John 1 Bible Study: The Word, the Light & Who Jesus Really Is

Welcome to my first post in Walking Through John, a series where we are going to walk through the Gospel of John one chapter at a time. Nothing overly complicated. No theology degree required. I am a student too and I have found that taking a chapter at a time has been helpful in true understanding. This is just real conversation about Scripture, what it means, and how it applies to our everyday lives. I welcome feedback and comments!

Because if we are being truthful, sometimes we open the Bible with the best intentions, read a paragraph, and think, I have absolutely no idea what I just read.

Then we read it again.

Still nothing.

So we grab our coffee, say a quick prayer, and try one more time.

That is exactly why I wanted to start this series. I want us to slow down and really understand what we are reading. Not just check “read my Bible” off the list for the day, but actually get to know Jesus through His Word.

And John is such a beautiful place to start.

So, Who Is John?

John was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples and one of His closest friends. His Gospel is a little different from Matthew, Mark, and Luke because John doesn’t start with baby Jesus in Bethlehem. There are no shepherds, wise men, angels, or manger scenes.

John gets straight to the point.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
John 1:1

Well, okay, John.

We are literally one verse in and already have questions.

First question: Who is “the Word”?

The answer is Jesus.

John wants us to understand something incredibly important before we read anything else about Jesus. Jesus didn’t begin when He was born in Bethlehem. He has always existed.

Before Mary. Before Abraham. Before Adam and Eve. Before mountains, oceans, stars, dogs, tacos, coffee, and everything else we know and love, Jesus was already there.

And John doesn’t just say Jesus was with God. He tells us Jesus was God.

That changes everything about how we read the rest of this book.

Jesus isn’t simply a good teacher who lived 2,000 years ago. He isn’t just someone with wise advice about how to live a better life. John is telling us from the very beginning that Jesus is God.

Jesus Wasn’t God’s Backup Plan

Sometimes I think we accidentally picture Jesus entering the story because humanity messed everything up.

Adam and Eve sinned, people kept making terrible choices, and eventually God looked down and thought, Well, this isn’t going well. Time for Plan B.

But Jesus wasn’t Plan B.

John tells us:

“Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”
John 1:3

Jesus was there from the beginning.

The same Jesus we are about to watch walk dusty roads, sit at dinner tables, heal people, laugh with friends, cry, teach, love, and eventually go to the cross is also the One through whom everything was created.

That is pretty incredible when you stop and think about it.

The Creator wanted a relationship with His creation.

He wanted a relationship with us.

Then John Starts Talking About Light

A few verses later, John gives us one of my favorite descriptions of Jesus.

“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 1:4-5

We all know what darkness can feel like.

Fear. Grief. Loneliness. Anxiety. Disappointment. Sin. Confusion. Those seasons when life doesn’t look anything like we thought it would and we find ourselves asking, God, where are You in this?

John doesn’t tell us darkness won’t exist.

He tells us something even better.

Darkness doesn’t win.

Jesus is the Light, and no matter how dark things might feel, darkness cannot overcome Him.

Sometimes we need that reminder more than we need an explanation.

Have You Ever Looked for Something That Was Right in Front of You?

I do this more often than I would like to admit.

I’ll walk around the house looking for my phone. I’m digging through my purse, checking the kitchen counter, looking under couch cushions, and possibly accusing someone in my family of moving it.

“Has anyone seen my phone?”

Then someone looks at me and says, “Are you talking on it?”

Oh.

Yes.

Yes, I am.

Not my finest moment.

But as silly as that example is, it makes me think about what John says next.

“He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.”
John 1:10

Jesus was standing right in front of them, and many people missed Him.

The Creator walked into His own creation, and they didn’t recognize Him.

Before we shake our heads at them, though, I wonder how often we do something similar.

We pray, God, where are You? Why aren’t You doing anything?

Meanwhile, God may already be working all around us.

Maybe it is through a conversation with a friend. Maybe it is a closed door that we desperately wanted opened. Maybe it is an unexpected opportunity. Maybe it is a Scripture that keeps showing up. Maybe it is someone entering our lives at exactly the right moment.

