JHN 1
1
The Enfleshment of the Word
1 Before time began, before creation came into existence, the Word already was. The Word existed in intimate fellowship with God, sharing in the divine presence. And this Word was Himself fully divine—the Word was God in His essential nature.
2 This same One, the Word, existed from eternity past in intimate communion with God the Father.
3 Every created thing owes its existence to Him. He was the active agent in bringing all things into being. Apart from His creative work, not even one thing that exists would have come into existence.
4 Within Him resided life itself— the very source and essence of life. And this life that He possessed served as the illuminating light for humanity, revealing truth and dispelling darkness.
5 This light continues to shine forth into the darkness of human sin and ignorance, and the darkness has proven powerless to extinguish it, overcome it, or even comprehend it.
6 God commissioned a man to appear on the scene of human history, and his name was John.
7 This individual came with a specific mission: to bear witness concerning the Light, in order that all people might come to faith through his testimony about the Light.
8 John himself was not the Light he proclaimed; rather, he came for the purpose of bearing witness to and pointing others towards the Light.
9 The genuine Light, who provides spiritual illumination to every person who comes into the world, was at that very moment making His entrance into human history.
10 He was present in the world that He Himself had created through His power, yet the world and its people failed to recognise Him or acknowledge His identity.
11 He came to His own people—Israel, who stood in covenant relationship with God under the Law—but His own people did not receive Him.
12 Yet to all those who did receive Him and welcome His presence, to those who placed their trust in His name and person, He granted the authority and privilege to become children of God, adopted into His family.
13 These individuals were born into God's family not through natural descent or bloodline, not through human desire or the physical act of procreation, not through the decision or effort of any human being, but through the supernatural work of God Himself.
14 The eternal Word took on human flesh and made His dwelling among us as a man, taking up residence in our midst. We have gazed upon His glory with our own eyes—a glory that befits the unique Son who came from the Father. He was abundantly filled with grace that provides what we do not deserve, and truth that reveals reality as it truly is.
15 John bore testimony concerning Him and made a public declaration, proclaiming these words: "This is the One about whom I spoke previously when I said, 'The One who is coming after me in time has surpassed me in rank and dignity, because He existed before me in eternity.'"
16 For out of the abundant fullness of His inexhaustible resources, all of us have received blessing upon blessing, one gracious gift replacing another in continuous succession.
17 For the Law with its demands and requirements was given through Moses as an intermediary, but grace that pardons and truth that liberates came into the world through Jesus Christ.
18 No human being has ever gazed directly upon God at any time in history. The unique, one-and-only God, the One who eternally exists in the closest relationship with the Father, that very One has made Him known and revealed Him fully to humanity.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
Mt. 3:1-12; Mk. 1:2-8; Lk. 3:15-17
19 This is the testimony that John gave when the Jewish religious authorities sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem with instructions to interrogate him, demanding to know, "Who do you claim to be?"
20 John made a clear and unambiguous confession without any denial or evasion. He openly confessed, "I am not the Christ, the Messiah you are expecting."
21 Therefore they pressed him further with their questions: "Then who are you claiming to be? Are you Elijah, the prophet who was to return?" And his response was direct: "I am not." They continued their interrogation: "Are you the Prophet that Moses promised would come?" And he answered definitively, "No, I am not."
22 So they said to him with some urgency, "Tell us who you are, so that we may carry back an answer to those who commissioned us to come here. What do you declare concerning your own identity and mission?"
23 He responded by saying, "I am the voice of one person crying out in the wilderness with this message: 'Prepare a straight highway for the Lord to travel upon,'* exactly as Isaiah the prophet declared in his prophecy."
24 (Now it should be noted that those who had been commissioned and sent to question him were representatives from the party of the Pharisees.)
25 They continued their questioning of him, asking, "Why then are you performing baptisms, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah who was to prepare His way, nor the Prophet whom Moses foretold?"
26 John gave them this response: "I am baptising with water as a symbol of repentance. But standing among you at this very moment is One whom you do not recognise or know,
27 the One who is coming after me in His public ministry, whose sandal strap I am not worthy or qualified to untie as His lowest servant!"
28 These interrogations and interactions took place in Bethany, which was located on the far side of the Jordan River, at the place where John was conducting his baptising ministry.
Jesus, the Lamb of God
29 On the day following this questioning, John caught sight of Jesus making His way towards him, and he made this proclamation: "Look! Behold the Lamb of God, the One who takes away the sin of the entire world!
30 This is the very person concerning whom I spoke when I said, 'A man is coming after me who ranks far above me in importance and dignity, because He existed before I was ever born.'
31 I myself did not know His true identity initially, but the very reason I came baptising with water was in order that He might be publicly revealed and made known to the nation of Israel."
32 Then John proceeded to give this testimony, declaring, "I have witnessed with my own eyes the Spirit descending from heaven in a manner resembling a dove, and He settled upon Him and remained there continuously.
33 I myself did not recognise Him at first, but the One who sent me with the mission to baptise with water, that very One gave me these instructions: 'The One upon whom you observe the Spirit descending and remaining in permanent residence, He is the One who will baptise people with the Holy Spirit.'
34 I have seen this with my own eyes and have given my testimony that this One is the Son of God."
The First Disciples of Christ
35 On the following day, John was again standing in the company of two of his disciples,
36 and as he observed Jesus walking past them, he declared, "Look! There is the Lamb of God!"
37 The two disciples heard him making this statement, and they began to follow Jesus.
38 Jesus turned around and saw them following behind Him, and He addressed them with this question: "What are you seeking?" They responded to Him with their own question: "Rabbi" (which, when translated into Greek, means Teacher), "where are You residing?"
39 He extended an invitation to them: "Come with Me and you will discover the answer." So they accompanied Him and saw the place where He was staying, and they remained with Him as guests that entire day. It was approximately the tenth hour of the day, around four o'clock in the afternoon.
40 Andrew, who was the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two disciples who had heard John's declaration and had followed Jesus as a result.
41 This man immediately sought out his own brother Simon and announced to him with great excitement, "We have found the Messiah!" (which is translated into Greek as Christ, the Anointed One).
42 He brought his brother to meet Jesus. When Jesus looked intently at him, He declared, "You are Simon, the son of John. Your name will be called Cephas" (which is translated as Peter, meaning "rock").
The Calling of Philip and Nathanael
43 On the day that followed, Jesus decided to depart for the region of Galilee, and He encountered Philip. Jesus issued this direct command to him: "Follow Me as My disciple."
44 Now Philip's hometown was Bethsaida, which was known as the city where Andrew and Peter also originated.
45 Philip sought out Nathanael and announced to him, "We have found the very One about whom Moses wrote in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus, the son of Joseph, who comes from the town of Nazareth."
46 Nathanael responded to him with scepticism: "Can anything good or worthwhile come out of Nazareth?" Philip replied to him simply, "Come and see for yourself."
47 Jesus observed Nathanael approaching Him and made this assessment about him: "Look at this man! Here is a true Israelite, an authentic member of God's people, in whom there is no deceit, no hypocrisy, no guile!"
48 Nathanael asked Him with astonishment, "How do You know anything about me? From what source do You have knowledge of my character?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip ever called you to come, while you were sitting beneath the fig tree, I saw you there."
49 Nathanael responded to Him with a confession of faith: "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"
50 Jesus spoke in response and said to him, "Do you believe simply because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will witness and experience far greater things than these!"
51 Then He continued speaking to him: "I tell you with absolute certainty and truth: You will see heaven opened wide, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."
Notes
23 Quoted from Is. 40:3
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
