Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John 1:5
And the light shineth in darkness — Shines even on fallen man; but the darkness — Dark, sinful man, perceiveth it not.
And the light shineth in darkness — Shines even on fallen man; but the darkness — Dark, sinful man, perceiveth it not.
Verse John 1:5. _AND THE LIGHT SHINETH IN DARKNESS_] By _darkness_ here may be understood: 1. The heathen world, Ephesians 5:8. 2. The Jewish people. 3. The fallen spirit of man. _COMPREHENDED IT...
THE LIGHT SHINETH IN DARKNESS - Darkness, in the Bible, commonly denotes ignorance, guilt, or misery. See Isaiah 9:1; Matthew 4:16; Acts 26:18;...
ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. The Only-begotten, the Eternal Word; His Glory and His Manifestation -- Chapter 1:1-2:22 CHAPTER 1 __ 1. The Word: the Creator, the Life and the Light. (John 1:1 .)...
THE PROLOGUE: See Introduction. JOHN 1:1. THE WORD IN RELATION TO GOD AND CREATION. The references to the language and thought of _Genesis 1_ are clear. At the time of creation, if the phrase may be...
AND THE LIGHT SHINETH IN DARKNESS. Now the apostle comes more plainly to the thought that Christ is the light of the world. He is the light that shineth in the darkness, has shone in it as the Word,...
THE WORD (John 1:1-18)...
When the world had its beginning, the Word was already there; and the Word was with God; and the Word was God. This Word was in the beginning with God. He was the agent through whom all things were ma...
SHINETH. Greek. _phaino._ App-106. DARKNESS. the darkness. Pre supposing the Fall. Genesis 3:18. COMPREHENDED IT. This is direct from the Vulgate. The Greek _kata is so_ rendered only here. It means,...
John 1:1-18. The Prologue or Introduction That the first eighteen verses are introductory is universally admitted: commentators are not so unanimous as to the main divisions of this introduction. A d...
_shineth_ Note the present tense; the only one in the section. It brings us down to the Apostle's own day: now, as of old, the Light shines in reason, in creation, in conscience, and shines in vain. N...
THE WORD IN HIS OWN NATURE ἘΝ�. _In the beginning_. The meaning must depend on the context. In Genesis 1:1 it is an act done ἐν�; here it is a Being existing ἐν�, and therefore prior to all beginning....
1–18. The Prologue or Introduction in three parts. 1–5: The Word in His own nature. 6–13: His Revelation to men and rejection by them. 14–18: His Revelation of the Father. The three great characterist...
ΦΑΊΝΕΙ. The elementary distinction between φαίνειν, ‘to shine,’ and φαίνεσθαι, ‘to appear,’ is not always observed by our translators. In Acts 27:20 φαίνειν is translated like φαίνεσθαι; in Matthew 24...
VER 5. AND THE LIGHT SHINES IN DARKNESS. AUG. Whereas that life is the light of men, but foolish hearts cannot receive that light, being so encumbered with sins that they cannot see it; for this cause...
_THE ETERNAL "WORD" OF GOD IS JESUS-- JOHN 1:1-18:_ Jesus is pictured as "the Word" who was in the beginning with God. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....
ΣΚΟΤΊΣ (G4653) _dat. sing._ тьма. Тьма рассматривается как противоположность света и противопоставляется ему. Фигура речи, описывающая состояние мира, омраченного грехом, ΦΑΊΝΕΙ _praes. ind. act. от_...
AND THE LIGHT SHINETH IN DARKNESS;— We have observed in the former verse, that Christ is the fountain of all spiritual light, so that nothing can be spiritually discerned but by his Spirit. This light...
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF THE WORD DESCRIBED _Text 1:1-5_ 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things wer...
EXPOSITORY SERMON NO. 1 THE BIRTH OF CHRIST INTERPRETED John 1:1-18 _Introduction_ I. TELL BIRTH STORY BRIEFLY (Luke 2:1-52). A. John's Prologue gives the definition of Christmas. B. Especiall...
EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN John 1:1-13 In the last chapter we stated, "Each book of the Bible has a prominent and dominant theme which is peculiar to itself. Just as each member in the human bo...
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. AND THE LIGHT SHINETH IN DARKNESS - that is, in this dark fallen world; for though the Life was the light of men," they were...
As God always was, there is no absolute beginning brought before us in the Scriptures. Both here and in Gen.11 the article _ the _ is lacking in the originals, showing that it refers to the commenceme...
This instruction by the Word was hindered by the Fall, which involved the world in moral and spiritual darkness. AND THE DARKNESS COMPREHENDED (RV 'apprehended') IT NOT] i.e. the people whose minds we...
THE DIVINITY AND INCARNATION OF THE WORD. WITNESS OF JOHN. THE FIRST DISCIPLES 1-18. Preface, declaring (1) that the Word was God, (2) that He was made man, (3) that He revealed the Father. This subl...
