When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” A true Israelite, one who is upholding the covenant of God, is one in whom there is no guile. “guile” (KJV) = dolos = bait for catching fish; therefore any cunning contrivance for catching or …
Category Archives: Book of John By Verse
John 1:46
“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. We don’t know that Nazareth had a bad reputation. Nathanael was from Cana, which was only about 3 or 4 miles from Nazareth, so he would know of Jesus’ home town. He was probably expressing skepticism at the possibility of the Messiah …
John 1:45
Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Philip wastes no time in sharing that which he has discovered. Why? Note that even with Philip’s limited capabilities he is able to win one to Christ. Note …
John 1:44
Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Bethsaida means “house of fish.” There may have been 2 Bethsaidas, one on the southeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee where the Jordan River empties into it (Bethsaida Julias), and the other on the northwestern shore of the same lake, near the town of Capernaum, …
John 1:43
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” John and Andrew sought Jesus after being pointed in that direction by John the Baptist; Andrew brought his brother, Simon to Christ; but Philip wasn’t looking for Christ and wasn’t brought to Him by anyone else. Jesus sought him …
John 1:42
And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter). Andrew seems to be always bringing people to Jesus. (John 6:8-9, 12:20-22) How about you? John 6:8-9 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a …
John 1:41
The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). Dods points out that “In Jewish lips ‘we have found the Messiah’ was the most comprehensive of all Eurekas.” (NICNT, John p.159) Can you picture Andrew finding his brother and giving him …
John 1:40
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. “Andrew” = Andreas = means “manly”. When the writer of this gospel introduces Andrew, he points out his relationship to his more famous brother and this is the way he is characteristically identified, as the …
John 1:39
“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour. Jesus welcomed them, not just to come and talk, but to come and find out answers which only He could give. He was not referring to their …
John 1:38
Turning round, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” following = Apparently the two are too shy to approach Jesus and just followed behind Him instead, but Jesus does something that is very typical of Him: He turns and speaks to them …
John 1:37
When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. The response of the 2 disciples to John’s identification of Jesus was to “follow” Him. The word “follow” can be used in 2 ways: to follow in a physical sense as down a path. to follow as a disciple (learner). Both senses are in effect …
John 1:36
When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” “saw” the verb means to fix the eyes for a moment upon an object, or, more characteristically, a searching look placed upon an individual. This doesn’t tell us much, however. I wonder what kind of look John fixed upon Jesus. RWP states that the …
John 1:35
The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. The 2 disciples were Andrew, whose name is given in verse 40, and though his name is not given, possibly John, the disciple Jesus loved, which has been thought since early times.
John 1:34
I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.” Again John bears witness and again uses the emphatic form of I saw which, along with the present form of “bare record” signifies that John was a witness to these facts and that they have a continuing effect upon him and upon …
John 1:33
I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptise with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptise with the Holy Spirit.’ Again John states that he did not know the Messiah. He could have meant that he …
John 1:32
Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. John again fulfills his mission of being a witness to Christ. The Greek for “I saw” is in the perfect tense which gives the verb full force; John saw with his eyes, not in a …
John 1:31
I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptising with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” I knew him not = we don’t know if John personally knew Jesus or not. With John’s secluded upbringing, this is a possibility (Luke 1:80). Before he was born, he apparently recognized the Messiah (Luke 1:41) …
John 1:30
This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ John’s statement is recorded in John 1:15. John 1:15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he …
John 1:29
The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the very first public declaration of Jesus Christ, and what a declaration it is! Our job as Christians is, like John, to point the world to the Lamb of …
John 1:27-28
He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. John didn’t answer their question directly. Note that he did not even consider himself worthy to unloose the sandal of …
John 1:26
“I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. “One you do not know” is an incredibly sad commentary. The religious leaders of God’s chosen people should have been the first to recognize the Messiah when He came, and yet He was standing in their very midst and they …
John 1:24-25
Now some Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” Baptism was used by the Jews to admit Gentile converts. The males were circumcised but both males and females were baptized, denoting the ceremonial removable of the contaminants they had acquired in …
John 1:23
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” John’s mission was twofold: witness to the coming Messiah (John 1:7,19,29) John 1:7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men …
John 1:22
Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” John’s questioners needed to know who John was so they could report back to those who sent them, but John had denied every suggestion they had so far put forth so they changed …
