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 through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made. ✦ ⁴In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ✦ ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it. ✦ ⁶There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. ✦ ⁷The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him. ✦ ⁸He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light. ✦ ⁹The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world. ✦ ¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn’t recognize him. ✦ ¹¹He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him. ✦ ¹²But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name: ✦ ¹³who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. ✦ ¹⁴The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. ✦ ¹⁵John testified about him. He cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.’” ✦ ¹⁶From his fullness we all received grace upon grace. ✦ ¹⁷For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. ✦ ¹⁸No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. ✦ ¹⁹This is John’s testimony, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ✦ ²⁰He declared, and didn’t deny, but he declared, “I am not the Christ.” ✦ ²¹They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” ✦ ²²They said therefore to him, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ✦ ²³He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” ✦ ²⁴The ones who had been sent were from the Pharisees. ✦ ²⁵They asked him, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” ✦ ²⁶John answered them, “I baptize in water, but among you stands one whom you don’t know. ✦ ²⁷He is the one who comes after me, who is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to loosen.” ✦ ²⁸These things were done in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. ✦ ²⁹The next day, he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, 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 didn’t know him, but for this reason I came baptizing in water: that he would be revealed to Israel.” ✦ ³²John testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on him. ✦ ³³I didn’t recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water, he said to me, ‘On whomever you will see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ ✦ ³⁴I have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” ✦ ³⁵Again, the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples, ✦ ³⁶and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” ✦ ³⁷The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. ✦ ³⁸Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, being interpreted, Teacher), “where are you staying?” ✦ ³⁹He said to them, “Come, and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour. ✦ ⁴⁰One of the two who heard John, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ✦ ⁴¹He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is, being interpreted, Christ ). ✦ ⁴²He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is by interpretation, Peter). ✦ ⁴³On the next day, he was determined to go out into Galilee, and he found Philip. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” ✦ ⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. ✦ ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” ✦ ⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ✦ ⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said about him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” ✦ ⁴⁸Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ✦ ⁴⁹Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are King of Israel!” ✦ ⁵⁰Jesus answered him, “Because I told you, ‘I saw you underneath the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these!” ✦ ⁵¹He said to him, “Most certainly, I tell you, hereafter you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on 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 →