JOHN TELLS THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT JESUS GOSPEL OF JOHN _MARION ADAMS_ THE AUTHOR Most people agree that John, Jesus’ *disciple, wrote the 4th *Gospel. John’s father was called Zebedee. And John had...
AND THE LIGHT SHINETH IN DARKNESS. — The vision of brightness is present but for a moment, and passes away before the black reality of the history of mankind. The description of Paradise occupies but...
CHAPTER 2 RECEPTION CHRIST MET WITH. John 1:1. In describing the Word of God, John mentions two attributes of His by which His relation to men becomes apparent: “All things were made by Him,” and “t...
CHAPTER 1 THE INCARNATION. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was no...
καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, “and the light shineth in the darkness”. Three interpretations are possible. The words may refer to the incarnate, or to the pre-incarnate experience of the Logos, or t...
_The Logos described_. The first five verses describe the pre-existence, the nature, the creative power of the Logos, who in the succeeding verses is spoken of as entering the world, becoming man, and...
THE LIGHT FOR THE NEW YEAR'S PATH John 1:1-13 The titles of our Lord are set forth in royal fashion. As speech reveals the hidden thoughts of men, so does our Lord utter the unseen God. God spake and...
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 bringi...
(3) And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness (m) comprehended it not. (3) The light of men is turned into darkness, but yet there is enough clearness so that they are without excuse. (m)...
And the light shineth, or did shine, in darkness. Many understand this, that the light of reason, which God gave to every one, might have brought them to the knowledge of God by the visible effects of...
JOHN'S GOSPEL You observe, thus far, not a word has been said about John's Gospel. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all wrote historically. Consequently, they go much together, most felicitously corroborating...
[See also the "General Considerations on the Prologue" in the comments of John 1:18.] VV. 5: “ _And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not._ ” What, then, is this _dark...
PROLOGUE: 1:1-18. EACH evangelist begins his book in a manner appropriate to the aim of his narrative. Matthew proposes to prove the _right_ of Jesus to the Messianic throne. He opens his story with H...
FIRST SECTION: THE LOGOS. 1:1-14. It would be difficult not to recognize in these first verses an allusion to the beginning of Genesis. The first words of the two writings manifestly correspond with e...
SECOND SECTION: UNBELIEF. 1:5-11. This Logos, light of the world, appears in the world buried in the darkness of sin; He is not recognized and is rejected (John 1:5). And yet God had taken all precaut...
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. Here is drawn the line of distinction between the character of those who from the natural blindness of a fallen state, unawake...
The opening verses (John 1:1-18) introduce the most glorious subject which God Himself ever gave in employing the pen of man; not only the most glorious in point of theme, but in the profoundest point...
5._And the light shineth in darkness_. It might be objected, that the passages of Scripture in which men are called blind are so numerous and that the blindness for which they are condemned is but too...
The first chapter asserts what He was before all things, and the different characters in which He is a blessing to man, being made flesh. He is, and He is the expression of, the whole mind that subsis...
AND THE LIGHT SHINETH IN DARKNESS,.... Which, through sin, came upon the minds of men; who are naturally in the dark about the nature and perfections of God; about sin, and the consequences of it; abo...
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. Ver. 5. _And the light shineth_] The light both of nature and of Scripture. The former is but a dim half-light, a rush candle,...
_In him_ Or, _through him_, as Beza understands it; _was life_ He was the living and powerful Word, which was the source of life to every living creature, as well as of being to all that exists. _And...
SHINETH IN DARKNESS; sheds its rays among the spiritually ignorant, debased, and wretched. COMPREHENDED IT NOT; did not understand, and therefore rejected it. Compare chap John 8:19; John 16:3; MATTHE...
AND THE LIGHT SHINETH IN DARKNESS; AND THE DARKNESS COMPREHENDED IT NOT. In the beginning, when time began, before anything was formed, when God made ready to create heaven and earth, Genesis 1:1, whe...
THE PROLOGUE OF THE GOSPEL. The introduction:...
CHRIST THE LIVING WORD (vs.1-5) Revelation 19:13, speaking of the Lord Jesus, says, "His name is called the Word of God." As such He had no beginning: in the beginning He was there. In person He is...
1-5 The plainest reason why the Son of God is called the Word, seems to be, that as our words explain our minds to others, so was the Son of God sent in order to reveal his Father's mind to the world...
THE LIGHT SHINETH IN DARKNESS: he had said before, that life was in Christ, in him as in the fountain; and the life in him was the light of men, giving light to men. Now this light which was in him ha...
Irenaeus Against Heresies Book I For, in discoursing of the Saviour and declaring that all things beyond the Pleroma received form from Him, he says that He is the fruit of the entire Pleroma. For he...
