John 1
1
The Life-Light
1-2The Word was first,
the Word present to God,
God present to the Word.
The Word was God,
in readiness for God from day one.
3-5Everything was created through him;
nothing—not one thing!—
came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn’t put it out.
6-8There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light.
9-13The Life-Light was the real thing:
Every person entering Life
he brings into Light.
He was in the world,
the world was there through him,
and yet the world didn’t even notice.
He came to his own people,
but they didn’t want him.
But whoever did want him,
who believed he was who he claimed
and would do what he said,
He made to be their true selves,
their child-of-God selves.
These are the God-begotten,
not blood-begotten,
not flesh-begotten,
not sex-begotten.
14The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
the one-of-a-kind glory,
like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
true from start to finish.
15John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.”
16-18We all live off his generous abundance,
gift after gift after gift.
We got the basics from Moses,
and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
This endless knowing and understanding—
all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
No one has ever seen God,
not so much as a glimpse.
This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
who exists at the very heart of the Father,
has made him plain as day.
Thunder in the Desert
19-20When Jews from Jerusalem sent a group of priests and officials to ask John who he was, he was completely honest. He didn’t evade the question. He told the plain truth: “I am not the Messiah.”
21They pressed him, “Who, then? Elijah?”
“I am not.”
“The Prophet?”
“No.”
22Exasperated, they said, “Who, then? We need an answer for those who sent us. Tell us something—anything!—about yourself.”
23“I’m thunder in the desert: ‘Make the road straight for God!’ I’m doing what the prophet Isaiah preached.”
24-25Those sent to question him were from the Pharisee party. Now they had a question of their own: “If you’re neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, why do you baptize?”
26-27John answered, “I only baptize using water. A person you don’t recognize has taken his stand in your midst. He comes after me, but he is not in second place to me. I’m not even worthy to hold his coat for him.”
28These conversations took place in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing at the time.
The God-Revealer
29-31The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and yelled out, “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world! This is the man I’ve been talking about, ‘the One who comes after me but is really ahead of me.’ I knew nothing about who he was—only this: that my task has been to get Israel ready to recognize him as the God-Revealer. That is why I came here baptizing with water, giving you a good bath and scrubbing sins from your life so you can get a fresh start with God.”
32-34John clinched his witness with this: “I watched the Spirit, like a dove flying down out of the sky, making himself at home in him. I repeat, I know nothing about him except this: The One who authorized me to baptize with water told me, ‘The One on whom you see the Spirit come down and stay, this One will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ That’s exactly what I saw happen, and I’m telling you, there’s no question about it: This is the Son of God.”
Come, See for Yourself
35-36The next day John was back at his post with two disciples, who were watching. He looked up, saw Jesus walking nearby, and said, “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb.”
37-38The two disciples heard him and went after Jesus. Jesus looked over his shoulder and said to them, “What are you after?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39He replied, “Come along and see for yourself.”
They came, saw where he was living, and ended up staying with him for the day. It was late afternoon when this happened.
40-42Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John’s witness and followed Jesus. The first thing he did after finding where Jesus lived was find his own brother, Simon, telling him, “We’ve found the Messiah” (that is, “Christ”). He immediately led him to Jesus.
Jesus took one look up and said, “You’re John’s son, Simon? From now on your name is Cephas” (or Peter, which means “Rock”).
43-44The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. When he got there, he ran across Philip and said, “Come, follow me.” (Philip’s hometown was Bethsaida, the same as Andrew and Peter.)
45-46Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, “We’ve found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It’s Jesus, Joseph’s son, the one from Nazareth!” Nathanael said, “Nazareth? You’ve got to be kidding.”
But Philip said, “Come, see for yourself.”
47When Jesus saw him coming he said, “There’s a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body.”
48Nathanael said, “Where did you get that idea? You don’t know me.”
Jesus answered, “One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree.”
49Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!”
