John 1:1-18

John begins his gospel by stating clearly who Jesus is, and the opening sections sets out many themes that will be expanded on in the rest of the book. These include:

• The deity of Jesus.
• Jesus brings light and life
  
• The failure of the darkness to overcome the light.
• Jesus was rejected by the world, and by the Jews in particular
• The idea of receiving Jesus
• Being born again
• The humanity of Jesus
  
• The grace of God
• Jesus reveals the Father
  

John famously starts his gospel with the words "In the beginning was the Word ...". This is reminiscent of the start of Genesis. The term logos (word) would have been familiar to his 1st century hearers. To those familiar with the Old Testament the Word of God was very common. God created the world by His word, and He revealed His word to the various prophets. It would also be familiar to Greek readers as well. To Stoic philosophers the logos was the divine reason giving order to creation and overcoming human ignorance. Philo wrote of logos as denoting the mind of God and being the agent of creation, also mediating between God and creation,

The Word was divine and eternal. When it says the Word was with God, this can actually be translated as saying the Word and the Father looked affectionately at each other. Later in this section (v18) John says that the Word knows the Father's heart.

Jesus is the light and He brings life. If we want to know how to live, then we need to look at Jesus. We need to allow Him to shed His light into our life. John's gospel includes many instances of Jesus bringing His light into people's lives.