Sometimes we become so focused on how we think God should show up that we miss the ways He already has.

And Then Comes the Really Good News

John writes:

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
John 1:12

I think this is one of those verses we can read too quickly.

Children of God.

Not acquaintances of God. Not employees trying to impress the boss. Not people desperately trying to earn enough points to make God happy.

His children.

Through Jesus, we are invited into God’s family.

That means Christianity isn’t simply about following a list of rules. At the heart of our faith is a relationship with a Father who loves us and wants us to know Him.

This one hits me hard- while I do not have a relationship with my earthly father- I have the ultimate Father in God! He sees me. He hears me. And he believes in me!

God Came Close

Then John gives us this:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
John 1:14

Remember “the Word” from verse one?

Jesus.

So put simply, God became human and came to live among us.

Think about how amazing that is.

God didn’t remain distant and expect us to somehow figure everything out on our own. He came close.

Jesus knew what it felt like to be hungry and tired. He experienced friendship, rejection, joy, grief, pain, and loss. He sat around dinner tables. He attended weddings. He cried with people who were hurting.

The God who created humanity chose to step directly into humanity.

Why?

Because He wanted us to know Him.

Now We Meet John the Baptist

This is where we meet another John, because apparently there weren’t enough names available at the time. These are the OG Johns, though!

John the Apostle is writing this Gospel. John the Baptist is the man we are reading about.

John the Baptist had a very important job. His entire purpose was to point people toward Jesus.

When he sees Jesus coming, he says:

“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
John 1:29

John wasn’t trying to make himself famous. He wasn’t building his own platform or trying to convince everyone how important he was.

He was essentially saying, Don’t look at me. Look at Him.

There is a lesson in that for us too.

Our lives should ultimately point people toward Jesus.

Not because we have everything figured out. Not because we always get it right. But because people should be able to see something different in the way we love, forgive, serve, encourage, and live.

Come and See

Toward the end of the chapter, Jesus begins calling His first disciples.

At one point He turns to two men following Him and asks:

“What do you want?”
John 1:38

That question stopped me.

What do you want?

What do I really want from Jesus? Peace? Direction? Healing? Security? Answers? Purpose? A solution to whatever problem is keeping me awake at night?

Maybe that is a question worth sitting with this week.

The men ask Jesus where He is staying, and His answer is beautifully simple.

“Come…and you will see.”
John 1:39

Come and see.

Jesus doesn’t tell them they need to understand everything first. He doesn’t hand them a Bible test. He doesn’t tell them to clean themselves up and come back when they have their lives together. He invites them closer.

Come.

See.

Get to know Me.

And I can’t think of a better invitation as we begin walking through John together.

We don’t have to understand everything today. We don’t need perfect faith. We don’t have to have all the answers. We just keep showing up. We open His Word. We ask questions.

We pray. We listen.

We learn who Jesus really is. And little by little, we begin to see.

What John 1 Means for Us

If I had to put the entire first chapter into a few sentences, I would say this:

Jesus has always been. Jesus is God. Jesus created everything. Jesus stepped into our world because He wanted us to know Him. He is the Light that darkness cannot defeat, and through Him we can become children of God.

And now He invites us to follow Him.

Maybe this week, instead of putting pressure on yourself to have some huge spiritual breakthrough, simply accept His invitation.

Come and see.

Read John 1 again. Read it slowly. Ask God to show you something you haven’t noticed before.

And maybe pray something as simple as:

Jesus, I want to know You better. Help me see who You really are. Help me recognize where You are working in my life, even when it doesn’t look the way I expected. And help my life point others toward You. Amen.

That’s where we’re starting.

One chapter at a time. One conversation at a time. One step closer to knowing Jesus.

And next, we’re heading into John 2, where Jesus goes to a wedding (I love a wedding so I am so excited for this one), but the wine runs out, His mother gets involved, and Jesus performs His first miracle.

I’m in the middle of helping plan two weddings right now – which, if you think your family gets interesting at weddings, just wait.