John 1 — Overview

John tells us that Jesus — called 'the Word' — was with God before anything was made and is God Himself. Jesus came into the world as a real person, but many did not recognize Him. John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God. The first disciples heard about Jesus and began to follow Him.

Jesus, God's own Son, came to live with us as a person so we could know and love God.

John 1 opens with some of the most profound theology in the Bible. John uses 'the Word' (Greek: Logos) to describe Jesus — a title that would have meant 'divine reason and communication' to Greek-speaking readers, and 'God's spoken creative power' to Jewish readers. For children, the key idea is simple and breathtaking: Jesus always existed with God, was there when everything was made, and then became a real human being so we could know God personally. Emphasise that Jesus is not a created being — He is the Creator. The calling of the first disciples shows us that Jesus invites everyone personally: 'Come and see.'

Jesus was not just a good teacher who lived a long time ago — He is the eternal Son of God who became a person because He loves you. You can come to Him and He will welcome you.

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John 1 — OverviewJohn 1 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleThe scope and design of this chapter is to confirm our faith in Christ as the eternal Son of God, and the true Messiah and Saviour of the world, that we may be brought to receive him, and rely upon him, as our…John 1 — OverviewJohn 1 · Treasury of Scripture KnowledgeJohn 1:1, The divinity, humanity, office, and incarnation of Jesus Christ; John 1:15, The testimony of John; John 1:39, The calling of Andrew, Peter, etc.John 1 — OverviewJohn 1 · John Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleThe author of this Gospel is John, the son of Zebedee and Salome, the brother of James the greater; he outlived the rest of the disciples, and wrote this Gospel after the other evangelists; and in it many things are…John 1:1-5John 1:1-5 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleAugustine says (de Civitate Dei, lib. 10, cap. 29) that his friend Simplicius told him he had heard a Platonic philosopher say that these first verses of St. John's gospel were worthy to be written in letters…John 1:1John 1:1 · The Pulpit CommentaryIn the beginning was the Word. From early times expositors have perceived that the evangelist essayed here a comparison with the ἐν ἀρχῇ ("in the beginning") of the first verse of the Book of Genesis. This can…John 1:1-18John 1:1-18 · The Pulpit Commentary1. The hypothesis framed by the evangelist to account for the series of facts which he is about to narrate is seen especially in John 1:14; but before asserting this great fact that the Word was made flesh, he proceeds…

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