John 1

Session 1: The Word Became Flesh (John 1:1–18)

Read: John 1:1–18; Genesis 1:1–5; Psalm 33:6; Exodus 25:8; Exodus 32:1–6; Exodus 33:18–34:10

1. Put John 1:1 beside Genesis 1:1. What opening words do they share? According to John, what already “was” when the beginning took place?

2. Verse 1 makes two statements: “the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” What would each statement mean on its own, without the other? Why does John need both?

3. Read verse 3 slowly. If the Word were a created being, He would belong among the things that “came into being.” What does verse 3 say about those things, and what does that tell you about the Word?

4. Genesis 1 repeats “Then God said,” and Psalm 33:6 says, “By the word of Yahweh the heavens were made.” What do these passages suggest about why John calls the Son “the Word”?

5. In verses 10 and 11, what does John say about the world, and about “those who were His own”? Who were “His own”? What does their response reveal about the condition of mankind?

6. According to verses 12 and 13, how does a person become a child of God? Name the three sources of new birth that verse 13 rules out, and the one it gives instead.

7. The word translated “dwelt” in verse 14 means to pitch a tent. Read Exodus 25:8. Why did Yahweh have Israel build the tabernacle? What is John claiming when he uses this word of Jesus?

8. Read Exodus 32:1–6, then Exodus 33:18–34:10. What had Israel just done when Moses asked to see Yahweh’s glory? How does Yahweh describe Himself in Exodus 34:6, and what does He announce in 34:10? (“Lovingkindness” translates the Hebrew word hesed, Yahweh’s loyalty to His covenant promises.)

9. Compare Exodus 34:6, “abounding in lovingkindness and truth,” with John 1:14, “full of grace and truth.” Given when Yahweh first spoke those words, what kind of glory does John say “we beheld”?

10. Verse 18 says, “No one has seen God at any time,” and Yahweh told Moses the same in Exodus 33:20. What does John say the only begotten God has done about that?

11. Verses 10 to 13 describe two responses to the Word: not receiving Him, and receiving Him by believing in His name. What does John say each one leads to? Which describes you?

Session 2: The Witness of John the Baptist (John 1:19–34)

Read: John 1:19–34; Malachi 4:4–6; Luke 1:17; Deuteronomy 18:15; Isaiah 40:1–3; Ezekiel 36:25–28; Genesis 22:7–8; Exodus 12:12–13; Isaiah 53:6–7; Isaiah 11:1–2

1. Verse 19 calls what follows “the witness of John,” and verse 20 says he “confessed and did not deny, but confessed.” Why do you think John stacks the verbs like this? What is he making sure no one concludes?

2. Read Malachi 4:4–6. Which two figures does Malachi point Israel to? What will Yahweh do if Elijah’s ministry does not turn the people back (“lest I come and strike the land”)? What does that tell you about Israel’s condition when John appears?

3. John says he is not Elijah (verse 21), but Luke 1:17 says he came “in the spirit and power of Elijah.” How can both be true?

4. Compare John’s answer in verse 23 with Isaiah 40:3. In Isaiah, whose way does the voice prepare? Who arrives in John 1 immediately after John says this? What does that imply about who Jesus is?

5. Read Isaiah 40:1–2. What is Yahweh announcing to Jerusalem, and what has happened to “her iniquity”? Why is this good news for a people in exile under the covenant curses?

6. Read Ezekiel 36:25–28. What does Yahweh promise to do with clean water, and what else does He promise to give His people? Compare verse 33. Who will give what John’s water baptism could not?

7. In verse 26 John tells the delegation, “among you stands One whom you do not know.” Look back at verse 10. What is already true of the leaders from Jerusalem?

8. Read Genesis 22:7–8 and Exodus 12:12–13. In each passage, what does the lamb do, and whom does it protect?

9. Read Isaiah 53:6–7. Who is “like a lamb that is led to slaughter,” and what has Yahweh caused to “fall on Him”? What, then, is John claiming in verse 29 when he calls Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”?

10. Verse 32 says the Spirit “abided” on Jesus, and verse 33 repeats it: “descending and abiding on Him.” Compare Judges 14:6 and 1 Samuel 16:13–14, where the Spirit comes upon a judge and a king, and departs from Saul. Then read Isaiah 11:1–2. What is different about the Spirit on the promised ruler from Jesse’s line?

11. Verse 7 says John came “so that all might believe through him,” and verse 34 gives his testimony: “this is the Son of God.” John points away from himself to Jesus every time he speaks. What does his testimony call for from you?

Session 3: Come and See (John 1:35–51)

Read: John 1:35–51; John 15:4–5; Genesis 17:5; Genesis 27:35–36; Genesis 28:10–17; Genesis 32:28; Psalm 2:6–7; Daniel 7:13–14; Micah 5:2

1. Jesus’ first words in John’s Gospel are a question (verse 38). What does He ask the two disciples, and what do they ask Him in return?

2. “Staying” and “stayed” in verses 38 and 39 translate the same Greek word as “abided” and “abiding” in verses 32 and 33. Read John 15:4–5. What will Jesus later do with this word?

3. Track the word “found” through verses 41 to 45. Who finds whom each time? In verse 43, who does the finding? What does that suggest about how people come to Jesus?

4. In verse 42 Jesus gives Simon a new name. Read Genesis 17:5 and Genesis 32:28. Who gives the new names there? What does it show about Jesus that He does the same?

5. Philip says Jesus is the One “of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote” (verse 45). Nathanael replies, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Read Micah 5:2. Why might Nathanael not have expected the Messiah from Nazareth? How does Philip answer him?

6. Read Genesis 27:35–36. How does Isaac say Jacob came to him, and what does Esau say Jacob’s name means? Now read verse 47 again. What is Jesus saying about Nathanael when He calls him “an Israelite in whom there is no deceit”? (The Greek translation of Genesis that was read in Jesus’ day, called the Septuagint, uses the same word for “deceitfully” as John uses for “deceit.”)

7. Nathanael confesses Jesus as “the Son of God” and “the King of Israel” (verse 49). Read Psalm 2:6–7. How does this psalm put those two titles together?

8. Read Genesis 28:10–17. What did Jacob see, and what did he say when he woke (verses 16 and 17)? In John 1:51, what or who takes the place of the ladder? What is Jesus claiming to be?

9. Jesus calls Himself “the Son of Man.” Read Daniel 7:13–14. Where does the one like a Son of Man come from, and what is given to Him?

10. Verse 18 said, “No one has seen God at any time.” In verse 51 Jesus promises, “you will see,” and the “you” is plural. What will His followers see, and through whom?

11. Everyone who meets Jesus in verses 35 to 51 either follows Him or confesses who He is. Looking back over the whole chapter, who does John say Jesus is, and what does he expect a reader to do about it?