1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. (John 1:1–18, ESV)

The Prologue to John

• • Distinctive opening that touches on various themes unpacked throughout John.
    • Life / Light / Darkness / Witness / True, Truth / World / Son / Father / Glory
  • Unlike Matthew, Mark, or Luke’s more historical approaches to Jesus’ origin story, John begins with the eternal perspective.
    • He wants his readers to understand that Jesus’ words and deeds are those of the God-Man.
    • Overall, Jesus is the Word, a title John uses for divinity.
      • And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14, ESV)

• All of the gospel of John points to Jesus as the Word.

Why did John write of Jesus as the Word?

Basic Overview of the Term Logos.

• Greek: Logos—translated as “the Word.”
• Literally: speaking, message, or words.

Greek Thought: The Logos was the rational mind or ideal principle that generated and ruled the universe, the essence of the ultimate deity.

• Common term in Greek philosophical teaching.
• The Stoics understood logos to be the rational principle that ruled the universe.
• Philo: the ideal world or the ideal man—this logos lacked personhood and did not incarnate.
• Highly abstract and impersonal.

Jewish Thought: The Logos was God’s powerful activity in creation, revelation, and deliverance—often identified with divine Wisdom and the Torah (Law).

• God’s word had creative power and was connected to God’s activity in creation.
  • And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:3, ESV)
    • Repeated all throughout Genesis 1: and God said.
  • By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. (Psalm 33:6, ESV)
• God’s word is connected with revelation and deliverance.
  • So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11, ESV)
  • He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. (Psalm 107:20, ESV)
• God’s word was sometimes personified.
  • Wisdom: “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. (Proverbs 8:22, ESV)

John’s Thought: The Logos is the eternal, uncreated, singular God. He shares in divinity with the Father. Through the incarnation as Jesus Christ, the Logos serves as God’s ultimate self-disclosure to humanity.

• John: The word and deeds of Jesus are the words and deeds of God manifested in the flesh.
• Jesus is the incarnate God who shows us the ideal man and takes us into his ideal world.
  • In the past, he wisely fashioned creation—then he became present to reveal God, fulfill the Law, and declare the way of salvation.
• The Logos figure helps us know God because:
  • The Logos has been around forever (in the beginning was the Word).
    • Eternally preexistent
  • The Logos has been with God forever (and the Word was with God).
    • Distinct person in relationship with God.
  • The Logos is God forever (and the Word was God).
    • Agent of Creation

John: Humanity needed the light of this Logos figure to break through our darkness.

• Wedding at Cana + Cleansing of the Temple: need for grace and truth (John 2).

• • • At a wedding, Jesus made good wine out of the water in six stone jars used for Jewish rites of purification.
    • Then, at the Temple in Jerusalem, Jesus drove out money-changers and traders, an act of purification for his Father’s house.
    • Humanity was under old religious systems, enduring spiritual corruption, but Jesus came to provide joy, celebration, grace, and mercy, all while truly cleansing the worshipper.
    • The true presence of God can refresh you.

• Nicodemus: religious and intellectual need (John 3).

• • • Nicodemus was a teacher of Israel, yet he was spiritually deficient and could not see the kingdom of God unless he became born again.
    • He came to Jesus at night, symbolizing the spiritual darkness in which he lived.
      • Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3, ESV)
      • His mind could not conceive of a new birth—how can these things be?—but Christ could awaken him
      • Jesus could give him a new birth from the Spirit so that he could see the kingdom of God.
    • The Spirit of God can enlighten you.

• The Samaritan woman: moral and emotional need (John 4).

• • • She is characterized as the ultimate outsider—a Samaritan woman with a questionable moral past (five husbands, now living with an unmarried man).
    • She is socially marginalized, coming to the well alone at noon to avoid disapproval.
      • Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13–14, ESV)
      • Jesus could give her Living Water, the Spirit himself, so that her personal thirsts could be quenched in him.
    • He revealed her thirst:
      • Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” (John 4:16–18, ESV)
  • The living water of God can satisfy you.

• Intensely sick man at Bethesda: helpless and powerless (John 5).

• • • The man had been unable to move himself for thirty-eight years, was utterly helpless (lacking a human helper to put him into the pool when the waters were stirred), and was subject to the belief that his malady stemmed from sin. The miraculous pool was described as completely ineffective.
    • Jesus initiated healing, demonstrating that he is the One who can reverse the curse brought on by sin.
      • When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. (John 5:6–9, ESV)
    • The power of God can help you.

• Hungry crowd: spiritually malnourished (John 6).

