become fully human. The Navigators. (2010). LifeChange: John (K. Lee-Thorp, Ed.; p. 24). NavPress.

Grace and truth (1:14). In the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint), these words were used to translate an important pair of Hebrew words: hesed (lovingkindness, mercy, covenant love, steadfast love) and emeth (faithfulness, reliability, integrity, truth—Exodus 34:6; Psalm 85:10; 89:14). Grace and truth are primary traits of God. Grace is His unmerited favor and gifts for His creatures. But it is not a wishy-washy Santa Claus favor, for it harmonizes with God’s truth—His integrity, His commitment to moral and factual reality. In fact, God is the only true reality, and everything else is measured by Him.8

Law (1:17). To the Jews, the Word of God and the Law of God were the same. They believed that the Word or Law or Wisdom of God existed before creation, was God’s agent in creation and was His agent in revealing Himself to people.9 John insists that the Word, who is a Person, Jesus Christ, is different from and greater than the written Word or Law that Moses recorded. Yet, all that the Jews believed about the Law or Wisdom is really true of the Person who is the Word.

9 John Painter, John: Witness and Theologian (London: SPCK, 1975), 25. The Navigators. (2010). (K. Lee-Thorp, Ed.; pp. 24–25). NavPress.

For Thought and Discussion: Compare 1:1 to 1:14. What is the Word’s essential nature in each verse? Who is the Word “with” in each verse? What is astounding about this transition?

For Further Study: Watch for the words glory and glorified in John’s gospel. Observe how Jesus reveals His glory not just after the Resurrection, but throughout His ministry and especially on the Cross. The Navigators. (2010). LifeChange: John (K. Lee-Thorp, Ed.; p. 25). NavPress.

5. After you have taken an overview of a book, looking at its parts in depth will sharpen and even alter your understanding of why the whole was written. In your overview, you probably found that this book’s purpose has to do with who Jesus is (20:31). Write down the main things 1:1–18 tells you about Jesus (who He is, what He came to do). The Navigators. (2010). LifeChange: John (K. Lee-Thorp, Ed.; p. 25). NavPress.

For Further Study: a. Grace occurs in John’s gospel only in 1:14, 16–17, but truth occurs twenty-five times and true twenty-three times.10 Watch for what is said about truth, or do a word study with a concordance. Look for the meaning of truth and the source of truth. Why do you think John emphasizes truth?

b. Then, ask yourself how well your life reflects factual and moral truth. How can you live more fully by the truth?

For Thought and Discussion: Christians use the phrase “the Word of God” to refer to both Jesus and the Bible. In what sense are they both the Logos, and in what sense must we carefully distinguish between them?

6. Think about what you observed in question 1 about who the Word is and what He does. Write down as many implications for your priorities, actions, and decisions as you can think of. For example, what difference does it make to you that Jesus …

is the Word?

is God?

was the means by which God created all things?

Became flesh and made his dwelling among. us?

Gives certain people the right to become God’s children?

For Further Study: Jesus used many symbols to describe Himself and the Holy Spirit that the Jews used to describe the Law—such as light, living water, and bread. Why do you think He did this?

For Thought and Discussion: In what sense is becoming a child of God a matter of a person’s will (see 1:12)? In what sense is it a matter not of his will but of God’s (1:13)?

For Thought and Discussion: What does 1:1–18 say about the human race’s predicament and behavior?

7. What can you do this week by God’s grace to let one truth from question 6 more fully affect your character and habits? (Be as specific as possible about the prayer and other action you want to pursue.)

8. If you have any questions about 1:1–18, write them down so that you can look for answers.

Optional Application: Take five minutes each day for the next week to ponder one of the truths John states about the Word. Praise God for this truth, and thank Him for how it affects you.

a. For example, thank God for giving you the light of Jesus to understand the world and to know what is right and wrong. Thank Him for the fact that darkness has neither understood nor overcome Jesus’ light. Ask Him to help you live by that light in your particular circumstances and trust Him to enable you to resist the weight of darkness.

b. Or, thank the eternal Word for lowering Himself to become fully human with physical flesh, and for living among us. Thank Him for putting up with all the limitations of flesh and even enduring the rejection of the people He created and loved. Ask Him to help you respond to His generosity with the active, committed faith He desires.

The Navigators. (2010). LifeChange: John (K. Lee-Thorp, Ed.; p. 27). NavPress.

The Word ( John 1:1-18)