John 1

The original Greek word is Logos. Greek scholars such as Heraclitus said logos was the wisdom behind all of creation. This all-present wisdom created everything, and it guided creation along the way. For many Jewish scholars then and now, God’s Word pulled the trigger on Creation, whether or not that involved pulling the trigger on the Big Bang. “God said, ‘Lights.’ Lights came on . . . God said, ‘Land, grow a garden.’ . . . The land grew a garden” (Genesis 1:3, 11-12). John doesn’t identify Jesus as the Word until a few paragraphs later, gradually working up to it by describing the Word as the one who “came to this world that belonged to him. But most of the people—his people—wouldn’t have anything to do with him” (John 1:11). Jesus came to earth as a living, breathing expression of God’s message to humanity, summed up in what is perhaps the most famous Bible verse, John 3:16.

This is God the Father at work through Jesus, some Bible scholars explain, since Genesis 1 says God created the universe.

John may be pointing back to the Creation story, when God turned on the lights and “put darkness in its place” (Genesis 1:5). But John also seems to be pointing toward Jesus, who is often described as a source of spiritual light. “Gentiles of Galilee . . . who live in darkness will see the light—a powerful light. For those people who live in this land, under the shadow of death, it’s dawn, for the light has come” (Matthew 4:15-16). And Jesus himself says, “I am the light in this world’” (John 8:12).

John may have been six months older than Jesus. John’s mother was six months pregnant when God sent Gabriel to Nazareth to tell Mary she would soon get pregnant through the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:26, 31). But John was talking about Jesus alive as the Word, from before the beginning of Creation.

Elijah is the prophet who is famous for not dying. He got swept up into heaven by a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11). Some Jews expected Elijah to come back and help prepare the people for the Messiah’s arrival (Malachi 4:5).

Jesus later said John was mistaken about that. Jesus told a crowd in Galilee, “You may or may not believe this, but John is the Elijah that the prophets said would come” (Matthew 11:14).

Some Jews expected God to send a prophet of the caliber of Moses, based on a prediction in Deuteronomy 18:15, 18.

Pharisees were one of several groups of Jews. It was a bit like Methodists being one of many groups of Christians. Pharisees were known not only for strictly keeping the laws of Moses but also for keeping hundreds of other laws that were a bit like the rules in church manuals today. For example, Jewish law said Jews should not work on the Sabbath. Pharisees defined what they considered work—such as healing people. Pharisees taught that practicing medicine on the Sabbath was forbidden except when someone was at risk of dying that day.

Sometimes called Bethany beyond the Jordan. The site today is identified as Al-Maghtas, about six miles (9 km) north of the Dead Sea, on the eastern side of the Jordan River, in what is now the country of Jordan. It’s about a day’s walk from Jerusalem, some 20 miles (32 km) as the dove flies. Today it’s an archaeological site. The site has been added to the World Heritage List by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Christian pilgrims, since Roman times, have venerated the site as the place where John the Baptist performed baptisms. Archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of a monastery and the remains of churches and ponds reportedly used for baptism.

Bible experts say this refers to his sacrificial death. The Bible says sin is a capital offense in God’s eyes. But God set up a system of animal sacrifice, allowing his people to sacrifice animals to atone for sin, so the people didn’t have to die (Leviticus 17:11). But the Bible says Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice once and for all (Hebrews 10:10), rendering animal sacrifice obsolete. Romans destroyed the Jewish Temple about 40 years later, in AD 70, ending the sacrificial system since Jews taught that the Jerusalem Temple was the only place they were allowed to offer sacrifices.

John likely knew Jesus because of the connection their mothers had with each other (Luke 1). But he didn’t seem to realize Jesus was the Messiah.

A title for the Messiah. “Chosen One” tracks with a prophecy about a leader who receives the Spirit: “He is my chosen one, who pleases me. I have put my Spirit upon him” (Isaiah 42:1, New Living Translation). Some ancient manuscripts substitute the phrase with “Son of God.” Bible experts are divided over which is correct.

“Cephas” was a name familiar to people who spoke Aramaic, a common language in what is now Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Among people who spoke Greek, the international language of the day, the name translated as “Peter.” It’s a bit like “Stephen” in English is “Esteban” in Spanish.

Jesus may have been referring to Psalm 32:2, “the man . . . in whose spirit there is no deceit!” (New American Standard Bible). But he may also have been thinking of the dark side of Jacob, father of the 12 tribes of Israel. Jacob cheated his brother and his father, provoking his brother Esau to say to their father, “No wonder you named him Jacob. He has cheated me twice” (Genesis 27:36). “Jacob” sounds like the Hebrew for “heel” as well as “cheater.” Jacob was given his name because at birth he was seen grabbing the heel of his twin brother, Esau. “He grabbed your heel” later became a Hebrew saying that meant someone cheated you.

Usually translated “Son of Man.” This is a title Jesus used a lot to describe himself. In the Jewish Bible the phrase contains hints of divinity in some passages and humanity in others—perhaps a perfect phrase for describing someone Christians would say was fully God and fully human. Hint of the divine: the prophet Daniel “saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven” (Daniel 7:13, New Living Translation). Hint of the human: God often described Ezekiel as a mere mortal by using the phrase “son of man” (Ezekiel 2:1, New Living Translation).