• • • The crowd was physically hungry, but also spiritually malnourished.
    • They followed Jesus for earthly food and political aims, misunderstanding his miraculous feeding as a means to seek a new Moses to provide new manna.
    • Jesus miraculously fed them, before telling them he is the bread of life, the true bread from heaven that gives life to the whole world.
      • Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. (John 6:35, ESV)
    • The presence of God can fulfill you.

• His own brothers: insiders who should know better (John 7).

• • • They urged him to go do miracles openly in Jerusalem during the Feast of Booths.
      • So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” (John 7:3–4, ESV)
      • For not even his brothers believed in him. (John 7:5, ESV)
    • Eventually, Jesus went, secretly at first, but by the end of the feast he preached.
      • On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:37–39, ESV)
    • The truth of God is enough for you.

• Woman caught in adultery: searching and unfaithful (John 8).

• • • The woman was caught in adultery (unfaithfulness), representing a person convicted of sin facing condemnation under the Law.
    • Jesus forgave and commissioned her, before announcing, “I AM the Light of the World.”
      • And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7, ESV)
      • Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” (John 8:10–11, ESV)
      • Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12, ESV)
    • The goodness of God can relieve you.

• Man born blind: spiritual blindness (John 9).

• • • The man was blind from birth, a condition considered difficult, especially in the first-century world.
    • He represents mankind as being spiritually blind from birth. His condition necessitated him being a beggar and facing marginalization.
    • Jesus, as the Light of the World, gave this man sight because he can give sight to the spiritually blind.
      • Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:3–5, ESV)
      • Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. (John 9:6–7, ESV)
      • He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” (John 9:25, ESV)

• The grace of God can awaken you.

• People divided over his person and work: unsure and seeking (John 10).

• • • The Jewish people were frequently characterized by division and schism regarding Jesus’ identity (7:43; 9:16; 10:19).
    • This uncertainty led to conflict, with some saying Jesus had a demon and was crazy, while others were impressed by his miraculous works.
      • There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” (John 10:19–21, ESV)
    • They lacked active, continuous, and vital trust—Jesus pointed out they did not believe because they were not his sheep (10:26).
      • If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” (John 10:37–38, ESV)
    • The love of God should convince you.

• Lazarus: dead (John 11).

• • • Lazarus was physically dead and entombed. Death is the ultimate state of darkness and the crisis of human existence.
    • Jesus raised Lazarus, announcing, “I am the Resurrection and the Life.”
      • Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:23–26, ESV)
      • So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” (John 11:41–43, ESV)
      • The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” (John 11:44, ESV)
    • The hand of God can resurrect you.

• Jesus is presented as the great light we still need.
  • We long to know God—now we can.
  • God longs for us to know Him—now we can.
  • Because this figure—The Logos—came to us.

Because of what we receive from the Logos, let’s give him our everything.

How would the people in the story respond to this light breaking into the darkness?

House in Bethany (John 12).

• Mary responded well.
  • She saw the Light.
  • She recognized the Logos.
  • Received and responded.
• Judas responded poorly.
  • The counter-image: walked with the Logos for three years.
    • He was close to all the events and encounters John recorded—feeding of five thousand, raising of Lazarus, all of it.
  • Mary gave. He stole.
  • Mary anointed for burial. Judas betrayed to death.
  • Mary’s love was obvious. Judas’s hatred was hidden.

The question:

• Will we imitate Mary and pour out our lives to the Logos?
• Or will we calculate like Judas and determine to remain in darkness?

Study Questions

Head (Knowledge, Facts, Understanding)

1. John uses the term Logos (Word) to describe Jesus in his prologue. How does John’s understanding of the Logos differ from both Greek philosophical thought and Jewish wisdom traditions, and why does this distinction matter for understanding who Jesus is?
2. As you trace the encounters from John 2–11, what pattern emerges in the types of human need Jesus addresses? How does each encounter reveal something specific about what the Light of the World came to do?

Heart (Feelings, Impressions, Desires)

1. Which of the encounters in John 2–11 most resonates with your own experience of spiritual need? What does it stir in you to know that the Logos came specifically for people in that condition?
2. Mary’s anointing was extravagant and public—an unmistakable act of devotion. What emotions or hesitations arise when you consider offering that kind of uncalculating worship to Christ?

Hands (Actions, Commitments, Decisions)

1. Judas calculated the cost and called Mary’s worship “waste.” In what areas of your life are you tempted to calculate rather than give freely to Christ? What would it look like to release that area to him?
2. The sermon concludes with a pointed question: “Will we imitate Mary and pour out our lives to the Logos? Or will we calculate like Judas and determine to remain in darkness?” As a group, how can you hold one another accountable to choose Mary’s path in the week ahead?