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The Good News by John 1

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The Word Became Human*

1 In the beginning was the Word.* The Word was with God, and the Word was God himself.* 2 He was with God in the very beginning. 3 God created everything through him, and without him nothing was created.* 4 In him is life, and his life is the light that guides people.* 5 The light shines in the darkness of this world, and the darkness has not been able to extinguish it.

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John.* 7 He came for the purpose of [giving] testimony, to bear witness to the light, so that everyone might believe through him. 8 He was not [himself] the light, but he came to bear witness to the light. 9 For the true light, who enlightens every person, was coming into the world.

10 He came into the world,* and though the world was created through him, yet the people of the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to his [own] people,* but his people did not accept him.​​​​

12 As for those who did accept him, that is, those who believed in his name, he gave them the right to become the children of God.* 13 They are those who have been born [again] in a spiritual birth from God and not solely by a natural human birth and the desire of a man.

14 The Word* became human, and he lived among us. We have seen his glory, the glory that is his as the unique Son* of the Father,* filled with grace and truth.

15 John bore witness about him and shouted, “This is the one I talked about: ‘After me is coming someone who is greater than me because he existed before me.’” 16 We have all received from the richness of his grace, blessing after blessing. 17 For the law* was given through Moses*; as for grace and truth, they have come through Jesus the Messiah. 18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique Son, who is at the Father's side,* has revealed him to us.

John Testifies About Jesus

19 The leaders* who were in Jerusalem sent some priests and some temple servants* to John to ask him, “Who are you?” This was his testimony: 20 He declared it clearly without pretending otherwise and said, “I am not the Messiah.”*

21 So they asked him, “What, then? Are you Elijah?”* He answered, “No.” Then they said, “Are you the Prophet*?” He answered, “No.”

22 They said to him, “Who are you? We have to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I, as the prophet Isaiah said, am a voice of one calling out in the desert, ‘Make the way of our Lord straight.’”*

24 Among the ones sent were some Pharisees.* 25 They asked him, “If you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, then why are you immersing [people]?” 26 John answered them, “I am immersing [people] in water, but present among you is someone you don't know; 27 he is the one coming after me, and I am not worthy [even] to untie the strap of his sandals.”

28 This took place in Bethany* that is on the east [bank] of the river Jordan, where John was immersing people* in the water.

Jesus is the Lamb of God

29 The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him. He said, “Look! This is the lamb of God* who removes sin* from people.* 30 This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘After me is coming someone who is greater than me because he existed before me.’ 31 I myself did not recognize him, but I came to immerse [people] in water, so that he would be revealed to the Children of Israel.”

32 Then John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove and settle on him. 33 I did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to immerse [people] in water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest, he is the one who will immerse [people] in the Holy Spirit.’* 34 I myself saw this; therefore, I bear witness that he is the Son of God.*”

The First Followers of Jesus

35 The next day John was there again, standing with two of his disciples. 36 He saw Jesus walking by and said, “Look! This is the lamb of God.” 37 The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following him, so he asked them, “What do you want?” They said, “Teacher, where are you staying?” 39 He answered, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where he was staying. It was around four o'clock in the afternoon, and they remained with him that day.

40 Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two disciples who had heard what John had said and had followed Jesus. 41 At once, Andrew went and found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah.” 42 And he took him to Jesus. Jesus looked at Simon and said, “You are Simon, son of John, but I will call you Cephas,” that is, Peter.*

Philip and Nathanael

43 The next day, Jesus decided to go to Galilee.* He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Philip was from Bethsaida, the village of Andrew and Peter. 45 Then Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the one whom Moses mentioned in the Torah,* and whom the prophets also mentioned: Jesus son of Joseph,* who is from Nazareth.” 46 Nathanael said, “From Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

47 Jesus saw Nathanael approaching him and said, “This is one of the Children of Israel who is authentic, without any deceit in him.” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “I saw you when you were under the fig tree, before Philip called you.” 49 Nathanael said, “Teacher, you are the Son of God. You are the king for whom the Children of Israel have been waiting.”*

50 Jesus said to him, “Do you believe [this] because I told you that I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” 51 Then he said, “I tell you the truth,* you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the One Who Became Man.*”

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Definitions

 * The section headings and footnotes are not part of the revealed text. They are included as an aid to the reader.

