IN THE BEGINNING; of the creation. He who was with God in the beginning of all created things, is before all things, and has existed from eternity. Compare chap John 17:5; COLOSSIANS 1:17. THE WORD; a term applied by John to the second person of the Godhead in his eternal existence. Just as he is c... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THINGS WERE MADE-NOT ANY THING MADE; all things in the widest sense. Compare Colossians 1:16; HEBREWS 1:2. And as God, he upholds all things which he has made. Hebrews 1:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
IN HIM WAS LIFE; he is the author and sustainer of all created natural and spiritual life. THE LIFE WAS THE LIGHT OF MEN; the Word is the light and life of men absolutely; since every kind of light and life comes from him. But here the apostle means more especially, that he who is the spiritual lif... [ Continue Reading ]
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; MATTHEW 11:25-27; 1 Corinthians 2:8; 1 Corinthians 2:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
JOHN; John the Baptist. Matthew 3:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LIGHT; the Messiah. THROUGH HIM MIGHT BELIEVE; through the testimony of John, might believe in Christ.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE WAS NOT THAT LIGHT; John was "a burning and a shining light," chap John 5:35; but he received all his brightness from the eternal Word, who alone is the true Light, because he has light in himself, and is the only source of light to men.... [ Continue Reading ]
LIGHTETH EVERY MAN; the meaning is, that all true knowledge is from Christ. As Jesus Christ is the light of the world, all who reject him walk in spiritual darkness, while those who follow him have the light of life. God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shines into their minds, and... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE WORLD; as its Creator, Instructor, and Redeemer. KNEW HIM NOT; did not apprehend his true character.... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS OWN; his own land Judea, and his own people the Jews. RECEIVED HIM NOT; they did not believe on him, but rejected and crucified him.... [ Continue Reading ]
POWER; right, privilege. SONS OF GOD; spiritual children, adopted into his family, and conformed to his image.... [ Continue Reading ]
WERE BORN-OF GOD; changed, by his Holy Spirit, from supreme love of self and sin to supreme love of God and holiness. No man inherits this holy character by nature, nor can it be given to him by man. It is the gift of God alone. The change in men called being "born again," by which they become child... [ Continue Reading ]
MADE FLESH; took upon him human nature-because a man. Thus the apostle teaches, in the most direct terms, that "the man Christ Jesus" is also the Word that was with God before the world was. BEHELD HIS GLORY; MATTHEW 17:1-9; MARK 9:2-10. ONLY BEGOTTEN OF THE FATHER; possessed of his nature, and pe... [ Continue Reading ]
HE WAS BEFORE ME; because he existed from eternity with the Father. Compare chap John 8:58.... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL WE; disciples of Christ. GRACE FOR GRACE; the fuller grace of the gospel for the less grace of the law; or, as some understand the words, continually new and larger measures of grace-all needed variety and abundance of unmerited favors. Matthew 13:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LAW WAS GIVEN BY MOSES; a certain measure of grace accompanied the law of Moses, else no man could have been saved under it. Yet the proper office of the law itself was not grace, but rather restraint and conviction of sin. Romans 3:20; GALATIANS 3:19. GRACE AND TRUTH CAME BY JESUS CHRIST; all... [ Continue Reading ]
DECLARED HIM; revealed him. The apostle here teaches that all the revelations men have received of God, whether under the law or the gospel, had Jesus Christ for their source.... [ Continue Reading ]
ELIAS; Elijah. Malachi 4:5; MATTHEW 11:14; Matthew 16:14; I AM NOT; not in their sense-not Elijah in person, though he was Elijah in the sense in which Malachi had predicted him. THAT PROPHET; Jeremiah, or some distinguished prophet who they expected would appear.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE VOICE; Matthew 3:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH WATER; in distinction from the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which Christ shall bestow. See Matthew 3:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
BEYOND JORDAN; on the east side.... [ Continue Reading ]
LAMB OF GOD; him who is to be offered as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of men. Exodus 12:3; Exodus 29:38-46; Isaiah 53:7; 1Co 5:7; 1 PETER 1:18-21; Isaiah 53:4. TAKETH AWAY; expiates it and removes the penalty of it from man by bearing it in his own body on the tree. 1 Peter 2:22-25.... [ Continue Reading ]
I KNEW HIM NOT; see note to ver John 1:33. BUT THAT HE SHOULD BE MADE MANIFEST; as much as to say, I knew not yet who this person was, but only that he was about to be manifested to Israel.... [ Continue Reading ]
I KNEW HIM NOT; John may have had a personal acquaintance with Jesus, but he did not know him as the one that was to baptize with the Holy Ghost. He was not authorized to say of Jesus, This is the one of whom I spoke, till he had received from God the sign named in this verse. HE THAT SENT ME; God.... [ Continue Reading ]
BARE RECORD; ver John 1:19-23; MATTHEW 3:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TENTH HOUR; four in the afternoon.... [ Continue Reading ]
MESSIAS-CHRIST; the former word being Hebrew, the latter Greek, and both signifying the Anointed One. When men find the Saviour, and experience the blessedness of trusting in him, they desire that others, especially their friends, should become partakers of their joys.... [ Continue Reading ]
CEPHAS; a Syriac word, meaning the same as the Greek word Peter, and the English word stone, or rock. Matthew 16:18.... [ Continue Reading ]
BETHSAIDA; Matthew 11:21.... [ Continue Reading ]
MOSES-THE PROPHETS; LUKE 24:44; Genesis 3:15; Genesis 49:10; DEUTERONOMY 18:15-18; ISAIAH 9:6-7; Isaiah 53:2-12; JEREMIAH 23:5-6.... [ Continue Reading ]
NAZARETH; Matthew 2:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
ISRAELITE INDEED; not merely a descendant of Israel, but one who has the true character of an Israelite-a holy and believing man. NO GUILE; not hypocritical; open, honest, upright, sincere.... [ Continue Reading ]
I SAW THEE; he saw him in a supernatural way. This manifestation of his supernatural knowledge led Nathanael to the confession in the following verse. In secret communion with God, though unseen by men, we are never unobserved by Jesus Christ. He witnesses all our feelings, and is acquainted with ou... [ Continue Reading ]
RABBI; Master. Matthew 23:7 SON OF GOD; this was an acknowledgment of him as the Messiah.... [ Continue Reading ]
GREATER THINGS; greater and more abundant evidences of his Messiahship.... [ Continue Reading ]
VERILY, VERILY; truly, truly. When thus repeated, it denotes the great importance and absolute certainty of what was declared. HEREAFTER; rather, henceforward. HEAVEN OPEN-THE ANGELS OF GOD ASCENDING AND DESCENDING; the allusion is to Jacob's vision of a ladder reaching to heaven, on which the ang... [ Continue Reading ]