Lesson 2 The Gospel of John, Chapter 1

Jesus: The Word and the Lamb

The gospel of John does not begin its record of Jesus by recording his birth, but by proclaiming the eternal existence of Christ. The gospel begins in the same was that the first book of the Bible begins, “in the beginning.” In other words, the gospel is saying that before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, before Moses, before Abraham, before Adam and Eve, there was Christ, eternal, almighty, one with the Father.

Read John 1:1-18 (The prologue to the gospel)

  1. What titles are given to Jesus in this prologue (and the rest of the chapter)?

(1:1)

(1:7,8)

(1:14,18)

(1:29, 35)

(1:34 and 49)

(1:38 and 49)

(1:41)

(1:49)

(1:51)

  1. What truths does John reveal about Jesus in verses1-3?

  2. In what way is Jesus the light? (As you answer, look up Psalm 82:4-5; Proverbs 4:19; and John 12:35)

  3. In verse 5 John said that Jesus shined light in the darkness, but the darkness did not understand it. Where do we see examples of this happening in the world today?

  4. Verses 6-8 tell us about John the Baptist. What was his purpose in life, according to 1:7?

Read John 1:19-34 (John the Baptist testifies about Jesus)

  1. What event is John recalling in verses 32-34? (See Mark 1:9-11.) Why was the voice from heaven and the Spirit descending like a dove important to John?

  2. What things did John the Baptist make clear about himself?

  3. What did John say about Jesus’ work in verses 29 and 34?

Read John 1:35-51 (Jesus calls his first disciples)

In verse 35 we read of “two of John’s disciples.” One of them was obviously Andrew, who was mentioned in v. 40. The other disciple is not mentioned by name. Since the writer of this gospel often chose not to use his own name (we have another example of this in John 20:3, where two disciples ran to the empty tomb), it is assumed that the other disciple was John himself, the author of this Gospel.

  1. What brought the first two disciples to Jesus (verse 36)?

  2. What first brought you to Jesus?

  3. Jesus showed Nathanael one miracle. Nathanael confessed Jesus is the Son of God. What greater things would Jesus show him?

In our next lesson Jesus begins his ministry, performs his first miracle, and proclaims that he is the true Messiah, sent by the Father for the salvation of the world. Please prepare chapters 2 and 3. PAGE 2

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