John 1:1-18: The Word Became Flesh : Hope for You

Introduction

Frantz Galland, a member of the church council, opens a new preaching series on the Gospel of John, and in particular on the seven signs the evangelist selects to help you understand who Jesus is. The starting point? The prologue, the first eighteen verses that carry the whole rest of the book.

The prayer for the year, recalled the week before from Matthew 9, fits into one sentence: to see Jesus, and to be a witness of him. This first message lays the foundation. It shows you why John writes, how he builds his gospel, and above all what the Word made flesh comes to produce in your life. A new beginning is possible today, for you.

Outline of the message

1. Where John's Gospel stands among the four

John is very different from the first three gospels, called the Synoptics because they look alike and can be "seen together." Matthew, Mark, and Luke mostly describe what Jesus did. John wants to put you face to face with the person of Jesus, with the question of who he is. The first three mostly report public teaching; John gives huge space to private conversations, like the one with Nicodemus or with the Samaritan woman.

The Synoptics begin from a human angle: genealogy, the ministry of John the Baptist, the fulfillment of prophecies. John, on the other hand, traces the Lord Jesus back to his preexistence as the Word, in Greek, the Logos, a word that points straight to his divinity. And where Matthew records twenty miracles, Mark eighteen, Luke twenty, John keeps only seven, which he calls "signs." Everything serves one clear purpose: "these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31).

2. A plan simple on the surface, three threads running through it

The outline is simple at first glance: a prologue, Jesus' public ministry among the Jews, his private ministry with his own (chapters 13-17), then his passion, death, and resurrection (chapters 18-20), with an epilogue in chapter 21. But underneath these divisions run three threads.

The first thread: those who receive the Word. Starting in John 1:12, the apostle selects eight people or groups who make simple, varied confessions of faith. Nathanael: "you are the Son of God, the King of Israel." The Samaritan woman: "can this be the Christ?" The Samaritans of Sychar: "we know that this man really is the Savior of the world." Peter: "you have the words of eternal life, and we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of God." Thomas, finally: "my Lord and my God." John exposes his reader to accessible expressions of faith, drawing him to confess for himself that Jesus is the Savior he needs.

The second thread: the seven miraculous signs. Water turned to wine, the healing of the royal official's son, the healing of the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda, the feeding of the multitude, walking on water, the healing of the man born blind, the raising of Lazarus. These signs are not there to dazzle: they accredit the divinity of Jesus and make you a spectator of a Savior who restores the true humanity of those he touches. Joy, health, energy, peace in fear, light for the blind. Seven powerful signs hammering home that Jesus is God, and that he is the answer to the dramas that mark your life.

The third thread: the seven "I am" statements. Seven metaphors Jesus uses about himself: the bread of life, the light of the world, the door, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth, and the life, the true vine. There is likely an intentional correspondence between the seven signs and the seven "I am" statements. If Jesus turns water into wine, it is because he is the true vine who produces the new wine. If he heals the official's son, it is because he is the truth in person, in whom the official believed. If he heals the paralyzed man at Bethesda, it is because he is the good shepherd who does not abandon his sick sheep. If he feeds the multitude, it is because he is the bread of life. If he walks on water, it is because he is the way that can always be taken despite impossibilities. If he heals the man born blind, it is because he is the light of the world who comes to light up your darkness. And if he raises Lazarus, it is because he himself is the resurrection and the life. The whole range of your human distresses finds an answer in him.

3. A prologue that foreshadows

The first eighteen verses of John anticipate and prepare what you will discover next. Pastor Jacques Buchhold sums it up this way: the prologue summarizes the truths that the rest of the Gospel illustrates, grounds, and explains. These are truths that turn around the identity of Jesus.

The key words return again and again: life, light, witness, testimony, truth, true, world, glory, grace. These words make you want to keep reading, like a trailer that sets up the major themes of the story.

4. A prologue that reveals: new beginning, drama, hope

A new beginning. It's hard not to hear the echo of Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." John announces a new founding story, this time with the creative Word: "all things were made through him." A Word in eternal fellowship with God, and divine himself. Jesus is the great story God has been telling forever to reveal himself, for "no one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him" (v. 18). The Greek word translated "declared" gives us the English word exegesis: Jesus is the exegesis, the explanation, of God. That is why he tells Philip: "he who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9).

A drama, in three rejections. Verse 5: the darkness did not receive the Word. Verse 10: the world did not know the Word who created it. Verse 11: his own did not receive him. The prologue does not hide the seriousness of human refusal.

