Bible Commentaries
John 1

Verses 1-51

The Gospel of John brings us into the profoundest facts concerning the Person of Jesus. The first eighteen verses constitute the introduction to the whole Book. The main declaration is found by bringing together verses John 1:1; John 1:14; John 1:18. In these the Eternal is linked to the temporal, and the temporal is revealed as the interpretation of the Eternal.

The rest of the prologue consists of three parentheses.

1. Verses John 1:2-13, in which the glories of the Word are revealed in the varied processes of God's relation to humanity.

2. Verse John 1:14, an exclamation by John over the glory he beheld.

3. Verses John 1:15-17, which give the double witness of John the Baptist and John the Apostle.

The remainder of the chapter contains an account of John's conflict with the rulers, and of the first things in the ministry of Jesus as Messiah as He gathered His earliest disciples. In it we see a group of men of different temperaments coming into contact with Him, and we observe His varying methods with them, and His winning them to Himself as we hear their differing names and titles for Him, all unified in a recognition of His authority.