◄ John 1 Devotional Commentary ►

John 1:1

"In the beginning..." is Deity's statement of fact. "In the beginning..."  are words pregnant with meaning that subordinate logic, philosophy, psychology, and science. "In the beginning..." is a concept that astounds both the religious thinker and confounds the pagan theorist. It impacts both the believer's mind and the atheist's imaginings but, "In the beginning, was the WORD, and the Word was with God, and the Word was read more...

John 1:2

The focus of John's Gospel from start to finish is the eternal Son of God Who was given by grace to be the perfect Son of Man. And the forgiveness of sin and life everlasting is found by grace through faith in Him alone.

John's Gospel was written so that we might believe that: "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we may have life in His name." And so we read in the opening verses of John's Gospel: read more...

John 1:3

The foundational truth of Christ Jesus our Saviour, Who died to redeem mankind and reunite sinners with their Creator God, is that Christ Jesus is the Word made flesh. Christ Jesus is the Almighty Creator of all things, for we read that by Him were all things created. Everything in heaven and earth, whether visible or invisible, whether they are thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created through Him, all things were created for read more...

John 1:4

The living God is LIFE. The triune God has life within Himself. Jesus is one with the Father and He is the Source of life, the Fountain of life, the Sustainer of life, the Perfector of life. God spoke animal and plant life into being, but the Spirit of God also breathed 'the breath of lives' into the nostrils of Adam, and man became a living soul.

The triune God has life within Himself and Jesus, the incarnate Word of God, is one read more...

John 1:5

The Lord Jesus came into the world as the incarnate WORD of God, to reveal to the depraved mind of man, the truth of God's eternal love and His perfect holiness. He came into the world as LIFE; to breathe 'new life' into the lifeless spirit of man that lay dead in trespasses and sins, and with no hope in the world. He came into the world as the LIGHT of the world, to illumine the blackened soul of man who in his foolish pride, had sought to be as God.

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John 1:8

The Gospel of John proclaims with authority that Jesus Christ is the sovereign Word of God, the eternal Word of God, the creative Word of God, and the incarnate Word of God. John also announces that Christ is the Son of God, the Lamb of God: "Who takes away the sin of the world" He is the King of Israel, Son of Man, Saviour of the World, the Resurrection, and the Life. Jesus Christ is the fullness of God's wisdom and power, and the exact image of read more...

John 1:9

We who were born in trespasses and sins, were groping about in deep darkness before we trusted in Christ for salvation and became children of light in the Lord Jesus. Down through the centuries, there have been many that claim to be 'illumined ones' but they are all deceived for they choose to believe the lie of the devil,  for there is only One True Light Who gives light to all who comes into the world.

The Lord Jesus is that read more...

John 1:10

The opening verses of the good news in John's Gospel, tell of the most glorious visitation to earth of the incarnate Son of God. He is the Word made flesh Who came to earth as the perfect Son of Man. He is the eternal Creator of the world Who is co-equal with the Father, and the Bible introduces Him as Jesus, the Word made flesh, the One from Whom emanates eternal light and life.

He came to bring light to a darkened world. He read more...

John 1:11

There is much pathos in this verse, which is considered by many to be one of the saddest verses in Scriptures, for the God Who created the world and everything in it and chose the nation of Israel to be His special people, returned to the place that He created and to the people that He chose as His inheritance - but His own received Him not. And so He was despised and rejected by His own people; a man of sorrows Who was acquainted with grief.

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John 1:12

Many came to Jesus to accuse, ridicule and scorn Him, but the name of Jesus in the ear of the believer is the most beautiful of all names, for it is through our union with the Lord Jesus that we have been brought back into sweet communion with the living God, for there is no other name in heaven or on earth that has the power to seek and to save that which was lost.

Trusting in the name of Jesus is accepting Him as the incarnate Son of God, Who read more...

John 1:13

As members of the human race, we have to be born into the human family. To become literal, physical descendants of Adam (who was the first literal physical man), we have to have a literal physical birth into a literal physical world. Adam was made in the image and likeness of the immortal, invisible God and given some spiritual attributes of his eternal Creator. Man was made in the image and likeness of the invisible God with an intellect to think, a will to read more...