A hope, even so. Verse 12: "to all who received him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." Even today, it is possible to receive this incarnate Word and become a new creation in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Frantz tells the story of his aunt. For years, the family gave her a calendar, each time attempting a spiritual conversation she politely brushed off. At 87, sick and discouraged, she finally accepted her niece's prayer: "Lord, I need you. I acknowledge that you died for my sins. Come into my life and into my heart." She repeated the words in her own way. Shortly after, she told her caregiver she "felt beautiful." Two days later, she passed into eternity, a child of God. There is no age limit for turning to the Lord.

5. A prologue that hooks you: rhythm and chiasm

The inspired author deliberately repeats certain words to set a rhythm, a cadence, a dignity that carries the reader along. Verses 1-2: beginning, Word, God, Word, God, beginning, God. Verses 4-5: life, life, light, light, darkness, darkness. Something is communicated that goes beyond the words.

There is broad agreement that the prologue forms a chiasm, a mirrored literary structure with a center. The center of this symmetry is verses 12 and 13: through the Word, you become a child of God. The two ends mirror each other: verse 1, the Word is with God in heaven; verse 18, the Son is in the bosom of the Father. In between, Jesus comes down to you. Everything is framed with a coherence that testifies this Word is divine, and can be trusted.

6. Applications: the Word and humility

Two environments are ripe for God to visit and transform you: the Word and humility.

If your new life began with the Word you believed, the start of your days should still be shaped by that same Word, on which you are called to feed in order to grow, just as a newborn feeds on the milk of the one who bore it (an image drawn from 1 Peter 2:2). Frantz offers you a simple challenge: read the Gospel of John from beginning to end, twice in a row, with no notes and no commentaries, and let the Lord tell you what he wants to tell you.

Humility, next. The Word became flesh humbly to bring you grace and truth. It can only be received in humility. Only by looking to Jesus can you leave your darkness behind. Only by meditating on him can you let go of your bitterness, your anger, your natural pride. Faced with his immense humbling and the debt he paid for you, no one else owes you anything anymore. That is where his light shines in your darkness and restores your true humanity as a child of God.

Key takeaways

• John writes to put you face to face with the person of Jesus. Seven signs, seven "I am" statements, one single purpose: that you may believe and have life in his name (John 20:31).
• The prologue announces, reveals, and hooks. It sets out the key words of the whole book, tells of a new beginning, a threefold rejection, and a hope offered to anyone who receives the Word.
• The Word made flesh is Jesus himself. Divine from all eternity, he comes down to you to make God known, because "he who has seen me has seen the Father."
• Becoming a child of God is still simple. Receive him, believe in his name. Like Frantz's 87-year-old aunt, there is no age limit for this step of faith.
• Two environments for growth: the Word and humility. Feed on his Word every day, and look to his humbling rather than to what you think you're owed.

Personal application questions

1. Have you already received the Word made flesh, or are you still dodging spiritual conversations like Frantz's aunt before she was 87? What is still holding you back from simply saying, "Lord, come into my life"?
2. Among John's seven signs, which one speaks most loudly to you today? Where do you need Jesus to step in: in a paralysis, a hunger, a fear, a blindness, an inner death?
3. Which of Jesus' "I am" statements would you like to see become real in your life this week, the bread, the light, the shepherd, the door, the way, the truth, the life?
4. Will you take up the challenge of reading the Gospel of John twice in a row, with no notes, simply letting the text address you? When will you set that time aside?
5. Where does pride keep you today from receiving grace? Who do you need to stop seeing as "owing you" something, in light of everything Jesus paid for you?

Scripture references

• John 1:1-18 · The prologue of John's Gospel
• Genesis 1:1 · In the beginning, God created
• John 14:9 · He who has seen me has seen the Father
• John 20:31 · The stated purpose of John's Gospel
• Matthew 9 · The testimony of Jesus recalled the previous week
• 1 Peter 2:2 · Longing for the pure spiritual milk

FAQ

Why is the Gospel of John so different from the other three?

Matthew, Mark, and Luke, called the Synoptics, mostly tell what Jesus did, his public teaching and his ministry from a human angle. John, on the other hand, starts from eternity to bring you face to face with the person of Jesus, gives wide space to his private conversations, and picks out only seven signs to prove that he is the Son of God.

What does "the Word became flesh" mean in John 1:14?

The Word is Jesus himself, eternal and divine, in fellowship with God from the beginning. "Became flesh" means he took on human form, coming down from heaven into our humanity, full of grace and truth, so that you could know God and become a child of God.

How do you become a child of God according to John's prologue?

John 1:12 says it plainly: to all who received him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. Receiving Jesus, believing in his name, acknowledging that he died for your sins, and asking him to come into your life, that step of faith is enough, whatever your age.