 *1:1 the Word: the Word of God, by which he created the world and communicates with people.

 *1:1 was God himself: that is, the Word was of the essence of God. In other words, the Word of God is not a second god.

 *1:3 See Psalm of David 33:6: “By the Word of God the heavens were created.”

 *1:4 See Psalm of David 119:105: “Your Word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my way.”

 *1:6 John: the prophet John son of Zechariah, also called John the Baptist and Yahya ibn Zakariya.

 *1:10 He came into the world: in other words, he was born in this world as a human being. For a description of the birth of the Messiah from the Virgin Mary, see the Good News by Luke, chapters 1-2.

 *1:11 his own people: the Children of Israel.

 *1:12 children of God: This is a reference to people whom God loves as a father loves his children because they accepted the Messiah as their master and received a spiritual rebirth in God's Holy Spirit. See John 3:3-6; 3:16. See family in the glossary.

 *1:14 The Word: the Word of God, Jesus the Messiah, son of the Virgin Mary, also called Isa al-Masih. He said this about himself in the Gospel: “I have not spoken on my own; rather the Father, who sent me, has himself commanded me what I should say and speak.” (John 12:49).

 *1:14 the unique Son: the eternal Word of God born as a human being to serve God as the Messiah. It does not mean that God sired a biological son. The Scriptures say that God is not a man (Torah, Numbers 23:19).

 *1:14 the Father: This term refers to God and expresses his compassionate care for his people. Unlike the Arabic word أب ab, the common Greek, Hebrew, and English words for father can be used for any relationship that is like a relationship between a loving father and his children. In the Book of Psalms 103:13 it says, “As a father has compassion on his children, God has compassion on those who are devoted to him.” Devoted believers spoke of God respectfully as “our Father.” The meaning was like the Arabic phrase ربنا الرحمن. The Messiah the Word of God is the one closest to God, as an only son is the one closest to his father. See family in the glossary.

 *1:17 the law: the laws of the Torah.

 *1:17 Moses: the prophet Moses. He was born in Egypt about 1400 years before the birth of Christ.

 *1:18 at the Father's side: the one closest to God in a relational sense, just like the closeness of an only son to his father.

 *1:19 leaders This is a reference to the Jewish religious leaders.

 *1:19 temple servants: or Levites These were descendants of Levi son of the prophet Jacob, who served in the courtyards of the Temple complex in Jerusalem.

 *1:20 the Messiah: the person whom God promised to send to the world to save people from sin, guide them in the way of righteousness, and rule them forever both in this world and in the next. God foretold the coming of the Messiah in the Torah, in the Psalms of David, and in the Writings of the Prophets. People had different expectations of what the Messiah's kingdom would be like, but they agreed that in the world to come it would be a paradise. See Messiah in the glossary.

In the Hebrew and Aramaic languages the term Messiah meant “the person whom God chose to be king over God's people.” It comes from a Hebrew word that means “to anoint” and reflects an ancient practice of installing someone as king by anointing him with oil. The Hebrew word Messiah was translated into Greek as Christos, meaning “anointed,” and from there into English as Christ, but Arabic has preserved the original form.

 *1:21 Elijah: the prophet Elijah. Many people believed God would send the prophet Elijah back to this world to prepare people to receive the Messiah. This belief was based on prophecies in the Book of the Prophet Malachi 3:1 and 4:5.

 *1:21 the Prophet: the prophet whom Moses prophesied that God would send. See Torah, Deuteronomy 18:15-18. The apostles and community of believers understood that Jesus the Messiah is this prophet (Acts 3:22; 7:37).

 *1:23 This is a quotation from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah 40:3.

 *1:24 Pharisees: a sect within Judaism that was very strict in how they applied the laws of the Torah. The word pharisee meant “separated,” so named because they would not associate with people who did not also follow their set of religious rules.