John 1:14

The apostle John was one who saw the glory of the Word made flesh. John was one who gazed on Him in wonder and worshipped at the feet of Jesus Christ, his Lord and his God.

John lived with Him, walked with Him, talked with Him, and touched Him. John spent over three years of his life with Jesus, listening intently to His gracious words, astonished by His amazing truth, watching Him attentively as He fulfilled the prophetic read more...

John 1:14

The apostle John lays out some important historical and doctrinal truths in the first section of his gospel. He does this so that we may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing, we may have life in His name.

Having outlined the person of Christ, the incarnate Word of God Who would be rejected by His own people but accepted by all who would believe on His name, John gives increasing insight into the read more...

John 1:17

When John wrote this verse, he was not intimating that there was no grace under the Law of Moses, for every sacrifice spoke of the beautiful final Sacrifice Who was to be lifted up on the Cross. Nor was he implying there was an absence of truth, for God's truth endures throughout all generations.

But only through Christ is the fullness of grace and truth realised. His grace is offered freely and without cost to whosoever will, read more...

John 1:18

In the beginning there was nothing but God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit inhabiting eternity in a tri-unity of love. They were united in a blessed trinity of endless communion and sweetest fellowship.

The only begotten and eternal Son of God, Who forever rests in the bosom of the Father, became Jesus of Nazareth, the perfect Man, God incarnate. He was born of a virgin, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. read more...

John 1:23

There are names of biblical prophets like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, and Isaiah, that are more highly esteemed and widely recognised than John the Baptist, and yet the Lord Jesus said that among those that are born of women, there is none greater than John.

The voice of God’s holy prophecy had been silenced for 400 years, due to Israel’s continued apostasy and refusal to repent... and their punishment for breaking their covenant with the Lord continued read more...

John 1:29

John the Baptist was the last and the greatest of God's prophets to Israel, for he was chosen by God to be His herald of the King of kings and to the voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the Lord," just as had been foretold by the prophet Isaiah.

John had heard the voice of God from heaven declaring, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," and He read more...

John 1:30

John the Baptist was the last 'Old Testament' prophet. He was prepared, commissioned, and enabled by God to announce the arrival of Israel's expected Messiah-King and to prepare the lost sheep of the house of Israel for His arrival.

He did not promote himself in any way because he knew he was simply a 'voice' crying in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord. John had to be heard but was not to be 'seen'. The message had read more...

John 1:34

In the beginning, God spoke the universe into being. The eternal Word was with God, and that Word was the true and living God. The Word was the eternal Son Who was true Light, and Life, and Truth, and Love. Through Him all things were created, and He became God incarnate by taking upon Himself the form of a man. He did this by being born into the human race and becoming part of His own creation.

The Lord Jesus was the eternal read more...

John 1:38

On two consecutive days, we read that John the Baptist pointed people to Jesus with the words, "Behold the Lamb of God.." The first time he added the phrase, "Who takes away the sin of the world." On the second occasion, he said it directly to two of his own disciples. John had received confirmation from above, that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, for at His baptism, he heard the voice of God the Father testifying of Jesus, and read more...

John 1:39

John the Baptist was the prophet of God, foretold by Isaiah. He was called to prepare the way of the Lord and pronounce the arrival of Israel's long-awaited, promised Messiah. John was sent from God as a witness to testify that Jesus was God's anointed King, the Word made flesh, the Light of the world.

John's prophetic mission was to declare that the True Light of God was coming into the world to give light to everyone, and read more...

John 1:48

Each of the four Gospels introduces the Lord Jesus in their own particular way, laying peculiar emphasises on different aspects of His Person and work; His character and ministry; His life, and His death. The Gospel of John places priority on the divinity of Christ Who is co-equal with the Father; co-eternal, consubstantial, co-essential, omniscient, and omnipotent.

Throughout his Gospel, John brings attention to the deity of read more...