John 1 Commentary
Yes, it is a poem about the glory of the scriptures – the Word. But there is far too much about this Word to confine it to the writings only. The Word becomes God – the Creator God.
“Let there be light” Genesis 1 verse 3. Interestingly, God creates light even before the Sun is created! The light brings order to a world of darkness. It had been formless.
And this light is the life! So there is life even before the human body is made out of the soil (the ground).
The statement, “Let there be light” is life-creating and it happens on the first day. Our minds are fresh with the events that concluded the gospel of Luke. The Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms combine to announce the Word, the Light. And on the first day of the week, day 1, the resurrection takes place.
Verse 9 announces the coming of the light. It is the same statement as Genesis 1 verse 3. If the world is formless, and it is, we know the world needs this light – Jesus.
We have our second Adam. It is a new creation!
This confusion is interesting. He is both the light (the created) and the Creator at the same time. There is no life until God breathes into a mound of soil. We know we are dead until Jesus breathes into our nostrils the breath of life.
John’s gospel is complex and brings all the pieces together from before creation when the Word is God and is with God at the same time.
In John’s time, the Word becomes flesh. The declaration, “Let there be light” still reigns and the Word becomes the Light. John the Baptist announces the coming (actually the becoming). It is pleasantly complex – divinely beautiful. The human mind cannot tell but it becomes aware of sovereignly important events in creation.
Verse 29. The word-cam-light assumes the title of the Lamb of God. Reference to the lamb that God provided for Abraham is explicit.
Nathanael adds more titles: The “Son of God” and the “King of Israel”. He is also a Rabbi, meaning a Teacher.
He takes on all the titles that Adam is supposed to wear.
Chapter 1 introduces the key concepts that the rest of the chapters will develop. The Word existed before creation. The Word master-minded creation and was ‘hands-on’ during the process. Israel (Jews) would react in different ways to the word-cam-light, to the Messiah, to the Son of God, to the Lamb of God, to the Teacher, and to the man Jesus (the flesh).
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