This document contains the text of John 1:1-18 from the New Testament along with commentary. It summarizes that: - John introduces Jesus as the divine Word/Wisdom that existed with God from the beginning and through whom all things were created. - The Word became flesh and dwelt among humanity, and we have seen his glory. Though he was in the world, the world did not recognize him. - All who received him and believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, born not of human descent but of God.

1. A Prayer for the People of God
Light of life, you came in flesh,
born into human pain and joy,
and gave us power to be your children.
Grant us faith, O Christ, to see
your presence among us,
so that all of creation may sing new songs
of gladness and walk in the way of peace.
Amen.

3. John 1:1-18
Second SUNDAY After CHRISTMAS

4. St.John’s
Bible
DonaldJackson(2005)

5. ADayIsSurelyComing
MikeMoyers(2012)

6. ChristChild
MikeChapman(1999)

7. John 1:1-18
Second SUNDAY After CHRISTMAS

8. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made
that has been made. In him was life,
and that life was the light of all mankind.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:1-5

9. In Jewish thought, the Word of God
was the way God communicated
(Godself.) In Greek thought,
the Word was the central idea
that holds the universe together.
Africa Bible Commentary

10. By calling Jesus ”the Word,” John
calls him the embodiment of all
God’s revelation in the Scriptures…
Jewish people considered
Wisdom/Word divine yet distinct
from the God the Father, so it was
the closest available term John had
to describe Jesus.
Craig S. Keener

11. There was a man sent from God whose
name was John. He came as a witness
to testify concerning that light, so that
through him all might believe. He himself
was not the light; he came only as a witness
to the light. The true light that gives light
to everyone was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and though the
world was made through him,
the world did not recognize him.
John 1:6-10

12. He came to that which was his own,
but his own did not receive him.
Yet to all who did receive him,
to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children
of God— children born not of natural
descent, nor of human decision
or a husband’s will,
but born of God.
John 1:11-13

13. The Word became flesh and made his
dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,
the glory of the one and only Son, who
came from the Father, full of grace and
truth. (John testified concerning him.
He cried out, saying, “This is the one
I spoke about when I said, ‘He who
comes after me has surpassed me
because he was before me.’”)
John 1:14-15

14. Neither Greek philosophers nor
Jewish teachers could conceive of
the Word becoming flesh. Since the
time of Plato, Greek philosophers had
emphasized that the ideal was what
was invisible and eternal; most Jews so
heavily emphasized that a human being
could not become a god that they never
considered God might become human.
Craig S. Keener

15. Out of his fullness we have all received
grace in place of grace already given.
For the law was given through Moses;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God, but the one
and only Son, who is himself God and
is in closest relationship with the Father,
has made him known.
John 1:16-18

16. John 1:1-18
Second SUNDAY After CHRISTMAS

17. TrinityIcon
ScottErickson

18. existence or experience beyond
the normal or physical level
Transcendence
being within the limits of possible
experience or knowledge
Immanence

19. The doctrines of transcendence
and immanence are both
half-truths in need of the
tension of each other to give
the more inclusive truth.
Martin Luther King Jr.

20. TrinityTattoo
SeanHarty/DeaconGodsey

21. John 1:1-18
Second SUNDAY After CHRISTMAS

22. Benediction
God of glory,
your splendor shines from a manger in Bethlehem,
where the Light of the world is humbly born
into the darkness of human night.
Open our eyes to Christ's presence
in the shadows of our world, so that we,
like him, may become beacons of your justice,
and defenders of all for whom there is no room.
Amen.