John 1:21
They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” Since he claimed to not be the Christ, the delegation had a few more questions to ask him: They asked him if he was Elijah because prophecy had it that Elijah would return …
John 1:20
He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Christ.” The writer of the gospel uses repetition to emphasize the strong reply of John the Baptist to the possibly unspoken, but definitely perceived question of the delegation. It is even more emphatic than the NIV shows and is stated 3 times (in …
John 1:19
Now this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. John had attracted much attention by his preaching and baptism, and by the great number of people who were following him. (Matt 3:5) In light of the fact that the religious leaders of the day were careful …
John 1:18
No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. “No one has ever seen God” with the physical eye. God is spirit and invisible. All of man’s visions of God were partial until Christ. (Ex 33:20, De 4:12, John 6:46) Exodus 33:20 But,” he said, …
John 1:17
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. “the law” strictly speaking was the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the Old Testament. It came to mean the whole of scripture and thus, the whole of Judaism. Here it probably takes on the last meaning; John is contrasting Judaism with Christianity. Both …
John 1:16
(NIV) From the fulness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. (NAS95) For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. “fulness” in the Greek is pleroma which means that which fills. We have all received of the blessings of Christ which completely fill us. Barclay says that the significance of …
John 1:15
John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” “cried” in the Greek is krazo which means to croak as of the cry of a raven; to cry out, to speak in a loud voice. John’s testimony was not spoken softly. This …
John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. “the Word was made flesh” = the Word really became truly and fully human. John could have said that the Word became a …
John 1:13
children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. natural descent (NIV) “blood” (KJV) (“bloods” in Greek) (Mt 3:9, 1Peter 1:23) What man produces out of himself must of necessity be fallen as he is (Gen 5:3). The same principle holds true in being born of …
John 1:12
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— The word “right” in (NIV) is “power” (KJV) and is translated from the Greek exousia (not dunamis which is physical power and from which we get the word “dynamite”) which means power of choice, of authority, of rule, or …
John 1:11
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. We could translate this as: “He came home and His own home folks rejected Him.” The phrase “his own” (idios) is translated as “his own home” in (John 19:27). “His own” were generally, all of mankind, but more specifically, God’s …
John 1:10
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him. John again uses repetition for emphasis. The Word was continuously (not a one time act of incarnation, but a continuous action form of the verb denoting action from the beginning and continuing through the present) in …
John 1:9
The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. This verse makes 3 important points: The Light which John bore witness to was the true light, not a false light (of which there have been many), nor a partial light (such as prophets like John himself). This is the light which …
John 1:8
He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The writer again uses repetition to emphasize his point: John the Baptist was not the Messiah, but he was an emissary from God with a very important mission, to be a witness as to the real Messiah of God. Even …
John 1:7
He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. What was God’s purpose for John? Was he sent to preach repentance? Was he sent to baptize? According to this passage his purpose was to be a witness and the purpose of a witness is to verify the truth. …
John 1:6
There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. Note the contrast between the Word and John: John “came;” the Word “was” John was a man; the Word was God John was a man on a mission from God. He was very special. There had been no prophets in Israel for 430 years and then …
John 1:5
The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. The purpose of light is to shine and thus dispel darkness, whether in the physical or spiritual realm. It is to be noted that “light and darkness are opposites, but they are not opposites of equal power. Light is stronger than darkness; …
John 1:4
In him was life, and that life was the light of men. Not only did all things come into existence through the Word, but everything that has life has it only because of Him. Life does not exist on its own; it exists only in the Logos. (Genesis 1:20, John 11:25, 14:6, 5:26, 10:10, 3:16, …
John 1:3
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. The Word had an integral part in creation. The first half of the verse and the second say the same thing, first positively and then, negatively. The repetition is, again, for emphasis and clarification, and proves the validity of verse 1. For …
John 1:2
He was with God in the beginning. Verse 2 is a restatement of the first part of verse 1, for emphasis and clarification. The Word was God but He was also with God. Sometimes we need to be taught in the same manner a nail needs to be driven into a board: the point needs to be …
John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This verse is a 3-step increasingly-greater revelation of the “Word.” First we see that He was in the beginning, then we are shown that He was with God, and lastly that He is God. It speaks of the Word’s eternity in three …
Introduction to Gospel of John
The gospel of John has been called by some “the greatest book in the world.” It is as clear as a crystalline pool but so deep that its bottom will never be seen. It is a book for children and scholars, neither of which will ever get their fill. In one sense, it is direct, …