John 1

Quick answer

The eternal Word, who was with God and was God, becomes flesh; John the Baptist points to him as the Lamb of God.

John's prologue (1:1–18) deliberately echoes Genesis 1 to declare Jesus' deity and pre-existence, then announces the incarnation. The rest of the chapter gathers the first witnesses and disciples around him.

Part of The Word Became Flesh📖 John introduction

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¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ✦ ²The same was in the beginning with God. ³All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. ✦ ⁴In him was life; and the life was the light of men. ✦ ⁵And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. ✦ ⁶There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ✦ ⁷The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. ✦ ⁸He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. ✦ ⁹That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. ✦ ¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. ✦ ¹¹He came unto his own, and his own received him not. ✦ ¹²But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: ✦ ¹³Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. ✦ ¹⁴And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. ✦ ¹⁵John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. ✦ ¹⁶And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. ✦ ¹⁷For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. ✦ ¹⁸No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. ✦ ¹⁹And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? ✦ ²⁰And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. ✦ ²¹And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. ✦ ²²Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? ✦ ²³He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. ✦ ²⁴And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. ✦ ²⁵And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? ✦ ²⁶John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; ✦ ²⁷He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose. ✦ ²⁸These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. ✦ ²⁹The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. ✦ ³⁰This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. ✦ ³¹And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. ✦ ³²And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. ✦ ³³And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. ✦ ³⁴And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. ✦ ³⁵Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; ✦ ³⁶And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! ✦ ³⁷And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. ✦ ³⁸Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? ✦ ³⁹He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. ✦ ⁴⁰One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ✦ ⁴¹He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. ✦ ⁴²And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. ✦ ⁴³The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. ✦ ⁴⁴Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ✦ ⁴⁵Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. ✦ ⁴⁶And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. ✦ ⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! ✦ ⁴⁸Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. ✦ ⁴⁹Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. ✦ ⁵⁰Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. ✦ ⁵¹And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

In this chapter

Theme Light & Darkness Person / place John the Baptist Person / place Moses Concept The Lamb of God Concept The Word (Logos)

Where this chapter connects

John 1 ·56 John 3 ·29 John 6 ·17 Matt 3 ·16 Luke 1 ·15 John 5 ·15 Luke 3 ·14 Mark 1 ·13

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical
A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.
★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryHolyLandSiteHolyLandSite · Free · evangelical
Free on-location videos tying biblical events to the actual sites in Israel — the Temple Mount, Galilee, Capernaum, and more.
ApologeticsCold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace)J. Warner Wallace · Free · evangelical
A cold-case homicide detective examines the Gospels' reliability — forensic faith for skeptics and seekers.

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
CommentaryCommentary on John 1Matthew Henry · Free
Henry on the prologue — rich on the Word and the incarnation.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Seminary

★ Start hereApologeticsGary Habermas — the resurrectionGary Habermas · Free · evangelical
130+ free videos and lectures from the scholar behind the "minimal facts" method — the start-here on the historical evidence for the resurrection. (Only his books are paid.)
★ Start hereCommentaryThe Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)D. A. Carson · ~720 pp · Paid · reformed
The go-to mid-level exegetical commentary on John — rigorous and readable.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on John 1YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — John 1David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — John 1Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

John 2 →