John 1:5 And G2532 light G5457 shines G5316 (G5719) in G1722 darkness G4653 and G2532 darkness G4653 not...
The content of Jonah's prophecy, which is described in the usual terms of ‘the word of YHWH', is depicted as being that YHWH wanted the wickedness of Nineveh to be brought to the attention of its peop...
THE WORD WAS GOD (JOHN 1:1). John commences his Gospel by speaking of ‘the Word' (i.e. the One through Whom God has acted and spoken'), and later he adds, ‘all things were made by Him' (John 1:3) and...
‘And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not lay hold of it.' John now turns to the purpose of His coming. His first emphasis here is on the fact that the world is in darkness. It i...
The Prologue of the Gospel of John stands in the most intimate connection with the plan and purpose of the Gospel as a whole. It is not to be regarded as a philosophical speculation to which the histo...
John 1:5. AND THE LIGHT SHINETH IN THE DARKNESS. The darkness here spoken of is not an original darkness coexistent with created being (John 1:3). It belongs to the development of thought begun at Joh...
SHINETH (φαινε). Linear present active indicative of φαινω, old verb from φαω, to shine (φαοσ, φως). "The light keeps on giving light."IN THE DARKNESS (εν τη σκοτια). Late word for the common σκοτ...
COMPREHENDED Or, apprehended; literally, "laid not hold of it....
John 1:4 I. In Christ was life, and that life was the _light_of men. We consider these words as marking such a derivation to ourselves of that life, that immortality which was in the Word, as can neve...
John 1:5 In these few and simple words the great Evangelist describes the agency of Christ in the world. In Him, he tells us, was life; vital power for time and for eternity, able to quicken and invig...
John is the majestic Evangelist; he is the high-soaring eagle with the piercing eye. His is the Gospel of the Son of God. John 1:1. _In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the...
May the Holy Spirit, who inspired these words, inspire us through them as we read them! John 1:1. _In the beginning was the Word._ The divine Logos, whom we know as the Christ of God. «In the beginn...
John 1:1. _In the beginning was the Word,_ Christ the Word has existed from all eternity. He is the eternal Son of the eternal Father; he is really what Melchisedec was metaphorically, «having neithe...
CONTENTS: Deity of Christ. Ministry of John the Baptist. Jesus announced as the Lamb of God, and the first converts to Him. CHARACTERS: God, Jesus, John the Baptist, Moses, Elias, Isaiah, Pharisees,...
John 1:1. _In the beginning was the Word._ Εν αρχη ο λογος. John begins the new creation with the words of Moses of the old creation, and continues to speak of Christ in the running language of all th...
AND THE DARKNESS HAS NEVER PUT IT OUT. His light drives away the darkness of ignorance and error. The darkness cannot extinguish the light!...
_In the beginning was the Word_ I. THE APOSTLE ASSERTS THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST. 1. His name: the Word. (1) He is the chief subject of Revelation--the Word of promise--the substance of all shadows,...
_The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not_ HOW DIFFERENT MEN RECEIVE THE LIGHT 1. Some merely receive it to evidence their own darkness. 2. Some by outward profession m...
JOHN 1:1 Prologue: The Incarnate Word. John presents Jesus as the eternal, preexistent, and now incarnate Word (vv. John 1:1, John 1:14). Jesus is the one-of-
JOHN—NOTE ON JOHN 1:4 The references to LIFE, LIGHT, and DARKNESS draw on language found in Genesis 1:1 (com
THE HOLY GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, ACCORDING TO JOHN. T HIS is the title in the Greek and Latin codices. In the Syriac it is as follows, _The Holy Gospel, the Preaching of Jouchanon_ (John), _which...
_EXPLANATORY AND CRITICAL NOTES_ John 1:1. IN THE BEGINNING, etc.—ἐν�. The בְּרֵאשִׁית etc., of Genesis 1 denotes the beginning of that movement of the divine creative energy from which sprang the vis...
EXPOSITION THE title of the book is differently given in the manuscripts and ancient versions, and the differences are so considerable that they cannot be referred to the original text. The simplest f...
Shall we turn in our Bibles to the gospel according to John. The gospel of John was the last of the gospels that were written. It was written towards the close of that first century, written by John,...
1 Corinthians 2:14; Job 24:13; John 1:10; John 12:36; John 3:19;...
SEEING CHRIST IN JOHN John 1:1 INTRODUCTORY WORDS It is not difficult for us to find the Lord Jesus in the Book of John. We have always been told that John, by the Holy Ghost, sets forth the Deity...
VISIONS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST John 1:1 INTRODUCTORY WORDS The Four Gospels present the Lord Jesus Christ under four distinct aspects. The Gospel of John tells us of Christ, in His all-glorious D...