50-51Jesus said, “You’ve become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven’t seen anything yet! Before this is over you’re going to see heaven open and God’s angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again.”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
John 1
1
The Eternal Word
1In the beginning #Gen. 1:1; (Col. 1:17); 1 John 1:1was the Word, and the #(John 1:14); Rev. 19:13Word was #(John 17:5; 1 John 1:2)with God, and the Word was #(1 John 5:20)God. 2#Gen. 1:1He was in the beginning with God. 3#Ps. 33:6; (Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:16, 17; Heb. 1:2)All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4#(1 John 5:11)In Him was life, and #John 8:12; 9:5; 12:46the life was the light of men. 5And #(John 3:19)the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
John’s Witness: The True Light
6There was a #Mal. 3:1; Matt. 3:1–17; Mark 1:1–11; Luke 3:1–22man sent from God, whose name was John. 7This man came for a #John 3:25–36; 5:33–35witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might #(John 3:16)believe. 8He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that #Is. 9:2; 49:6Light. 9#Is. 49:6That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
10He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and #Acts 13:27; 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2the world did not know Him. 11#Is. 53:3; (Luke 19:14)He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12But #(John 11:52); Gal. 3:26as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13#(John 3:5); James 1:18; (1 Pet. 1:23; 1 John 2:29; 3:9)who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
The Word Becomes Flesh
14#Matt. 1:16; Rev. 19:13And the Word #Rom. 1:3; Gal. 4:4; Phil. 2:7; 1 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 1:1; 4:2; 2 John 7became #Heb. 2:11flesh and dwelt among us, and #Is. 40:5; 2 Pet. 1:16–18we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, #(John 8:32; 14:6; 18:37); Col. 1:19full of grace and truth.
15#Mal. 3:1; John 3:32John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, #(Matt. 3:11)‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, #(Col. 1:17)for He was before me.’ ”
16And of His #(Eph. 1:23; 3:19; 4:13; Col. 1:19; 2:9)fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17For #(Ex. 20:1)the law was given through Moses, but #John 1:14; (Rom. 5:21; 6:14)grace and #(John 8:32; 14:6; 18:37)truth came through Jesus Christ. 18#Ex. 33:20; Matt. 11:27; 1 Tim. 6:16No one has seen God at any time. #Ps. 2:7; John 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
A Voice in the Wilderness
19Now this is #John 5:33the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
20#Luke 3:15; John 3:28; Acts 13:25He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
21And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you #Deut. 18:15, 18; Matt. 21:11; John 6:14; 7:40the Prophet?”
And he answered, “No.”
22Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”
23He said: #Matt. 3:3“I am
#Is. 40:3; Mal. 3:1‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’
as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. 25And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26John answered them, saying, #Matt. 3:11; (Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; Acts 1:5)“I baptize with water, #Mal. 3:1; John 4:10; 8:19; 9:30; Acts 13:27but there stands One among you whom you do not know. 27#(John 3:31); Acts 19:4; (Col. 1:17)It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
28These things were done #Judg. 7:24in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The Lamb of God
29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! #(Ex. 12:3); Acts 8:32; (1 Pet. 1:19); Rev. 5:6–14The Lamb of God #(Is. 53:11; 1 Cor. 15:3; Gal. 1:4; 1 Pet. 2:24; 1 John 2:2; Rev. 1:5)who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ 31I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, #Mal. 3:1; Matt. 3:6therefore I came baptizing with water.”
32#Is. 42:1; 61:1; Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. 33I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, #Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; Acts 1:5this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34And I have seen and testified that this is the #Ps. 2:7; Luke 1:35; John 11:27Son of God.”
The First Disciples
35Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, #John 1:29“Behold the Lamb of God!”
37The two disciples heard him speak, and they #Matt. 4:20, 22followed Jesus. 38Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”
They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”
39He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).
40One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was #Matt. 4:18; Mark 1:29; 13:3; John 6:8; 12:22Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). 42And he brought him to Jesus.
Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. #Matt. 16:18You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).
Philip and Nathanael
43The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found #Matt. 10:3; John 6:5; 12:21, 22; 14:8, 9Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” 44Now #John 12:21Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found #John 21:2Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom #(Gen. 3:15; Deut. 18:18); Luke 24:27Moses in the law, and also the #(Is. 4:2; 7:14; 9:6; Mic. 5:2; Zech. 6:12); Luke 24:27prophets, wrote—Jesus #(Matt. 2:23); Luke 2:4of Nazareth, the #Luke 3:23son of Joseph.”
46And Nathanael said to him, #John 7:41, 42, 52“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
47Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, #Ps. 32:2; 73:1an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”
48Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
49Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, #Ps. 2:7; Matt. 14:33; Luke 1:35You are the Son of God! You are #Matt. 21:5the King of Israel!”
50Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, #Gen. 28:12; (Luke 2:9, 13); Acts 1:10; 7:55, 56hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.