 *1:28 Bethany: an area near the place by the Jordan River, known as Al-Maghtas, where the prophet John was immersing people in water. See the map of Judea. The Good News by Luke, which is the third book of the Gospel, provides information indicating that this took place in AD 28. (Note that John 11 mentions a village named Bethany that was near Jerusalem, but this is a different village.)

 *1:28 immersing people: or baptizing people. The Children of Israel immersed themselves in clean water to remove ritual impurity after touching that was something ritually unclean. When pagans repented of sin, submitted to God, and asked to join the Jewish community, they were required to immerse themselves in clean water to signify the forgiveness of their past sins. In Arabic, a ritual immersion is called الغطاس al-ghitas and also الغسل الارتماسي al-ghusl al-irtimasi. See the Good News by Luke 3:1-18, which says the prophet John was calling the Jews themselves to repent and be immersed for forgiveness so they would be ready to receive the Messiah, who would immerse them in the Holy Spirit.

 *1:29 the lamb of God: the great sacrifice by which God frees people from their sins and qualifies them for eternal life with him.

 *1:29 sin: In this verse, the word sin refers to the broken relationship people have with God because they have failed to obey his commandments. The chief commandments are “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your ability, and all your thinking” and “Love the next person just as you love yourself.” (See the Good News by Luke 10:27). This would qualify them for eternal life with God in Paradise, but their sinfulness disqualifies them, unless sin is removed from their lives.

 *1:29 removes sin from people: By this great sacrifice, God removes the guilt of people's sins and frees them from the power of their sinful nature.

 *1:33 the Holy Spirit: the personal presence and power of God himself, through whom he inspires the prophets, guides the believers, and empowers them to live according to his commandments.

 *1:34 the Son of God: the Messiah, who is close to God and is the Word of God, born as a man from the Virgin Mary by the power of God Almighty. See family in the glossary.

 *1:42 Cephas, Peter: These two names mean “Rock” in the Aramaic and Greek languages, respectively.

 *1:43 Galilee: a region on the west side of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberius), just south of Lebanon. It was populated with Jews, Greeks, and others. See the map of Galilee.

 *1:45 To read what Moses wrote, see the footnote to John 5:46.

 *1:45 son of Joseph: Under the laws and customs of that time, a boy was regarded as a son to the man who was married to his mother at the time of his birth, and the man was regarded as his father. This law holds today as well in most non-Muslim countries. All of the conversations recorded in the Gospel were originally in the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek languages, and in those languages the words commonly used for fathers and sons are used for any relationship like that between a loving father and his son. In Arabic, however, the words أب and ابن (ab and ibn) are limited in meaning to the blood relation between a father and his son whom he produced from his loin. Therefore these two words in the Gospel must be understood according to their meaning in the original languages and not according to their meaning in Arabic.

 *1:49 At the time of Jesus, many of the Children of Israel were hoping that God would soon send the Messiah to them as their Savior King. They referred to him with a number of titles: the King of Israel, the King of the Jews, the Son of David, the Son of Man, the Son of God, the Savior, the Lord. See the Psalms of David 2:6-7.

 *1:51 I tell you the truth: This phrase emphasizes the importance of what is about to be said next.

 *1:51 the One Who Became Man: Most English versions say the Son of Man. This title is based on a vision from God recorded in the Book of the Prophet Daniel (7:13-14). In this vision, Daniel sees the throne of God at a future time. He sees someone coming on the clouds of heaven to the throne of God, where he is given authority as king to rule all people forever. He describes him as “resembling a son of mankind” (الَّذِي صَارَ بَشَرًا), meaning a young man. Jesus identified himself as this king over all people, whom God had sent into the world as a man, born of the Virgin Mary. Earlier in this chapter (verses 1-14) God revealed that Jesus is his Word whom he sent into the world as a human. In chapter 3 (verse 13) Jesus himself says, “No one has ascended to heaven except the one who descended from heaven, that is, the Son of Man” (ابن البشر). But because the traditional translation of this phrase is often misunderstood, it has been translated here as “the One Who Became Man” (الَّذِي صَارَ بَشَرًا). Some other Arabic translations say سيد البشر “the Lord of Mankind,” since this title means the one chosen by God to rule all people forever. See The One Who Became Man in the glossary.