The first part, often called the Hymn to the Word, is a prologue to the gospel as a whole, stating that the Logos is "God". Comparisons can be made between these verses and the narrative of, where the same phrase In the beginning first occurs along with the emphasis on the difference between the darkness and the light. Methodist founder John Wesley summarised the opening verses of John 1 as follows:
–2 describes the state of things before the creation
describes the state of things in the creation
describes the state of things in the time of man's innocence
According to the writers of the Pulpit Commentary, the phrase "the light of men" "has been differently conceived by expositors. John Calvin supposed that the "understanding" was intended—"that the life of men was not of an ordinary description, but was united to the light of understanding," and is that by which man is differentiated from animals. Hengstenberg regards it, in consequence of numerous associations of "light" with "salvation" in Holy Scripture, as equivalent to salvation; Christoph Ernst Luthardt with "holiness" and many with the "eternal life", which would introduce great tautology." English translations of variously translate the Greek κατελαβεν as "understanding", but in other translations the meaning is given in terms of a struggle between darkness and light: "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it". Verses 10 and 11 state that "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him" but theologians differ in their interpretation of these verses. Wesley viewed "in the world" as meaning "even from the creation", the Pulpit Commentary speaks of the "pre-Incarnation activity" of the Word and Joseph Benson wrote that "He was in the world... from the beginning, frequently appearing, and making known to his servants, the patriarchs and prophets, the divine will, in dreams and visions, and various other ways", whereas in Albert Barnes' opinion, "He was in the world refers, probably, not to his pre-existence, but to the fact that he became incarnate; that he dwelt among human beings".
Verse 14
The word "flesh" is emphasized as a 'symbol of humanity', drawing the attention to 'the entry of the Word into the full flow of human affairs'. The summation of the comparison between darkness and light occurs in the statement "the law was given through Moses grace and truth came through Jesus Christ". Here John successfully bridges the gap for the reader—including Jewish readers well-versed in the Torah—from the Law to the One who would fulfill the Law, Jesus.
Verse 18
The end verse of this prologue recalls, that no other possibility of human to know God except through Jesus Christ.
Testimony of John the Baptist (verses 19–34)
The second part shows the preparation that John the Baptist was in the process of making for the coming of the Messiah, the Messiah's arrival and the Messiah's first disciples. John has been introduced in verse 6 and his witness, known already by the reader, has already been recalled: "This is the One I told you about". The Greek text has the past tense but both Charles Ellicott and the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges prefer a present tense translation such as "John bears witness". Verses 19–34 present John's manifesto, delivered to the priests and Levites sent by the Pharisees to investigate his message and purpose. In response to their enquiries, John confesses that he is not the Messiah, nor the reappearance of the prophet Elijah, nor "the prophet". John then reveals that when the One comes he would be unfit to even so much as untie his sandals, let alone baptize Him like the many he had up to that point. No sooner than the next day the Messiah appears before John the Baptist, and he then acknowledges Jesus as the Lamb of God of whom he had been speaking. The evangelist divides this series of events into four 'days': the day when the Jerusalem delegation met John to enquire into his identity and purpose is followed by John seeing Jesus coming towards him "the next day", and on "the next day again" he directs his own disciples towards following Jesus. A fourth 'day' follows on which Jesus wanted to go to Galilee and invited Philip to follow him. Bengel calls these "Great Days!"
Jesus' first disciples (verses 35–51)
As the chapter progresses further, the gospel describes how Jesus calls his first disciples, Andrew and an unnamed disciple. The unnamed disciple was possibly John, the evangelist. Andrew finds his brother Simon, and Jesus changes Simon's name to Cephas . Cephas, original Greek: Κηφᾶς, means "a rock" or "a stone". This provided a powerful analogy as to the role Peter would have after the crucifixion; to lead the development of the church. Name changes occur in other places in the Bible and demonstrate God's authority as well as what that person would become, do, or had done, such as Abram to Abraham and Jacob to Israel. Jesus' first active sign of power was to Nathaniel, who was thoroughly impressed by Jesus' foreknowledge of his personal character.
The first appearance of the "disciple whom Jesus loved" in this Gospel is as one of the two disciples of John the Baptist who become the first followers of Jesus, but this is indicated in a subtle way. Bauckham notes the occurrence of at least two specific words in the narratives of both the first and the last appearance of this disciple: "to follow" and "to remain/stay". In verse it is stated that "Jesus turned, and seeing them following , said to them, "What do you seek?"", then in verse they "remained with Him that day". In the last chapter of the Gospel, the last appearance of the 'Disciple whom Jesus loved' is indicated using similar words: in verse it is written that "Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following ", then in verse "Jesus said to him , "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?" Bauckham sees the placement of the appearances of the disciple as "the inclusio of eyewitness testimony" to privilege his witness over Peter's, not to denigrate Peter's authority, but rather to claim a distinct qualification as an 'ideal witness' to Christ, because he survives Peter and bears his witness after Peter. The appearances are also close to Peter's, as the first one, along with Andrew, happened just before Peter's, who was then given the name 'Cephas', and the last one, just after Jesus' dialogue with Peter, acknowledging the significance of Peter's testimony within "the Petrine's inclusio", which is also found in the Gospel of Mark and Luke.
Chronology
Verses 1:19 to 2:1 contains a chronological record of an eyewitness:
Day 1: the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask John the Baptist.
Day 2 : John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!...".
Day 3 : John stood with two of his disciples, and looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!": The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. One of them is mentioned by name as "Andrew, Simon Peter's brother"; the other one not named is the eyewitness, who is John the evangelist.
In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church and in Western Rite Orthodoxy, the chapter's first fourteen verses are known as the "Last Gospel", as they are recited at the end of the Tridentine Mass of the Mass. This is distinct from the Proclamation of the Gospel that occurs much earlier in the service. After reciting the dismissal formula Ite Missa est, the priest reads the Last Gospel in Latin from the altar card to their left. At the beginning of verse 14, Et Verbum caro factum est, they genuflect. Any congregants present, who remain standing for the reading, would kneel at this point, responding with Deo gratias at its conclusion. This ritual began as a private devotion for the priest after Mass. It is not part of the 1969 Mass of Paul VI that was introduced after the Second Vatican Council.
