John 1:1-20
New Catholic Bible
A New Creation[a]
In the Beginning Was the Word[b]
Chapter 1
The Word of God, Source of Life[c]
1 In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He was with God in the very beginning.
3 Through him all things came into existence,
and without him there was nothing.
That which came to be
4 found life in him,
and the life was the light of the human race.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has been unable to overcome it.
Faith Means Welcoming the Word of God Made Man.[d] 6 A man appeared, sent by God, whose name was John.[e] 7 He came as a witness to give testimony to the light, so that through him all might come to believe. 8 He himself was not the light; his role was to bear witness to the light.
9 The true light that enlightens everyone
was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world,
the world had come into existence through him,
yet the world did not recognize him.
11 He came to his own,
but his own did not accept him.
12 However, to those who did accept him
and who believed in his name
he granted the power to become children of God,
13 who were born not from blood
or human desire or human will,
but from God.
14 And the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us.
And we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth.
15 Jesus Christ, Fullness of Truth.[f] John testified to him, proclaiming, “This is the one of whom I said, ‘The one who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’ ”
16 From his fullness we have all received,
grace upon grace.
17 For the Law was given through Moses,
but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has ever seen God.
It is the only Son, God,
who is at the Father’s side,
who has made him known.
Jesus Is the Expected Messiah[g]
19 John the Baptist Is Not the Messiah.[h] This is the testimony offered by John when the Jews[i] sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”[j]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- John 1:1 As believers contemplate Christ, they cannot but reflect on the fate of the universe and the destiny of the human race. They believe that creation is the work of God. In Jesus they see the Word who is of God and has come to renew creation. In the view of the evangelist, both the testimony of John the Baptist and the changing of water into wine at the wedding feast of Cana attest to this renewal.
These first texts seem to comprise a week in the life of Jesus, as if the author wanted to establish a parallel between the first week of creation and the new work of God in Jesus. - John 1:1 Rather than being an introduction, this well-known “Prologue of John” resembles an “overture.” The entire Gospel is summed up in a few lines and all its essential themes are brought together. The great conviction of faith is immediately proclaimed: Jesus is God who has entered into the world and history to save us. With this key in hand, it is possible to understand all that Jesus says and does. This majestic prelude, written in rhythmic prose, unfolds in three stages (1:1-5; 1:6-14; 1:15-18).
- John 1:1 In the first stage of the Prologue, we wonder at Jesus, the Word, whose person and existence infinitely transcend the world and history. We also call to mind creation, which is from the very outset an action of the Word, that is, of the creative Word of God, the divine Wisdom and source of life that makes the world exist (see Gen 1:1; Prov 8:22f.). At the same time, we proclaim the new creation, for the Word offers human beings a new life that comes from God and illumines their entire existence.
This Prologue is a hymn to the Word (in Latin, Verbum; in Greek, Logos). The term “Word” sums up and goes beyond everything that the Old Testament had glimpsed of the presence of God amid humanity by means of his Word; it includes and is superior to everything that the philosophy of the age could imagine regarding God’s reflection in the universe. - John 1:6 The second stage of the Prologue calls to mind the struggle of human beings against the light. John came, a man sent to announce the coming of the light to God’s own, that is, the people of Israel. But he was not the Messiah! In Jesus, and in Jesus alone, the very Word of God became flesh, in order that the gift of the Lord might be present among us, in our human existence.
- John 1:6 John, i.e., the Baptist.
- John 1:15 The third stage of the Prologue expresses our conviction. Human beings may await various messiahs and various revelations, but Jesus is the only true Christ foretold by the Law, that is, by the Old Testament. He is more than a new Moses, because in him the former covenant yields place to the new and definitive covenant. He is not only the extraordinary and only One Sent, but he is the Son, equal in every way to the Father (John gives us here the perfect formulation of the mystery of the incarnation).
- John 1:19 Right from the Prologue, Jesus Christ is present in this Gospel as the Word and the only-begotten Son of God. Jesus communicates his life to us and makes known to us his glory. We are present at a great trial. In this trial, Jesus appears as witness of the truth, he alone. John’s whole Gospel draws the reader, page after page, into this drama.
- John 1:19 At that time, there was lively expectation in Israel that the great personages of the past would reappear in order to prepare for the coming of the Messiah (in Greek: Christ) (see Deut 18:15; Sir 48:10-11; Mal 3:23).
The sudden popularity of John the Baptist alarms “the Jews,” i.e., all those who have authority. In the political circles of the priesthood, there is fear of uprisings; among the “pure,” i.e., the Pharisees, there is concern for the good observance of the practices of the Law. The response comes—public and confirmed by the prophet Isaiah (40:3): John is not the Messiah, but the Precursor who announces him. By contrast, here is a testimony to the unique role of Jesus. - John 1:19 The Jews: this phrase occurs more than 70 times in the fourth Gospel—sometimes in a favorable sense (Jn 4:20), others in a neutral sense, but most often in a pejorative sense referring to the leaders of the Jews who were hostile to Jesus (Jn 8:48, etc.). Here it means the delegation sent by the Sanhedrin to assess the activities of an unauthorized teacher.
- John 1:20 Christ: the Messiah, the anointed vicegerent of the Lord, usually regarded as the heir of David.
