Footnotes

1. 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.
2. 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).
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. John 1:6 John, i.e., the Baptist.
6. 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).
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. John 1:20 Christ: the Messiah, the anointed vicegerent of the Lord, usually regarded as the heir of David.
11. John 1:21 Elijah: this prophet who had been carried away to heaven in a fiery chariot was expected to return to earth to announce the end time. The Prophet: i.e., the Prophet mentioned in Deut 18:15, 18, the one like Moses (see Acts 3:22), who was expected to be the Messiah and repeat the prodigies of the Exodus.
12. John 1:29 John knows that he acts as a prophet gripped by the mission of God. And at the threshold of the Gospel, he presents the image of the lamb who will be evoked again at the end of the Passion. It is connected with the Jewish Passover and symbolizes the deliverance from Egypt (Ex 12:1-28); it also fits in with the portrait of the mysterious Servant of God, foretold by a prophet as an innocent victim led like a lamb to the slaughter, who was not only to atone for the sins of humanity but also to justify sinners (Isa 53:7, 11-12). It further recalls the great apocalyptic Lamb who would destroy evil in the world (Rev 5–7; 17:14).
13. John 1:31 I myself did not know him: this may refer to the fact that John lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel (see Lk 1:80) and thus did not know Jesus very well. It may also indicate that John did not know that Jesus was the Messiah until he saw the sign mentioned in vv. 32-33.
14. John 1:32 For Jesus’ Baptism, see notes on Mt 3:13-17; 3:15; 3:17.
15. John 1:33 The one who is to baptize with the Holy Spirit: John baptized with water, but Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit. We can see in this a reference to the sending of the Holy Spirit. In this Gospel that occurs on Easter Sunday (Jn 20:22).
16. John 1:35 The movement of Jesus is separated from the movement of the Baptist. In the very first encounter, Jesus wins over Andrew, and perhaps the disciple who is not named was the beloved disciple, sufficiently interested in Andrew’s call to still remember the hour (v. 39). Jesus gives Simon a new name indicative of his future mission (see Mt 16:18); with authority he calls Philip, and he reads the heart of Nathanael. In this man so unexpected because of his lowly origin (v. 46), the disciples recognize the Messiah Israel expected. And Jesus unveils to them his mystery: Messiah of Israel, he is also the Son of Man who reunites heaven and earth in his kingdom. He is the sole mediator who gives access to the Father, as indicated in v. 51, an allusion to the dream of Jacob (see Gen 28:12).
    The Gospel then offers us a meditation on the free gift and the happiness of being called by Jesus, a charter of the spiritual life. The dialogue with the first disciples lets us understand where Jesus leads those who follow him: there where he dwells at the side of the Father (see Jn 1:18). Intimacy with Christ, shared knowledge, and faith are the principal traits that describe the life of disciples. The Church must be the community where people share the certainty and the joy of having encountered Christ.
17. John 1:39 Four o’clock in the afternoon: literally, “the tenth hour” (from sunrise: 6:00 A.M.) in the Roman method of telling time.
18. John 1:41 Messiah: Greek transliteration of the Hebrew word for “Anointed One,” which is used only here and in Jn 4:25 in this Gospel. The Greek translation Christos (“Christ”) appears everywhere else.
19. John 1:42 Cephas in Aramaic signifies “stone, rock” (see Mt 16:18). It was not used at that time as a personal name. Peter: i.e., Petros, the Greek equivalent of Cephas.
20. John 1:43 Jesus: literally, “he,” which could also refer to Peter.
21. John 1:44 Bethsaida: on the northern shore of Lake Tiberias.
22. John 1:45 Nathanael was certainly the apostle Bartholomew; see Mt 10:3.
23. John 1:47 A true Israelite, in whom there is no deception: this phrase recalls the fact that Jacob was the first to bear the name “Israel” (Gen 32:29), but he was an “Israelite” in whom there was deception (Gen 27:35-36).
24. John 1:48 Under the fig tree: a phrase signifying Messianic peace (see Mic 4:4; Zec 3:10).
25. John 1:51 Son of Man: see note on Mt 8:20 for the use of this term in the New Testament. In John, it occurs 13 times and is commonly associated with themes of crucifixion and suffering (Jn 3:14; 8:28) and revelation (Jn 6:27, 53) as well as eschatological authority (Jn 5:27; 9:39).