04 November

Bible in 365 Days

John 1-2

John 1

The Gospel of John brings us into the profoundest facts concerning the Person of Jesus. The first eighteen verses constitute the introduction to the whole Book. The main declaration is found by bringing together verses John 1:1; John 1:14; John 1:18. In these the Eternal is linked to the temporal, and the temporal is revealed as the interpretation of the Eternal.

The rest of the prologue consists of three parentheses.

1. John 1:2-13, in which the glories of the Word are revealed in the varied processes of God's relation to humanity.

2. John 1:14, an exclamation by John over the glory he beheld.

3. John 1:15-17, which give the double witness of John the Baptist and John the Apostle.

The remainder of the chapter contains an account of John's conflict with the rulers, and of the first things in the ministry of Jesus as Messiah as He gathered His earliest disciples. In it we see a group of men of different temperaments coming into contact with Him, and we observe His varying methods with them, and His winning them to Himself as we hear their differing names and titles for Him, all unified in a recognition of His authority.

John 2

At Cana our Lord wrought what John describes as the "beginning of His signs." It was a sign of power in the realm of creation, and of it being exercised in answer to faith. It was a sign, moreover, of His attitude toward pure joy in the activities of human life.

After a short period of retirement at Capernaum, Jesus went to Jerusalem, and there gave the first outward sign of His official position. The outer courts of the Temple had been turned into a veritable market-place. He cleansed them, and when asked for His authority, in words not then probably understood, He declared that the final sign of such authority would be His death and resurrection. Such an action by our Lord was bound to draw attention to Him. Moreover, while in Jerusalem He wrought other signs, so that many were attracted to Him. It is an arresting fact that whereas, in that sense, they committed themselves to Him, He, knowing them perfectly, did not commit Himself to them.